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"The fork is your most powerful tool to change your health and the planet; food is the most powerful medicine to heal chronic illness."
—Mark Hyman

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WELCOME

As a Chef and Certified Health Coach, my goal is to support your specific wellness goals. Together, we’ll create a personalized plan designed to help you live your healthiest life. 

How Can I Help You Reach Your Goals?

I'm here to help you achieve optimum wellness, whether that means creating meal plans, teaching you to cook, taking you shopping, establishing mindfulness routines, or learning how to heal your body through food. 

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Let's make a plan to heal your mind, body, and soul!

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Signature Culinary Healing Program

My signature program tackles everything you need to reboot your health. Together, we will work on my program, Healing through Food, Mind, Body, and Soul. It's everything you need to create a strong foundation for a healthy, happy, fabulous new you!

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Shop, Cook, and Meal Plan

Sometimes you just need someone to take you to the store, meet you at the Greenmarket, help you master some basic recipes, and plan weekly meals for maximum flavor and wellness. If this sounds like your dream, let's make it happen! 

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Custom Programs Tailored to You!

Are you a diabetic like me? Are you hoping to make a health-forward change in lifestyle? Whether you need a health coach, a cooking class, or a mindful meditation practice, let's talk about your wellness goals and see how we can work together to achieve them!

Meet Chef Di

My Story

Hey there! I'm Diana. Nice to meet you!

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In 1983, I graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and began my life as a chef, loving the life of creating dishes and learning about different foods and how they work together. Little did I know how much food would be a part of my life. And my healing.

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On April 15th, 2018, I was blindsided with a diagnosis of a horrible disease, Type 1 diabetes. I was a healthy active woman in her 50’s . No family history and yet, I got the disease that kills people around the world daily.

 

I felt everything: fear, shame, anger, confusion, and self-pity. You name it, I felt it. But the truth is, health challenges have been with me my entire life. I had a cleft palate as a child and have been plagued with ear issues and multiple surgeries as a result. It’s like it’s my DNA. 

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So I grabbed my health by the horns and started to really listen to what my body needed. I went to school and graduated from Institute of Integrative Nutrition (INN) as a Health Coach. And when my healing began, I wrote a book called Healthy Food, Happy Me – HOW A DIABETIC CHEF FOUND WISDOM & BiALANCE. Reach out to get your copy! 

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My lessons of wisdom and balance are continuing as they will for my whole life. But the program that I created for myself, Healing through Food, Mind, Body & Soul is what shifted everything in my life. In the right direction.

Here is what I know today: 

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I am here to teach, inspire, and guide you, through your own healing journey.

     

I am here to shine a light on the people who have the tools but forgot.

     

I am a flashlight holder.

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Meet Chef Di

In April 2018, I was blindsided with a diagnosis of diabetes. I was shocked. I was a classically trained chef, and a healthy, fit woman who had a great understanding of good food. How did this happen? Why? And what next? 

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I was determined to start healing my body. I enrolled at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and began a new understanding of how food could be my medicine. In that process, I created Healing Fully + Living Freely, my program for wellness coaching.

 

My program leans into healing through food, mind, body, and soul. While I focus on diabetics, my culinary and health coaching program works for anyone looking for a way to find a more healthful, mindful way to lifelong wellness. 

I Lowered my A1C!

Diana taught me how to add vegetables and other foods that I would not have thought about. The results for my A1C numbers are proof that the changes we made worked. I lowered my A1C from 12.3 down to 7.6. My blood sugar levels were over 500 and now are around 150-200!! Diana made our sessions  fun and without any pressure on me, because at the end of the day I had to do what I had to do to get MY results.

 TESTIMONIALS 

I Created a Community!

When I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, I was terrified as I had young kids. Diana taught me to track what I ate and how to evaluate my numbers. She showed me how to add safely add exercise to my daily life. I learned so much from Diana! I even created a group in my community for other men with diabetes to talk with me and learn more about the condition.

I'm No Longer Pre-Diabetic!

By following Diana's tips and instructions, in collaboration with instructions from my doctor, I was able to reduce my risk factors as well as drop a significant amount of weight. In 26 weeks, I lost 26 pounds and my blood sugar numbers and cholesterol numbers were better than ever! And the best news, I am no longer considered pre-diabetic!

I have a lot to say about the power of food to heal your body, mind, and soul. So, I did what all the cool kids are doing: I wrote a book. "Healthy Food, Happy Me: How a Diabetic Chef Found Wisdom and Balance," combines my work as a classically trained chef with my degree from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

 

This 25-ingredient photo-food-book takes you through a year of seasonal ingredients with nutrition facts, recipe tips, and more. Together with Nutritionist Tanya Freirich, I share tips and advice on each one of the 25 ingredients.

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I hope this book inspires you to explore healthy foods through a more playful and curious lens. And in learning more about healthy food, perhaps we may all take back a little part of our own health. One day a time. xx Chef Di.

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