Biography

Viviane Fornasaro-Donahue, MS, is a registered dietitian with the Lifespan Lifestyle Medicine Center. Fornasaro-Donahue received her bachelor’s degree in nutrition from the Universidade São Camilo in São Paulo, in her native Brazil. She earned a master’s degree in Nutrition and Food Sciences from the University of Rhode Island in Kingston.

Her research report on understanding the factors affecting breastfeeding motivation was published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. She is trained and certified as an intuitive eating counselor and a Behavioral Psychology doctoral student. Her research interests include self-efficacy, mindfulness, patients’ motivations, obesity health, and long-term behavior changes.

Fornasaro-Donahue believes that bariatric surgery combined with the individual’s adoption of healthy behaviors is fundamentally different from going on a weight-loss diet in that most diets are temporary, but behavioral changes can be maintained long term. Her philosophy is that healthy nutrition starts with a healthy relationship between mind and body. She is also fluent in Portuguese.