Integrative Nutrition Blog

Health Food Store Tour: Coffee, Tea, and Beverages

Christy Goldfeder — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:06:38 +0000

Hi there! I’m Christy Goldfeder, Health Coach and writer at Delicious Life Health Coaching and IIN Graduate, Class of 2006. Join me on IIN's virtual Health Food Store Tour, where I’ll give you weekly tips on how to shop healthfully. Come back each week as we stroll through the aisles to discover which foods are the healthiest.

Here’s what I look for when shopping for coffee, tea, or other beverages:

Organic: Crops like coffee and tea are usually sprayed with a number of chemicals. Choosing organic products helps reduce the amount of pesticides and herbicides we consume.

Fair Trade: It’s not always possible to find fair-trade goods. But it’s great when you can because crops are grown in an ecologically sustainable manner, and goods are sold at a price that can sustain communities.

Here are a few healthy beverage choices:

Do Breastfeeding and Co-Sleeping Make You a Better Mother?

Laura Binder — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:58:45 +0000

The latest issue of Time magazine, featuring a provocative cover photo of a mother breastfeeding her nearly four-year-old son, has sparked a media craze with everyone from U.S. congresswomen to Saturday Night Live weighing in.

What’s all the fuss all about? The photo, and the accompanying article about the attachment parenting philosophy championed by pediatrician William Sears, is generating controversy about everything from the sexualization of breastfeeding to the more fundamental question of what it means to be a good parent.

Health Leadership Award: A Smokin' Hot Mom

Joshua Rosenthal — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

We recently kicked off the Health Leadership Awards with mother and school food champion Allison Carmen.

At IIN we are blessed to have a community filled with exceptional mothers who are dedicated to changing the lives of their family and the world.

That’s why this week, we honor and celebrate Smokin’ Hot Mom Nina Manolson, whose outstanding work as a Health Coach empowers all of us to “feel good in our skin.”

Turning Risk into Reward

I enrolled at IIN after a genetic test determined I was at high risk for Breast Cancer. After a lifetime of struggling with my weight and criticizing myself in the mirror, I was faced with the preciousness of my body and how I could no longer afford to be at war with myself. I stepped up my self-care and, in the process, realized that my passion lay in helping women reclaim their body and ending the struggle between food and self-image for future generations.

27 Ways to Lift Your Mood in Minutes

Christy Goldfeder — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:15:44 +0000

What makes you feel amazing? What can snap you out of a bad mood in seconds?

One of the key things we learn at Integrative Nutrition is how to feel our whole selves with what we call “Primary Food” – the relationships, activities, work, exercise, and spiritual practices that fulfill our lives and fill us up in ways that food cannot.

Our community is great at feeding themselves with healthy doses of Vitamin L (love) and primary food. We asked our community what makes them feel their best, and here’s what they told us:

Motivate Your Monday with the Seinfeld Productivity Secret

Ansley Fones — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:46:18 +0000

The first day of the week can be a daunting prospect with so much undone ahead of you. Look at it from another point of view, though, and Monday is a perfect day for starting new habits and striving towards new goals.

If you ask around the office here at Integrative Nutrition, our goals include many small intentions, like exercising more often, accomplishing creative projects, learning a new skill or language, and keeping our apartments cleaner.

These goals can fall through the cracks, though, because they seem too ambitious or maybe we just forget to work on them. They would be much more manageable if broken up into small chunks. So why not resolve to work towards these goals a little bit everyday?

Happy Mother's Day From Integrative Nutrition!

Bridget Shannon — Sun, 13 May 2012 12:35:00 +0000

Happy Mother’s Day to all the amazing moms out there! Hopefully you have an extra special day planned for your mom, enjoying her company over brunch, or showering her with gifts!

More importantly, we hope you take the time today to tell your mother how much she means to you and why you appreciate her. We asked some Integrative Nutrition staffers to share what they love about their moms and what makes them so special. Read below to see their responses – this is a very loving bunch!

“I've never met anyone more caring, compassionate, beautiful, loving and kind than my mom. She goes out of her way to make sure that everyone around her is taken care of before she takes care of herself. I hope to one day be like her.” –Carly, Events/Student Services

Pure Bliss Eats: A Healthy Online Bakery

Bridget Shannon — Sat, 12 May 2012 13:05:00 +0000

It takes a lot of guts to leave a secure, full-time job, but Nicole Culver, a 2011 graduate of the Health Coach Training Program from South Hempstead, NY, said she would have been crazy to stay. Her dream was to help people have a healthier life, and now she’s living it – watching not one, but two businesses grow.

In addition to health coaching, Nicole has launched Pure Bliss Eats, a healthy online bakery loaded with delicious treats. (The pictures alone are enough to make your mouth water!) The mission behind tasty sweets like organic granola and gluten free chocolate balls is to make healthy snacks easy and delicious for everyone. Read on to learn more about how Nicole got started and what inspired her unique online bakery!

What led you to enroll at Integrative Nutrition?

Announcing the Health Leadership Award

Joshua Rosenthal — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:29:00 +0000

I am thrilled, proud and honored to present the very first Health Leadership Award to an outstanding graduate who has been a leader in the school food movement, a health educator, and role model for her children and her community: Allison Carmen.

When I first met Allison, she was a young woman in her twenties, highly educated and a successful lawyer for a large New York City firm. As one of the thirty students in Integrative Nutrition’s very first class, she demonstrated an exceptional desire to understand the transformational effects that nutrition can have on our lives.

With curiosity and intelligence, Allison has continued to analyze and put into practice the ideas and energy she gained from that program. Her most recent project, The Book of Maybe is inspired by her time at IIN, as well as her experience as a business consultant and coach.

Early Adapter

Overworked, stressed and exhausted from her successful career in corporate America, Allison was seeking a way to heal herself and others. She recognized the possibility of holistic principles long before they had entered the mainstream.

Health Food Store Tour: Pantry Items

Christy Goldfeder — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:37:02 +0000

Hi there! I’m Christy Goldfeder, Health Coach and IIN Graduate, Class of 2006. Join me on IIN’s virtual Health Food Store Tour, where I’ll give you weekly tips on how to shop healthfully. Come back each week as we stroll through the aisles to discover which foods are the healthiest.

Here’s what I look for when I’m seeking items for my pantry:

Flavorful and Whole

I like a pantry full of exotic flavors – variety is the spice of life. Bring on the Middle Eastern, Indian and Chinese spices.

When choosing oils, I think about how much processing needs to happen before you can extract the oil. For example, if you squeeze an olive, you’ll notice that it’s naturally oily. It’s the same thing with nuts. Not so much with vegetable oils.

Here are some of my favorite pantry items:

Be a Healthy Leader on Food Revolution Day

Christy Goldfeder — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:06:47 +0000

Integrative Nutrition is partnering with Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Day on Saturday, May 19, and we encourage you to get IINvolved!

Hosting a Local Food Event is a great way to get your health coaching practice out there and in front of people who are looking for your services.

Become a healthy leader in your community with one of these ideas:

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