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Evita 🥭 Registered Dietitian

@evitabasilio.rd

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🫶🏽 inclusive + practical nutrition
🌱 politics, food justice, accessibility, women's health & sports nutrition
📍 mohkínstsis / treaty 7 (calgary, AB)

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You can’t do a lot on a little. 🥾

I’m marathon training and lifting through it, and it’s always humbling to see how much fuel is needed to support both. The same goes for anyone with a big life, whether that’s hiking, shift work, parenting or a packed schedule.

When your body doesn’t get enough energy for what you ask of it, it shows up as exhaustion, irritability, getting sick and having less to give the people around you. A dietitian can help you work out what your body needs.

What are you fuelling for right now? by @evitabasilio.rd

Before we talk about what Alberta wants to remove, it helps to know why DEI exists.

In 1984, Justice Rosalie Abella, who later served on the Supreme Court of Canada, led a Royal Commission on Equality in Employment and coined the term employment equity. Her report found that anti-discrimination law alone was leaving women, Indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, and visible minorities out of workplaces. She argued that equality can mean treating people the same in some cases and differently in others, so that no one is blocked by a barrier that has nothing to do with their ability. The Supreme Court adopted that thinking in 1989.

That is the difference between equality and equity. Equality hands everyone the same thing, and equity asks what each person needs to reach the same opportunity. It is about the starting line, not the finish line, and the person hired still needs the skills for the job.

DEI touches more of our lives than many of us realize, and the people these programs support might include someone you love:
- Indigenous peoples
- Racialized people
- Women, especially in fields where they are under-represented
- People with disabilities, both visible and invisible
- 2SLGBTQ+ people
- Newcomers and immigrants, including people with international credentials
- Older workers and young people entering the workforce
- People of different faiths
- Caregivers and parents who need flexible schedules
- People with low incomes, including first-generation students

Bill 33 would stop school boards, universities, municipalities, Crown corporations, and other public bodies from using DEI policies in hiring and promotion, and from requiring DEI training unless it is needed for the job. Officials say provincial employees are already hired on merit, and the NDP and AUPE say there is no problem to fix.

Researchers Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev, who studied 829 US firms, found that mandatory diversity training often falls short, while targeted recruitment and mentoring helped open doors. That suggests the debate belongs on which tools work, not on removing all of them.

#abpoli #Bill33 #DEI #cdnpoli by @evitabasilio.rd

More than half of BC’s registered voters did not vote this month, and a majority government was formed with the rest. 🫪

I came to Canada as a first generation immigrant, and voting still feels like an honour to me. Many people around the world don’t get to choose their government (hello growing up in a monarchy country 🙋🏽‍♀️) and I think about that every time I walk into a polling station.

That’s part of why I believe voting should be mandatory in Canada. 🇨🇦 About 48% of registered voters took part in BC, according to preliminary numbers, and the Conservatives formed their majority with roughly 862,000 votes, which is about 23% of registered voters. Alberta votes next year, and our turnout has already slipped from 67.5% in 2019 to about 60% in 2023.

Australia has required voting since 1924, with a small fine, and turnout there stays near 90%. Canada reached 69% in the 2025 federal election, which shows many of us show up when the stakes feel high.

🗳️ Mandatory voting only works with support behind it: polling places in remote communities, time off work to vote, mail-in options, multilingual voter information, and civic education in schools. The goal is to remove barriers and bring people in, not to blame anyone who stayed home or felt unheard.

💌 Share this with someone in any province who cares about who governs us, and check that you are registered before the next vote. Every Canadian deserves a government chosen by all of us.

#cdnpoli #bcpoli #abpoli by @evitabasilio.rd

No to the 9, yes to staying in Canada: that’s how Calgary-Varsity voted in last week’s referendum. ✊🏽

I looked up my riding’s results, and about 25,300 of my neighbours took the time to vote. On the separation question, 86% chose to remain in Canada, compared with 75% across Alberta (remain in red, leave in blue). On the five immigration questions, between 58% and 64% voted no, and on the four constitutional questions, between 67% and 73% voted no (no in red, yes in green).

Those numbers mean a great deal to me, because they say that newcomers belong here and that Alberta belongs in Canada.

Across the province the picture looked different. Yes won each of the five immigration questions, though those results are non-binding, and the constitutional questions did not pass. Roughly four in ten of my own neighbours voted yes on the immigration questions, and people vote for many reasons that a ballot cannot show. I would rather keep talking with them than write anyone off.

