The Value of Nutrition
Optimum nutrition complements and strengthens the effects of every other type of therapy. While bodywork enhances the movement of our vital fluids, optimum nutrition ensures that those fluids are rich in the vitamins, minerals and trace elements that our body needs to function at its best.
Nutritional Counseling offers the opportunity to take an in-depth look at your eating and lifestyle habits. You gain vital support to make gradual and life-long changes to promote vibrant health.
This is a collaborative effort. I will analyze your current diet, make suggestions, provide education and support, and you will do the real work of trying things out, observing and reporting on your body’s responses. While we may cling to unhealthy patterns for the sake of familiarity, the body has an inherent wisdom and yearns for optimal health. Together we will create a plan that follows that wise voice and works best for you.
This process may include:
• Health Education
• Food Suggestions
• Supplement Recommendations
• Recipes and Meal Planning
• Healthy Habit Development
• Non-diagnostic tests to determine biochemical individuality
• Tips for Shopping and Dining-out
• Cultivating a Positive Attitude Towards Body and Nourishment
• Lifestyle Suggestions
• Guided Imagery
Topics often discussed:
• Digestive Health and Candida
• Healthy Cholesterol
• Cancer Support
• Chronic Pain, Fibromyalgia, Arthritis
• PMS, Painful Periods
• Menopause and Bone Health
• Natural Weight Loss
• Food Cravings
• Blood Sugar Balancing
• Stress-related Health Issues
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Fertility and Healthy Pregnancy
Therapeutic Food Plans sometimes used:
Elimination / Reintroduction Diet (to detect food sensitivities)
Anti-Candida / Anti- Parasitic Diet (to eliminate pathogenic bacteria/yeast)
Gluten and Casein-Free Diets
Detoxification Diet (liver support and toxin removal)
Eating for Health (a rejuvenative whole foods model designed by Ed Bauman, PhD)
Frequently asked questions:
How many sessions will I need?
If you are dealing with a significant weight or health issue you may need 6 months to a year of guidance. Other people find that having a couple appointments a month for two to three months is enough to get the information they need and to put new healthy habits into practice.
Will I have to give up my favorite foods and eat things I don’t like?
You will make changes at a pace that is comfortable for you. I may ask you to reduce foods that are harmful and to explore delicious substitutes. Together we will come up with a way of eating that is both enjoyable and healthy for you. As your body becomes stronger and more vibrant, this becomes easier and easier. We’re looking for progress not perfection! Time and time again clients who clung for dear life to their favorite comfort foods have told me they find the new way of eating joyful and energy-enhancing and they don’t miss their old comfort foods after the first couple of weeks.
Will I have to take supplements?
I emphasize food first. Supplementation of key nutrients makes a huge difference when overcoming cravings, regulating women’s cycles or lowering cholesterol naturally. I work with professional-line supplements like Designs For Health (designsforhealth.com). These cost more than what is available at the local big box store for good reason. These supplements use the highest manufacturing standards and scientific research, and are designed by doctors and nutritionists – not marketers. My clients have excellent results with these supplements and I have the highest confidence in them.
When you look at supplement cost in light of their effectiveness you realize that the most expensive supplements are the ones that don’t work.
I live in a location that’s far away. How can we work together?
We meet by phone and email. This is an efficient way to work that is saves travel expenses and time. If we have never met, I appreciate receiving a photo of you by email. I’ve worked with people all over the country this way and have found that it is an easy way to connect and work together effectively.
I’ve tried so many diets and failed, how do I go on?
I emphasize the importance of learning to listen to your body’s messages so you can understand what your body needs. If a past diet did not work well, perhaps it was not the right diet for your body or an important component was missing.
I don’t have all the answers, but your body has an inherent intelligence. When you begin to understand your body’s language you will be able to adapt a variety of diets to your body’s needs and be far more successful than someone who is mechanically following a plan from a book. I have a variety of tools that we can use to help you connect with your body’s wisdom.
What do I need to bring to the first session?
A 3 – 7 day food journal, a list of supplements you are taking or bring the actual supplements, copies of recent lab tests, and any completed forms I may have given to you.
What is a holistic approach to weight loss?
A traditional approach to weight loss is the calories in/calories out approach. This makes a lot of sense — if our body were as simple as a bank account. We are more complicated, and many variables besides calorie intake make a big difference.
A holistic approach to weight loss looks at many influences on the ability of the body to efficiently burn excess fat. I consider the effect of hormones, brain chemistry, stress, sleep deprivation, gut health, liver toxicity, food allergies and sensitivities, and liver toxicity when I am exploring weight management challenges.
How can nutrition help chronic pain?
A person in chronic pain is in chronic stress. They often feel overwhelmed by the simplest tasks of food preparation. Just when they need optimal nutrition they resort to simple refined comfort foods to get through the day. While understandable, this pattern promotes nutritional deficiencies, poor wound healing, and increased inflammation.
I offer simple strategies for finding delicious simple foods and supplements that supports the healing process. While it may not a cure-all for serious chronic pain, good nutrition provides a foundation that enables a person to better utilize other healing options whether that is surgery, physical therapy or soft tissue massage. I have worked with several people with fibroymyalgia, chronic degenerative joint disease, arthritis and other pain conditions who have reduced overall pain scores with good nutrition.
