Interview on The Link, Radio Canada International, 2010: click here (fast forward to half way through the program)
Interview on Mcgill Radio at the Sustainable Food Festival, September 17, 2010: click here to hear the interview with Myrite (in first half of the program)
Take a look at some of the recent press around Wellness Coaches:
• Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks on CNN about the need for health coaches in America.
• ABC News reports on health coaching – what it is and how it can help you.
• Dr. Andrew Weil’s Self Healing magazine reports: “When athletes want a competitive edge, they hire a private coach to monitor their progress. When it comes to your health, using this mindset could also be beneficial. Health coaches are increasingly being hired by corporations to help employees stay healthy and by individuals seeking to improve well-being. For some, these coaches offer assistance in managing dietary constraints (due to conditions such as celiac disease or diabetes), and for others, they might focus on teaching stress-reduction methods. In some ways, the health coach picks up where your physician left off, helping you implement wellness strategies suggested after a check-up or diagnosis.” In the article, Integrative Nutrition graduate Christi Collins recommends finding a coach who has received training from a reputable program, and whose personality resonates with your own.
• CBS News reports: “Congress will miss the boat if it ends up perpetuating a system that reacts to illness rather than preventing it. Chronic diseases such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes wreck our quality of life and cost a fortune. In recent years, a new and intriguing concept has emerged in the prevention and treatment of chronic illness: the health coach.”
• NY Times article on coaches.
Food just part of holistic health picture
| JUNE THOMPSON |
| The Gazette |
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
When Myrite Rotstein told her parents she wanted to attend an institute in holistic health, they were leery – even more so after a visit to the centre in New York City.
“My parents thought it could have been a cult because everyone seemed so peaceful and happy,” said Rotstein, a very calm 23-year-old.
Her parents are much more relaxed now that their daughter has graduated as holistic health counsellor and opened her own practice.
Myrite fell into the field quite by chance. She was in a Boston bookstore when she saw a pamphlet about courses offered by the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City.
With visiting professors that included Dr. Andrew Weil and Deepak Chopra, the courses covered all the dieting theories out there, from ancient macrobiotics and Ayurveda to trends like Atkins and the Zone. Modern health concerns like diabetes, digestive disorders and menopause are also addressed.
But the emphasis at the institute, as in Rotsteins’ practice seems to be on primary foods, “things in your life that do not come on a plate but still nourish us in an important way,” i.e., exercise, healthy relationships, a meaningful career and spirituality.
She offers two programs, one three months, the other six, to point their clients toward their specific goals.
Some seek her out because they want to lose weight, others because they’re looking for a healthier lifestyle. “We have clients who just need for someone to listen to them since many doctors just don’t have the time these days,” Myrite said.
She examines clients’ lifestyles, their eating and exercise habits as well as their pastimes, and offer suggestions.
“We don’t want it to be overwhelming,” she said, so they suggest making “small changes that can be sustained.”
Part 2 of her program is mainly about food and nutrition. They provide cooking classes and recipes, and offer dinner parties where people can meet new friends and learn simple and nutritious recipes.
An equally important component is learning breathing and relaxation techniques. “People are so stressed out these days, we try to help them manage that better. We like it if our clients can find a few Zen moments each day.”
Sales rep Richard Monette, 48, turned to Rotstein because he wanted to “go back to the basics and learn to eat in a better way.” He didn’t want to get caught up in weighing and measuring his food, but wanted instead to have “a healthy relationship” with it.
Monette says he shed about 30 pounds in eight months and feels great. “I loved Myrite’s compassionate way,” he said. “She taught me about respecting the food I eat, which in turn has led to a whole new respect for my body.”
Rotstein does not have a medical degree and cannot prescribe medications, but they do work with clients’ physicians to set about making changes.
“I love what I’m doing” Rotstein said. “I know it’s what I’m meant to do.”
- – -
Have you lost a lot of weight or even a little?Do you have questions or tips to share about fitness or diet? June Thompson would like to hear from you. Email jthompson @thegazette. canwest.com or send a fax to 514-987-2639.
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2007
Mcgill Daily: Mon, October 30th, 2006 | Volume
96,number 15
You are what you eat. For serious.
Holistic food counselor Myrite Rotstein discusses the art of yin- yang food balancing
Mixing nutritional advice and cooking classes with Eastern philosophy, psychotherapy, and general emotional support, holistic food coach Myrite Rotstein says she has cleared up patients’ digestive problems, allergies, and even multiple sclerosis. The Daily sat down for (one) coffee to talk food politics, cultural obsessions, and smoking.
The McGill Daily: How would you describe contemporary food culture?
Rotstein: People see food as calories, or as ‘good’ and ‘bad.’ [They] judge themselves based on what they eat, but there’s nothing moral about foods – chocolate bars aren’t plotting to rot your teeth.
