What is Holistic Nutrition?

By Katie Schmidt
Integrative Nutrition Health Coach

Holistic nutrition is a philosophy that recognizes health is multi-dimensional, comprised of the physical, chemical, mental, emotional, and spiritual body. As such, in daily life health is the expression of a dynamic exchange between night and day, routine and play, cooking and eating, movement and stillness, beliefs and mindsets, attunement and intuition, as well as connection with others and alignment with a greater good.

Holistic nutrition honors your unique body and innate wisdom. It acknowledges that nourishment comes in many forms; food is only one of them. And it encourages one baby step at a time, recognizing that change to one dimension of our health affects everything else.

As an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, I work collaboratively with you to establish a diverse set of mini habits that are tailored to your needs and allow you to approach health from this inside-out, whole-person perspective. Along the way, you’ll discover what holistic nutrition means to you by gaining an intimate understanding of the foods, meal patterns, thoughts, and rituals that individually and synergistically energize and deplete you.

As a health coach, I do not diagnose disease, nutritional deficiencies, or apply medical nutrition therapy for treatment. My scope of practice is to diagnose obstacles to health present in habits, daily routine, nutrition misconceptions, mindset or limited beliefs; provide education, tools and strategies to make nourishment accessible in daily life; guide the formation of sustainable food and lifestyle habits. Within this framework, clients seek my support to:

– Heal their relationship with food and body
– Learn a non-diet framework for finding the foods right for their own body
– Update or initiate good cooking habits
– Define health values and align food and lifestyle choices with these values

A value central to my work is reinforcing the good rather than restricting the bad. Carving out space for nourishment each day is a meditation on abundance and attunement rather than scarcity and deprivation. This value is infused into coaching sessions where we might discuss the following topics and form action steps around them for home practice:

– Intuitive eating and mindful eating strategies
– Overcoming diet mentality, emotional eating, disordered eating behavior
– Digestive health and the mind-body connection
– Non-diet nutrition education for energy, gut health, and cognitive function
– Recipes, cooking formulas, pantry stocking, and meal planning

After living in Europe for six years and coaching clients in three countries with over 12 nationalities, the diversity of my client base has given me insight for essential steps, regardless of life’s events and pressures, to feeling good in and about the body. In our work together, I guide you to a deeper awareness of your body so you can source a greater sense of energy, inner peace, and self-trust, allowing you to maintain long term the good habits you establish in the kitchen and beyond.

Interested in a learning more about Katie and her practice, or scheduling a complimentary consultation with her? Email hello@havncollective.com to be connected!