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Cooking classes, counseling help clarify healthy eating
Everywhere you look, it seems, there is advice on what to eat and what to avoid. With all of the dietary information out there, it's hard to sift through and find the right mix of tasty, healthful, convenient, easy-to-prepare food.
There is, however, help available.
Petra Mercier, a certified health specialist currently enrolled at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York, has recently opened an office at 17 Horner St. in Warrenton and is offering a variety of services for clients.
Her business, Nutritional Wisdom, offers both one-on-one and group cooking classes, as well as programs in nutritional cleansing and dietary counseling.
Mercier, who grew up in the Czech Republic and came to Warrenton in 1998, has developed a keen interest in healthy eating. While attending school full time ? some work is done online and she makes regular trips to New York City for classroom lessons ? she has continued to work part time at the Natural Marketplace.
“Working at the Natural Marketplace for the past seven years, I have developed a passion in nutrition and healing and have enjoyed sharing this knowledge with my friends, colleagues and family,” she said. “Being from the Czech Republic, the importance of nutrition has always been emphasized. Growing up, I learned the importance of using local, quality, and seasonal foods for meal preparation and how these foods affect our well being.”
Mercier credits her experience at the Warrenton store with “putting me on the right path,” but says it took one-on-one nutritional counseling to convince her that she needed to walk a little farther.
After completing a six-month program with holistic health counselor Alice Myers, Mercier committed to attending IIN.
“I decided that I wanted to increase the knowledge gained from my work at the Natural Marketplace and learn how to live a better life through eating well and taking care of myself. I enrolled in the spring of 2008 and will be finished in August 2009. At IIN, I am learning how to guide clients to reach their health and life goals by making step by step changes to their food and lifestyle choices,” she said.
Even as she learns more, Mercier is eager to share her knowledge.
Monthly cooking classes offer participants tips and recipes for eating well. Limited to eight people, the classes are geared toward the season and Mercier uses local food whenever possible. In the winter, the group might prepare soups or stews, while warm weather classes focus on lighter, more refreshing fare, she explained.
“It's more than a cooking class. I'm helping people find holistic foods for them. I explain why I'm using certain ingredients,” she said, adding that chefs-in-training go home with recipes and information on the ingredients used. Because the class sizes are small, Mercier is able to address specific issues for participants ? offer advice for allergy sufferers, for instance. Mercier also focuses on teaching basic cooking principals so that participants can expand their repertoire by adapting what they learn with different ingredients.
For class participant David Symington, the experience has been extremely helpful.
“Petra's cooking class is about knowledge and growth. She presents the use of organic whole foods and spices for recipes that are nutritious, full of flavor and efficiently digested,” said Symington. “Her knowledge of food preparation is vast. Her recipes may be the finest many people will ever encounter. They are easily prepared and make a wonderful presentation. Her class is a bargain at twice the price.”
While the cooking classes are held in Mercier's Warrenton home, she does counseling sessions at her new office.
The seven-day nutritional cleansing program is a “jump start for healthy eating,” Mercier said, explaining that the program incorporates whole foods and discourages the use of processed foods. “Hopefully, people get used to it and start incorporating it into their everyday cooking,” she said. After eating whole foods, clients “feel lighter and are more clear minded,” Mercier added.
Mercier also offers a six-month nutritional health counseling program in which she works closely with clients to create a healthy eating plan that works with their lifestyle to meet their goals. Meeting twice a month, Mercier said that the program begins with a free, confidential health history and discussion about objectives. While some clients want to lose weight, others seek increased energy or simply clarification on what to eat. Whatever the goal, Mercier said it's important to make changes slowly because too much change at once is overwhelming.
“So many people are not being listened to. They need to be able to express themselves [to determine] what really is the cause of the problem. I'll help them figure it out and put them on the right path,” she said, adding that at IIN she is studying a number of different types of diets and has experience working with supplements as well as aromatherapy and herbology.
“I want to help them discover a healthier and more energized life through eating well and taking care of themselves,” she said.
For more information, contact Mercier at (540) 905-2252 or visit www.petramercier.com .
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