Natalie Cornell, an experienced Chicago nutritionist, provides individual and group coaching, health and nutrition seminars, and customized employee wellness programs. All of the programs and resources offered by Cornell Health and Nutrition are designed to teach people to keep living a healthy lifestyle for the rest of their lives.
Natalie Cornell: Chicago Diet and Nutrition Counselor
I am a certified nutritionist and graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, which is affiliated with Columbia University. I provide workshops, web seminars, nutrition resources, and diet counseling in Chicago to a varied client list of individuals, groups, athletic teams and companies.
As a Chicago nutrition counselor, I am able to share my passion for nutrition and wellness with the people around me. Nutrition counseling is always gratifying, because I’m teaching clients skills they can use for the rest of their lives.
My grandfather was a surgeon, and the first in his farm family to go to college. His first prescription for health was to go outside and hoe a row of vegetables and "sweat out" whatever was making us sick. A strong believer that the body could heal itself, he pioneered getting surgical patients up and moving rather than languishing in bed. So I guess I've come to this profession naturally.
Previously, I worked the corporate world, where I was a Marketing VP in professional services. As a busy executive, I was challenged to eat healthy meals because of long days at the office and a hectic travel schedule. I now share with my clients the recipes I developed in order to prepare healthy meals for myself in under 20 minutes. I have taken cooking lessons from the Seasons of Provence Cooking School in St. Remy de Provence, France, and in various places in Chicago.
I believe in eating food that is as close to natural as possible. I advocate organic, locally produced choices when selecting fruits, grains, vegetables, dairy and meats.
I live in Chicago with my black lab, Max, and grow vegetables and herbs in my backyard. But, I wasn't always this healthy ...
About 4 years ago, I went to the doctor for an annual check-up and weighed, gulp, 163 pounds. I couldn't figure out how that happened - in college, I was about 120 lbs. So I decided things had to change. I tried a number of ways to lose weight but it was soooo hard. I had a job where I was traveling globally, stressed out, eating out all the time and never getting exercise.
I did just what everyone does: I joined a gym and only went about once a week, if I was lucky. I cut back on food and found my energy flagging. I was cranky!
Then I realized I needed to change my relationship with food. It wasn't there to nurture me when I'd had a bad week, or to give me something to do when I was bored. And great restaurant food came in appetizer portions. I learned I felt better when I cooked for myself for two reasons: 1) I could control the portion sizes and 2) cooking for me was a way of taking care of myself. So I dove in. I learned through a number of mistakes how to make meals in the time it takes to boil water and cook pasta. Nutritious, fast meals that fed my body and soul.
I joined yet another gym and hired a personal trainer so I had an appointment twice a week and he took NO excuses. Discipline isn't my strong suit, so this really helped. I built muscle and boosted my metabolic rate by 30% - that meant I burned more calories when all I was doing was sitting around ... how great is that?
And I'm still at it - these days I seem to be losing inches more than pounds, but that's OK too. Menopause meant that I put weight on in different places than before, so I'm still trying to figure that out!
If I can do it, anyone can. I can't rely on discipline or willpower, because I really have very little of either. For me it was about changing how I think - then it became easier to change what I do.