Bedtime snack in 2nd grade!
Hi! My name is Bekah Rieke and I’m a CHNC (that means Certified Holistic Nutrition Coach) trained at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition‘s cutting edge Health Coach Training Program.
I’m also a food-a-holic. A foodie. A locavore. A beer snob. An anything-fermented fanatic. You name it I’ve been called it when it comes to my interest and devotion to gastronomy and the culinary world. I absolutely love food: wholesome REAL food that connects us to the earth, our community, our bodies, and our souls. REAL food, in the form of whole organic ingredients, has the power to help us transform our lives and be our best. A friend once told me that I was “in the right place” as a nutrition coach when she witnessed me crowing over some gorgeous chili peppers from the farmers’ market and getting super excited about some amazing sunchokes as I fantasized about a wild rice-sunchoke-mushroom side dish for our upcoming Thanksgiving. This is how I feel about real food! It’s beautiful and exciting and a reason to give thanks and love ourselves!
I have always had a passion for real ingredients and eating seasonal, local, sustainable and healthy food. In my younger years I explored this passion through culinary school, restaurant apprenticeships, and internships on small organic farms. I also lived in Italy for three years and explored, studied, and cooked my way through this country’s amazing culinary heritage and traditions. In recent years my love for whole foods has turned toward the amazing power that food has to affect our health and happiness. I have had a full-on transformative period in which I’ve embraced my own health in new ways: I do yoga, I work out, and I pay attention to my body when I eat. Along with these changes have come new eating habits, body awareness and a ripple effect of other positive changes. I lost 20 pounds and have maintained my ideal weight ever since. But most importantly, I feel better than I ever have. My relationships are flourishing and I’m doing what I love.
Conventional wellness with a “medical model” pathology-focused framework focuses on one part of a person that is “wrong”: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, BMI, caloric intake, etc. Along with this comes an approach to diet and health that counts calories and dwells on carbs, fats, and proteins, creating a food pyramid style list of restrictions of good and bad foods. I focus on the whole person because I don’t believe that any creative, intelligent adult should suffer from isolated health issues without looking at the whole picture. I do believe that all of us can nourish ourselves and come to a more whole body/mind/spirit state of wellness through a holistic approach to health.
This is what I help facilitate for others with my work with SageSpoonLiving.
I coach clients to achieve their health goals (e.g., weight loss, digestive concerns, emotional eating) through REAL food and sage new-found body intelligence. I use my passion for real food and my expertise in the kitchen, to help intelligent, creative, beautiful, and in-need-of-nourishment folks, to transform their health and care for themselves by turning on the stove and learning to cook wholesome healthy food. I teach sustainable and healthy lifestyle and nutrition habits with a focus that starts in the kitchen.
Learn more about my training and unique approach to health coaching. I meet with clients in person or over the phone and Skype.
Are you curious about how health coaching can help you? Let’s talk. Schedule a complimentary consultation with me today.