Today we’d like to introduce you to Terri Edwards.
Hi Terri, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My journey to becoming a Holistic Nutritionist began in my early 30s, just after having our first child. At that time, I was a stay-at-home mom and began to gain weight and was sick often, feeling unwell more often than well. As a child, I was thin, but as a teen and into my twenties, I struggled to keep my weight stable, using constant dieting and exercise to maintain an average weight. This got me thinking about the food that I was eating and the role it must play in my weight and health struggles.
I began reading about different food substances that were in the news at the time, like trans fats, which led me to stop consuming foods that contained hydrogenated oils. A funny story here: my daughter was about 3 or 4 years old at this time, and one day, when she was playing at a friend’s house, she was offered Goldfish crackers as a snack. Her friend’s mother called me and asked why my daughter wanted to know if the crackers had hydrogenated oils and what they were.
As I made changes to what I ate, my health began to improve. Things I had struggled with for a long time, like getting the cold or flu every time the season changed, were no longer an issue.
When my children were in school, I returned to college for my Master of Science in Holistic Nutrition. I chose Holistic Nutrition because the research I had done up to that point led me to understand that our physical health depends not only on what we eat and how we move each day, but also on our emotional, spiritual, and mental health.
So, I obtained my MS in Holistic Nutrition from the American College of Healthcare Sciences in 2017 at the age of 52 and started my company, Eat 4 Health Nutrition Counseling, LLC, in 2018 to help others improve their health naturally, through food and lifestyle adjustments.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with any new endeavor, whether working on becoming healthier or starting a company, there are bumps along the way as it requires research and learning, experiencing through trial and error, updating to accommodate changes, and finding support when needed. For example, when I started E4H, my website and social media pages were sufficient marketing tools to get the word out and help people find me, but as search engines and social media platforms changed algorithms, that became more challenging. And since marketing is not a strength for me, this challenged me to look beyond what I was familiar with and search for new ways to get the message out. This is one reason I am thankful for Voyage Austin and its community of entrepreneurs and others who promote and support small businesses.
In terms of nutrition counseling, fundamental principles can help get many people on the track to becoming healthier, principles like eating clean, whole foods, getting sufficient daily movement and sleep, keeping stressors to a minimum, and maintaining healthy relationships. However, each person brings different life experiences, daily challenges, and even genetic predispositions for certain conditions, making each client unique and requiring individualized, focused care.
Our uniqueness makes life interesting and wonderful, but can also present challenges to healing that must be identified and worked through. This process takes time, and is one reason I restructured how I work one-on-one with clients. Today, I work through packages, beginning with a three-month package that provides time to start learning, assessing, and addressing the client’s health story and challenges.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I founded E4H as a consulting business to work with individuals, optimizing their health naturally, as I’ve done, using food and lifestyle modifications for improved metabolism and a healthier weight and body. Food is foundational because it contains nutrients that get broken down and used for energy, growth, and other important body functions. If our metabolism isn’t functioning well, we can have health issues like weight challenges, fatigue, and metabolic syndrome, which increases our risk for conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Dietary nutrients and their metabolites are the building blocks of body structure, serving as fuel for the body, and directing the function of other molecules, like proteins. So, choosing the right food for the body is crucial to our overall health, and the foundation of becoming healthier!
At E4H, the starting point to learning and assessing the client’s story begins with a 3-Month Program that includes a written assessment completed by the client, and meetings (which can be in-person or online at the client’s discretion) to develop the client’s personalized nutrition and lifestyle plan. These meetings provide time for the client and counselor to discuss the client’s specific health goals and the interventions that can be used to move the client toward those goals. The plan may include health pillars like food, movement, stress, sleep, and supplementation modifications that help clients address their concerns and move them toward their health goals.
For women who want to learn how food, movement, purpose, relationships, and sleep all play a role in our overall health, E4H offers a 6-week personal or small group online challenge called the BWELL Challenge.
Holistic nutrition takes the natural approach to developing a healthy body through a varied, balanced diet of whole foods and beverages that support the body, and also addresses the emotional and spiritual aspects that contribute to optimizing overall health and well-being.
Each small incremental shift to improving our food and lifestyle positively impacts overall health. And, because not everyone can afford to work one-on-one with a nutrition counselor, I share free, research-backed information on various health-related topics like Simplifying Food Portions, How to Achieve a Healthy, Sustainable Weight, and How to Diversify Your Diet for Improved Health, as well as recipes with healthy ingredients on the E4H website blog page.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Some may think that every nutritionist enjoys cooking, however, I like to spend as little time as possible in the kitchen. I remember hearing a professor say that food is both a science and an art. I enjoy the science side of food (food as a source of nutrition), but coming up with beautiful, creative dishes challenges me. With that said, herbs and spices are a wonderful addition to any meal because they add nutrition, taste, and improve presentation, supporting both the science and art of food. 😊
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.eat4healthnutrition.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/e4h_nutrition/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresa-edwards-4904b08a/
