Nutrition

Action Plan for Smart Goals
As part of the program, you will develop your own set of personal SMART goals, in essence personal goals that are smart, measurable, action-oriented, realistic and timely.

Antioxidants—Plant Based Medicine
Antioxidants found in plant foods are crucial to a healthful diet. This workshop will help you learn about oxidation, free radicals and how antioxidants benefit, skin, vision, arteries and reduce risks of cancer. You’ll also learn how diet impacts inflammation and how it flips the switch on bad genes and good genes. You’ll also learn that disease promoting genes are not automatically your destiny.

Diabetes and Diet: What the Research Shows
Did you know that you can make choices that may reverse or post-pone diabetes? Scientific studies show that lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise can be more effective than medication for optimum long term results. This valuable workshop will introduce you to these scientific studies and will provide valuable information on diet and exercise and how it can improve your health for successful, long term results.

Good Carbs/Bad Carbs
This workshop takes you through all of the distinctions that can be made between carbohydrates, including simple and complex, refined and unrefined, and wet vs. dry, calorie density and the role of fiber. Participants will learn to decipher good carbs from bad carbs and those that should be included as part of a well-balanced diet.

Healthy Kitchens Cooking Classes
Learn how to cook healthfully—with a dietitian—and with a chef—or two. Whether it is with our hands-on cooking classes or demonstrations, you will learn new techniques for low fat and low-calorie cooking, prepare plant-based menus and cook with new healthy ingredients.

How to Hunt and Gather─Label Reading and Food Shopping
This workshop helps you to learn how to read and understand the nutrition facts labels on foods. Plus, you’ll learn the legal definitions of terms that make claims to get you to buy them and terms that have no legal definition at all. You’ll learn how to shop for foods at grocery stores, health food stores, farmers markets and vegetable stands. 

Insulin Resistance and Ways to Change It
Insulin resistance shows up as the vanguard of pre-diabetes, which can lead to full-scale diabetes. In this valuable workshop you will learn about diabetes and how to reverse or prevent it with diet, exercise, sleep and Vitamin D.

Journal to Optimal Health
A journal can be an impartial sounding board, a confidant and a companion on the journey to optimal health. Not all journaling strategies work for all people. In this workshop you will learn ten different methods of journal keeping to help support you in clarifying your values, setting goals and keeping records of your success. You will learn journaling strategies to motivate, dispute cognitive distortions and support your body image changes.

Jump Start Your Engine─The Fuel Muscles Burn
Are you burning the wrong fuel? Is your body burning fats or storing fats? Muscles burn calories from the breakdown of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Which one is your body burning? This lecture will teach you the basics of muscle metabolism and how it impacts a workout design.

My Food Diary.com
Keeping a record of food intake increases the success rate in weight loss. MyFoodDiary.com is a web based nutrition analysis program that will track your calories, your nutrients and give you an affirming smiley face when you do well. You will learn how to enroll, record foods, enter new foods, enter recipes and access reports on the value of your diet.

Relapse Prevention
This lecture helps you to identify the red flags of “a slip” vs. a “relapse”, and it provides techniques to help you get through these crucial periods in order to get back on track.

Revitalize Recipes for Better Health
Learn new techniques for substitutions that reduce the calories and improve the nutrition of a dish. You’ll practice your new-found skills in class by compiling a list of food substitutions for various ingredients using real recipes.

Supermarket Scavenger Hunt
Our supermarket scavenger hunt helps you learn to compare labels and determine the best, healthy choices. You’ll learn to seek out healthy foods, learn the values of your old favorites─all with a dietitian/tutor on hand to answer your questions.

The Low Glycemic Cook
Learn about low sugar desserts, whole grains, beans and ways to get your fat and cholesterol intake down. A low glycemic diet is not hard and can be instrumental in achieving optimum weight loss and good health.

The Skinny on Fat
You will come away with a working vocabulary about fat and its family members. You will learn what it takes to lower cholesterol, and perhaps reverse artery disease. You will learn about the calorie density of fats and their impact on weight—plus a view of what red blood cells do after a fatty meal. You will learn about saturated and unsaturated fats and those that contain cholesterol. Plus, you’ll learn the benefits of reducing animal fats and be able to choose more healthful fats from either plant or animal sources.

Tools Not Rules─What Works for You?
One tool does not necessarily fit all, and more than one tool can be used at a time. In this workshop you will learn how tools like counting carbs, using the glycemic index and glycemic load and counting fiber grams can help in your long term success. You will also be introduced to valuable web-based tracking tools that can help you track your way to optimum health.

Transformation Wrap-Up Session
This is a private, individual session where you can get answers to your questions, learn about tapering off of medications and discuss how to apply your aftercare plan.

Winery Tour
Enjoy an adventure to local area wineries where you will learn about wine making and its many health benefits.