Sarita is a registered and licensed dietitian, who believes in helping each client learn, develop, and apply skills to find a balanced relationship with food, and live their best life. She uses effective listening, empathy, open communication, and humor to connect with her clients, and she works with her clients to create a supportive environment where they can find autonomy and confidence. Sarita believes in the power of small steps and how they can build lasting, lifelong change. As part of supporting her clients, Sarita also enjoys collaborating with clinicians from multiple disciplines, and she recognizes the value in a team-based approach to providing patient care and support.
Before joining Healthier Tomorrows, Sarita worked at the residential, partial hospitalization, and intensive outpatient levels of care, and she has significant experience working with clients with eating, mood, and anxiety disorders. Sarita also has an interest in performance nutrition and has experience working with athletes as well as those needing special dietary accommodations and those with general health and wellness needs.
In her role as Clinical Supervisor, Sarita provides individual and group training, case consultation and supervision to the dietitians at Healthier Tomorrows.
Sarita attended the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics, and completed her dietetic internship and earned her Master of Science in Nutrition at Northern Illinois University.
Sarita is also a registered out-of-state telehealth provider with the Florida Department of Health and is available to provide telehealth sessions to Florida residents.
Outside of time spent working with her clients and providing clinical supervision, Sarita enjoys traveling, laughing and having fun with friends and family, cooking, music, and movies.
Giedre is a registered dietitian who believes in the philosophy of “food as medicine” and that food can be a source of vitality and pleasure in life. Giedre enjoys working with clients struggling with eating disorders and disordered eating behavior. She also enjoys providing counseling and education to clients on other nutrition-related topics, including the role that nutrition plays in supporting mental health, mindful eating, chronic disease and general well-being. Giedre is holistically minded in her approach to nutrition care and she works through an integrative nutrition lens that addresses multiple factors in her clients’ lives to help support overall health.
Before joining Healthier Tomorrows, Giedre worked as a clinical dietitian and as an eating disorder dietitian in a residential treatment facility as well as in PHP and IOP settings. She received her Master of Science in nutrition from Bastyr University, and completed her clinical training through UNLV in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Beyond her work as a dietitian, Giedre is an avid hiker and painter. She’s also a frequent visitor of national parks, and thoroughly enjoys international travel and having the opportunity to explore, hike, and experience food from different cultures.
Cara Best received her Bachelor of Science in Food, Nutrition, and Dietetics from Carson-Newman University, and her Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition from the University of Memphis. She completed a graduate assistantship with St. Jude Children’s Hospital and clinical rotations within Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare system. She has experience working as an inpatient dietitian, including leading an inpatient clinical team, and also previously worked as an outpatient adult oncology dietitian for eight years. She is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Cara is passionate about providing care for patients going through the heartbreak of a cancer diagnosis. Across her years of education and professional experience, her passion has given her the opportunity to work with clients across a spectrum of diagnoses, including diabetes management, cardiovascular health, digestive concerns and disorders, and medical nutrition therapy. She is an eager learner and enjoys bringing fun and excellent, evidence-based nutrition therapy to her client sessions, making it easy for her clients and their families to make nutrition-related choices that help them to maximize their health and wellness.
Cara grew up in Tullahoma, Tennessee and adores her songwriting husband, her toddler, and her orange tabby named Halli. She loves to spend time with loved ones, and loves being outdoors!
Claire Bowar is a registered and licensed dietitian who enjoys working with her clients to find food freedom and peace with their bodies. Her work is aligned with the Health At Every Size ® movement, and she incorporates the principles of Intuitive Eating into her sessions to help guide her clients towards a more relaxed and judgement-free zone around food and their bodies. She prides herself on providing a safe and supportive environment for her clients to open up about their deeply personal food and body challenges. Claire understands that her clients may come in with multiple co-occurring mental health diagnoses, and she feels confident in helping them see how these can be interconnected, whether it be obsessive compulsive disorder, trauma, depression, or another area of medical or mental health. She makes sure to meet her clients where they are in their recovery journey, and together, with her clients, she builds individualized plans to ditch the diet rules and rediscover the joy of eating. Along the way, you’ll see that Claire includes compassion, empathy, active listening, and even some humor into her sessions.
Claire received her Bachelor of Science in Community Medical Dietetics from Viterbo University, where she also completed her dietetic internship with an emphasis on sports nutrition and eating disorders.
Before joining Healthier Tomorrows, Claire worked at a leading mental health treatment center with clients of all eating disorder diagnoses. She has experience providing individualized care in inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization, and intensive outpatient settings for adolescents and adults. Along with providing one-to-one nutrition counseling sessions, Claire also has extensive history providing nutrition education, cooking sessions, and food exposure challenges.
Outside of time spent with clients, Claire loves spending time with families and friends. She enjoys soaking up the outdoors in almost any capacity—whether it’s exploring new state parks, fine tuning her pickleball skills, or boating on the river. When not outside, you’ll find her baking up some sweet treats or catching coffee dates with her best friends.
