Let me start with some good news: it’s completely possible to eat healthy and nutritious meals that are also delicious and satisfying. You can absolutely improve your health without sacrificing the taste and pleasure that we all love about food.

 

I should know; I’ve been cooking since I could first hold a spatula. I’ve also suffered from my own share of nutritional challenges. However, I learned to use the food that I loved to help balance my body’s health and resolve those problems.

 

At the time of my epiphany, I had already established a gourmet commercial kitchen called Shani Cake Catering and Dessert Company, and was happily supplying my customers with delicious and high-quality desserts. I had also graduated from the Westlake Culinary Institute, and was teaching classes as a hands-on culinary instructor at Sur La Table. I had all the tools I needed to teach people how to make excellent food, so I decided to combine my passion for cooking with my revelations about health, and to take my work to the next level as a registered dietitian. With a graduate degree in nutrition from California State University, Northridge and years of experience working at the world renowned Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the California Center for Healthy Living, I’ve now made it my life’s work to teach people how to nourish themselves for optimal health.

 

After working in five departments at Cedars, I realized how tremendously important it was to give my patients adequate time to transform their habits, and thereby lessen their need for costly and stressful medical interventions. I noticed that too many of my hospital patients came only after the disease had struck; oftentimes unequipped with the knowledge that would have prevented that illness in the first place.

My solution, therefore, is to give you the time, knowledge and space to learn, shift and heal. This means starting as early as possible - ideally equipping your children and family with a lifetime’s worth of knowledge and training to help everyone nourish well.

 

I’ve worked with hundreds of families over the course of my career, and I’ve learned that the best way to achieve optimal nutrition at home is to help the family work together as a unit. By taking the time to work with both the parents and the children at their own pace, I can help everyone address their nutritional concerns together. Specifically, I teach mindful eating through a holistic, non-diet, intuitive eating approach; and I incorporate my BA in Psychology from UC Santa Barbara, and graduate work in nutrition from California State University, Northridge, to help you overcome some of the more subtle challenges. Nutrition and health are not just physical issues, but oftentimes have deeper emotional and habitual factors that can hinder your attempts to transform, and these may need to be addressed.

 

Remember, if you’re struggling with your weight, you’re not alone. According to studies published in 2012, the percentage of obese and overweight children in the United States has doubled since 1980. With such a substantial rise in eating and metabolic issues, it’s more important than ever to properly educate the younger generation to be mindful of their nutrition. And there’s no better way to do so than to start at the family-level.

 

Optimal nutrition is about creating a healing environment in your body, so that the body can come naturally into better balance. It’s about guiding everyone in your family to find their body’s natural hunger and satiety cues. It’s about working together to set the right habits, pick the best ingredients, and cook the most fulfilling meals. To that end, my goal is to give you and your children a sacred space to explore your health together as a collaborative family unit.

 

This is why I launched NourishWell. Not only do I offer my individual services – which are available to patients of all ages, I also created the NourishWell Family Program - the first ever of its kind – to give you and your family the time and space you need to achieve better health and balance. My three-month and

six-month programs are designed to help your whole family demystify, streamline, and systemize their nutrition in the form of healthy habits, boundaries, and choices. Whether through quality food, delicious meals or exquisite quality supplementation, I use nutrition to help you find a lifestyle that allows you to feel better and live better.

 

An education like this lasts a lifetime, and my vision now is to bring my program to as many individuals and their families as I can. 

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Please go to  www.ShaniMara.com to learn more about my work with Families, Kids and Teens!