About me
Welcome to the greatest food romance of my life!
My name is Nikki and I’m a nutritionist and food content writer. Over the past few years, I’ve made some bold decisions. After fifteen years in marketing, I followed my heart toward nutrition in 2021. Then, in 2025, I took another leap: moving to Italy for a slower, more intentional life.
Most of the women I work with have one thing in common: they look for permission to eat something outside themselves. Boy, do I know that place well.
For the past fourteen years, I’ve lived with ARFID: a restrictive eating habit born from fear of food, afraid of how my body might react to food due to IBS. It's my second eating disorder.
Trying to love your body when nothing seems to work can feel impossible. I felt stuck in limbo for years. But when I became a nutritionist, something inside me shifted.
ARFID taught me what no schoolbook or diet ever mentioned: the mind and body are inseparable, which makes true healthy eating not just physical. It’s mental and emotional as well.
It really is true: what we focus on grows. So the way we choose to see our food truly matters.
You can pick the healthiest ingredients in the world, but if you eat with tension in your body and a head full of rules, health won’t follow.
Your body stays in stress.
It doesn’t soften.
It doesn’t relax.
It doesn’t digest the way it’s meant to.
But when your environment radiates joy and attention, your body finally gets the space to unwind. And only then can food do what it’s meant to do: take care of you.
What to expect?
I know there’s no shortage of nutrition advice online. So I’m not here to add more oil to the fire. I’m here to help you understand food better.
I don’t believe in diets. I believe in the idea that nourishment only works when food feels safe enough to receive it."Healthy” isn’t about what you cut out. It’s about what you consistently add in.
That’s why Dertien is dedicated to simplifying the art of nourishment.
Food Stories & Recipes
The Honest Kitchen is where I share honest conversations about food. I’ll introduce you to all kinds of products that truly deserve a spot in your kitchen. Show you their quirks and charms, and explain the whys behind them so food becomes fun and nutrition makes sense again.
Here you'll also find my recipes. I cook from scratch. That means unprocessed, home-cooked and from farm to table.
1:1 Nutrition guidance
Most nutrition programs focus on calories, rules, or “right” and “wrong” foods. But here’s the truth: no ingredient can undo a stressed nervous system.
The Honest Eating Method is my 5-week nutrition program designed to rewrite your relationship with food. My approach focuses on the whole experience of eating: ingredients, preparation and atmosphere.
You don’t need permission to eat. You just need a safe place to enjoy it again.
Vintage Tableware
When you join my nutrition program you'll get access to The Honest Table: my online shop filled with vintage tableware, textiles and accessories that turn your dining space into a place of unhurried moments.
Where design, sustainability and atmosphere come together and where food becomes more than just food.
Let this be the beginning of a more intentional way of eating, and a practice of simple daily food habits that bring joy back into your kitchen.
Because the most beautiful love story we can write is the one we write for ourselves. One meal at a time.
With love,
Nikki