There’s so much fear – of sugar, fat, carbs, all these good things – and then these fake, chemical foods come along to replace them…. A lot of them haven’t even been tested on humans. And a lot of the time, you don’t make the connection that you literally are what you eat – the protein in your food is making your hair, nails, and skin. People don’t know how to cook, so they just get fast food. And many healthy foods just aren’t well advertised – who’s ever heard of quinoa?
MD: Are dietary requirements just another social construct?
Rotstein: I think so. Look at the dairy industry – it’s sold to us. It’s government subsidized, so they push milk in schools, but it has the least amount of calcium – kale and seaweed have much more. A lot of asthmas and digestive problems are associated with dairy – it’s worth questioning. As well, food pyramids don’t differentiate between different kinds of fat or whether the protein is coming from steak or tofu. And they imply that everyone needs the same thing, but everyone is different. You’re the expert on your body.
MD: Is yuppie health culture helpful or deeply misguided?
Rotstein: It’s good that the awareness is out there, but most people can’t afford to buy organic foods or see a naturopath. The health world is geared towards people who can afford this stuff. Look at what people can buy that’s cheap: junk food, fast food, pasta. Fruits and vegetables are so expensive; a family of five can eat more cheaply at McDonalds. Community nutrition classes, health counseling, and cooking classes should be part of the health care system.
MD: What does it mean to approach food holistically?
Rotstein: We look at food as sustenance. It’s not just the food on your plate, but also the ‘primary foods’: getting sleep, realistic amounts of exercise, being happy with your career and relationships. It’s about your lifestyle.
If you aren’t balanced in the ‘primary foods’ you’ll gravitate towards eating unhealthy food. You’ll get a lot of cravings.
MD: And what are cravings?
Rotstein: It’s a message that your body is sending you. People crave all sorts of things – sweets, salt, certain textures, cigarettes, caffeine – but you should just ask, ‘why do I crave cookies at night?’ What do I really need – physically, but also spiritually?
One client was always craving Chinese food when lonely or upset, so I asked her what Chinese food meant to her [and] who she had eaten it with. After she thought about it, she remembered her dad, whom she was estranged from, had taken her out for Chinese food. The craving was for time with family and friends.
MD: But coffee and cigarettes are physically addictive. Would you compare a craving for cigarettes to a craving for sweets?
Rotstein: I see food as a yin-yang, a way of balancing between opposites. Yin foods are sweeter, lighter, airier foods, foods that feel like yoga class: alcohol, sweets, cigarettes. Yang foods are heavier, denser, more like weightlifting: salts, proteins, meat, nuts. Stress is a very yang energy, so at the end of the day you go out for a beer or eat something sweet – or have a cigarette. That’s to balance out the yang. Cigarettes provide the relief and lightness that you don’t have in your everyday life.
– Compiled by Sarah Colgrove
Montreal Mirror, April 13th, 2006 Vol. 21, No. 42
Wholly healthy Unwanted flab and inner torment can be shed through holistic dieting, says coach |
|
by CHRIS BARRY
Name: Myrite Rotstein
Occupation: Holistic health counsellor.
Bio: This healthy, and wise downtown resident says she was raised in a “health-conscious environment” and first became concerned about our society’s collective health while in high school. “I had so many friends with eating issues. Bulimia and anorexia are really prevalent in high schools, and it bothered me that the root of the issue was being ignored, and still is. In my school, people would be sent off to the hospital to be fattened up, but when they’d get back nobody would talk about it—ask them, like, ‘What’s going on in your life?’ Instead it was more of an, ‘Oh, you’re so vain, you just want to be skinny’ kind of thing, even among the professionals.” To help combat this scourge, for the past two years Myrite has been operating a business called Tasty Life (myrite@gmail.com), counselling and developing individual diets for people looking for inner balance through improved health. “We operate on the assumption there’s no one diet that works for everyone. We feel everyone’s an individual, and with support, guidance and love, we’ll make gradual changes that will motivate them to discover what foods work for their particular bodies and lifestyles.”
Are most of her clients looking to lose weight? “No, but they generally do find their natural weight.”
But what if their natural weight isn’t fashionably acceptable? “Hey, your natural weight is cool.”
What Tasty Life will do for you: “We give an initial health consultation and get to know the client, essentially. Nobody wants to be told what they can’t eat, so instead we add new things to their diet which eventually start crowding out the rest. Once they start feeling great with all these healthy foods they’re consuming they don’t really want to go have a cigarette or a bag of chips anymore because they’re feeling so good—and they’ve made the connection as to why. People often don’t realize that what they eat becomes part of how they feel—their mood, their skin condition, whether they feel depressed, how their reproductive functions work, everything!”
Is eating meat bad for one’s karma? While Myrite is vegetarian (now flexitarian) she says for some people “a little animal protein is a good thing. But I’m not in a position to say what it does for your karma. Remember, there are a lot of junk food vegetarians too. Sure, they’re not eating meat, but instead they’re eating Doritos and all these other things with no essential nutrients.”
Last book read: The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein.
Musical preferences: Ben Folds, Nick Drake.
Words of wisdom: “The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patient in the care of the human frame—in diet and the cause and prevention of disease.”