Lauren Burkett, MS, RDN, LD is a registered dietitian who enjoys working with clients with a variety of disease states and supporting them in developing mindful eating habits and learning to recognize and honor their hunger cues through intuitive eating habits. She has a particular passion for working with clients struggling with gastrointestinal issues, including IBS/SIBO, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and low-fat diet post gallbladder removal, pancreatitis, diverticulitis/diverticulosis, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. She also enjoys working with clients on challenges around emotional eating (with or without binge eating disorder), diabetes (with or without chronic kidney disease), women’s health issues (such as polycystic ovarian syndrome), endometriosis, infertility, and low-sodium diets (for hypertension and/or heart disease).
Lauren believes that mental health is just as important as physical health, and she supports her clients in developing behaviors that will assist them in both areas of their lives. She takes great pleasure in providing individualized care to each of her clients and in working with them as they strive to reach their health and wellness goals that will help to support an improved lifestyle for years to come.
Lauren completed her Bachelors of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics with minors in Biology, Medical Humanities, and Sociology from the University of Delaware (UD). She also earned her Masters of Science in Entrepreneurship and Design from UD. Lauren is currently working towards earning her Masters in Nutrition Education.
In her free time, Lauren loves to cook balanced meals (her favorites are shrimp scampi and chicken à la King), paint on canvas, go to spin and swim classes, and play with her pet bunnies, Quinoa and Pancake, and her Siberian husky/Alaskan Malamute and border collie/American Eskimo dogs, Bruno and Eevee!
Megan founded Healthier Tomorrows in 2009 with the goal of creating a warm and welcoming nutrition practice where clients with all types of nutrition needs would feel understood and supported. She is passionate about providing trauma-informed care to individuals in their recovery from eating disorders and disordered eating, and she believes all clients that come to Healthier Tomorrows will receive comprehensive, compassionate, and versatile nutrition therapy.
Megan is a registered and licensed dietitian and received a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Whitman College and a Master of Science in Nutrition from Bastyr University. She completed her clinical training through the University of Houston, completing rotations at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, and Memorial Hermann Hospital.
Megan is a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian and Supervisor through the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals, and is also a member of the National Eating Disorders Association and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Julia is a registered dietitian who is passionate about educating and empowering clients to improve their health and overall quality of life. She believes that all foods fit into a healthy lifestyle and implements intuitive eating principles into her practice. Julia takes a non-judgmental, empathetic, and hopeful approach when addressing food and body image. She works collaboratively with her clients to create individualized and sustainable changes by building supportive and trusting relationships. She strives to shed light on harmful dieting myths and reframe thinking patterns to lead to a more balanced and fulfilled life.
Julia obtained her Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Arkansas. She completed her internship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she worked closely with clients focused on diabetes management and heart health. Prior to joining Healthier Tomorrows, Julia worked in a residential facility with clients recovering from substance abuse, eating disorders and disordered eating.
In her free time, she loves taking ballet classes, hiking, running, listening to music, and creating new recipes. She has found that virtual nutrition counseling can encompass more than just discussion and she enjoys being able to provide meal time support, meal prep and virtual cooking guidance to her clients.
Evie Copeland is a registered dietitian who enjoys building strong relationships with her clients and helping them to reshape their view and relationship with food. She practices from a non-diet, all-inclusive food approach. Evie has experience working with clients struggling with eating disorders, disordered eating, weight management, diabetes, and substance abuse. She believes in setting small, realistic lifestyle goals that help her clients to slowly work towards creating a stronger relationship with food and improving their long-term physical and mental health.
Evie attended undergraduate school at Appalachian State University and received her Masters of Science in Nutrition at Meredith College. She completed her clinical training at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
In her free time, Evie enjoys cooking and trying new recipes, fishing, and traveling with family and friends.
Marjorie is a registered dietitian committed to supporting individuals of all ages and their families in developing appropriate relationships with food and their bodies. Marjorie has supported people of all ages, including children, in their journey to overcome disordered eating behaviors and discouragement and to find freedom in recovery. She specializes in helping those struggling with disordered eating and chronic conditions, including children, and has specific experience in pediatric eating disorder recovery. She uses positive coping skills and individualized care to understand the whole person and their personal health concerns. Marjorie has worked with children, adolescents, adults and families to provide both individualized care and group sessions. She prioritizes a warm, caring approach that is supportive and strives to help every client to be understood and empowered.
She attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah where she studied dietetics and completed her dietetic internship with Primary Children’s, American Fork Hospital and LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City and American Fork, Utah. She also attended Texas Tech University and received a Master of Science in Nutrition.
In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, playing baseball, gardening, and volunteering in her community.
Emily is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist who is passionate about helping others achieve optimal wellness and build a healthy relationship with food and their body. Emily takes a functional/lifestyle medicine approach to nutrition, where she focuses on understanding the whole person and working with her clients to help them resolve their unique health concerns. She strives to provide a safe and empathetic environment where every client feels understood, empowered, and encouraged when discussing food and lifestyle.
Emily holds a Master of Science in Nutrition, Healthspan and Longevity from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Villanova University.
In her free time, Emily enjoys being outdoors, cooking, and discovering new recipes to test out with family and friends. Her last name – DaCosta – means “of the coast” which is surely on point because of her love for the ocean and the beach!