Next year’s provincial election is a chance to build on what my riding showed, and a community that takes part is one that leaders have to answer to.

#yyc #abpoli #cdnpoli #ableg by @evitabasilio.rd

Grocery stores are designed to sell food, and a lot of the wording on the front of a package is written to make a product feel healthier than it is. I’d rather you leave the store feeling confident than stressed, so here are a few things I’d say if I were standing next to you with your cart. 🛒👀

A couple of quick checks, like the ingredient list, the fibre and the unit price, will cover most of what you need. by @evitabasilio.rd

Two provinces changed governments in three weeks, and Alberta votes next year. 👀

#abpoli #bcpoli #qcpoli #cdnpoli by @evitabasilio.rd

To everyone who has felt unseen this week, I see you and I’m glad you’re here. 🤍

#abpoli #cdnpoli by @evitabasilio.rd

Election night will feel different this year, and it helps to know why before you start refreshing the page at 8:05pm. 👇🏽

Each ballot box is opened, the ballots are unfolded and sorted, and a two-person counting team reads and tallies them, with checks along the way. Scrutineers can observe. Because every voter has ten ballots, counting runs question by question instead of all at once, which is why Question 10 comes first and the rest trickle in after. Ballots found in the wrong box are set aside and added to the right question’s total. Blank, spoiled and errant ballots are counted separately.

Mail-in ballots follow the same counting process once they’ve been verified. Each one is checked against the voter list and the voter is marked as having voted before the sealed ballot goes into a box, so no one votes twice. The envelope holding the ballots carries no information identifying the voter.

Returning office staff check the unofficial numbers over the following days, and the official results come out on October 29.

A slow count is built into this process, so a late night is expected. Be kind to the people counting.

#abpoli #cdnpoli by @evitabasilio.rd

Check the credentials before the discount code. 👀

There’s a lot of nutrition advice online, and a lot of it comes from people with no training. It’s easy to get pulled in when someone is confident and relatable, and I get it, because the “it depends” answer from your dietitian isn’t nearly as exciting as a 30-day reset.

In Alberta, dietitians and nutritionists have to be registered with the College of Dietitians of Alberta, which means they have the education and training to back up their advice and they’re accountable if something goes wrong.

🔎 You can look anyone up in the College’s public directory, and a lot of benefit plans cover dietitian visits. by @evitabasilio.rd

Hot people vote, so let’s go be hot together over the next week. 🇨🇦

🗳️ You can vote at any advance voting place in your electoral division on October 13 to 17, or wait for Election Day on Monday, October 19, when voting places are open from 9 am to 8 pm. On Election Day you vote at the location assigned to you based on where you live. Mail-in ballot applications have closed, so voting in person is the way to go. Your Where to Vote card should have arrived in the mail or your inbox. If you can’t find it, look up your location at map.elections.ab.ca or call Elections Alberta at 1-877-422-8683.

Plan on getting 10 ballots, each a different colour. Question 10 comes first and asks whether Alberta should remain a province of Canada, and then come 9 yes or no questions. I’m marking no on all 9 and choosing the option that says Alberta should remain a province of Canada - I care about inclusivity and a province where everyone gets a seat at the table.

🚙 Grab your friends, your neighbours, and your ride to the polls, because the result belongs to the people who show up.

#abpoli #albertareferendum #cdnpoli by @evitabasilio.rd

Your gut wants more fibre, but go easy on it. 🫘

Fibremaxxing has been all over social media, and for once I’m happy to see a trend take off, since most Canadians only get about 14 to 17 grams of fibre a day when we need somewhere between 25 and 38. The catch is that adding a lot at once is a fast track to gas and bloating, which leaves people thinking fibre isn’t for them.

Adding a little at a time, drinking more water and spreading fibre across your meals gives your gut bacteria time to adjust. Starting with gentler sources like oats, berries, kiwi, ground flax and rinsed canned lentils makes the whole process a lot more comfortable.

And if you’re thinking about a fibre supplement, a dietitian can help you find the right fit. 😉 by @evitabasilio.rd

What if we spent less time worrying about how our bodies look and more time getting excited about what they can do? Would you eat differently if your goal was to have energy for a long hike instead of shrinking into a smaller size? Would you move differently if you were chasing a pull up instead of burning off last night’s dinner?

Fitness culture loves to tell us that the goal is to shrink, and I’d much rather see you get stronger, eat enough to fuel it, and have a good time along the way. by @evitabasilio.rd