Nourishment Coaching
As your Nourishment Coach, I’m here to help you create a nourished lifestyle that works uniquely for you: from learning how to cook delicious nutrient-dense meals, to developing healthy habits and a supportive mindset.
I specialize in working with food-sensitive diets, due in part to my own health and dietary restrictions.
Photo by Essence Sessions
with nourishment coaching, you can:
Learn the fundamentals of delicious healthy cuisine, from grocery shopping to cooking techniques and kitchen tools
Find new inspiration and support with your unique diet (such as vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, paleo, keto, AIP or beyond)
Receive uniquely designed recipes, organizational tips and ongoing support to help you meet your health goals
Integrate intuitive cooking into your lifestyle
Experience peace, joy, creativity and harmony in your relationship to food and health
“
Maria brings her staggering knowledge and deep heart to the task of helping people to learn how to nourish themselves. I've not only learned how to cook delicious food, but I've started to rebuild my relationship with my body and my soul. If you're looking to bring heart back into your kitchen but don't know where to start — call Maria. Also, she's incredibly funny and a joy to be around, she'll make the process fun!
— Mark A. (local coaching client)
Nourishment & Empowerment Coaching Program
My Nourishment and Empowerment Coaching Program is designed to assist you in-person, over-the-phone, or online.
Nourishment coaching plans are individualized. I can provide you some or all of the following offerings, tailored to your unique needs and health goals:
Customized recipes and food tips based on specific diet and lifestyle needs.
Total pantry restructuring including equipment, dry goods, meats and produce.
Education around paleo cooking, meal timing, exercise, stretching, stress management and relaxation.
Connecting you with local food sources or mail order sources for highest quality meat and eggs.
Weekly phone or videocall for support and guidance.
For those in a 30 minute radius to Boulder, CO, cooking lessons!
Offerings
What I offer:
When I work with clients with limited diets, I create "can-do" food lists, and creatively work with them on meal solutions matching their lifestyle, family needs, and food preferences.
I focus on how to get as many nutrients in as possible, within the landscape of their restrictions. For example, if someone is needing to be on a low FODMAPs diet, it can seem that they’re missing some nutrients, but if we hone in on what they can eat, and focus on the highest nutrient-dense ingredients that are within their "can-do" list, they will in fact get a wide variety of nutrients and begin to feel uplifted and quite vibrant!
I enjoy this work so much, and love empowering clients to take control of their nourishment. I walk beside them as a support, as it is rarely a linear process, and having weekly or twice weekly contact helps to keep them on track.
For long-distance clients, we connect via video calls, email, and phone sessions, and I follow up with action lists and directions, to assist in accountability.
I work one-on-one with locals (in Boulder, CO), and sometimes travel for one-on-one support. I’ve sometimes done this type of work over a long weekend with individuals, sort of an "intensive nourishment dive."
I often work with spouses, if the individual is not able to cook. I greatly enjoy working with couples, as learning to create nutrient-dense meals specific to their needs, as a team, and stocking the fridge together can be deeply transformative and sustainable for health.
The in-person support is very hands-on: pantry clean-outs, kitchen equipment assessment, ingredient and equipment purchasing guidance, and cooking together: teaching basic to complex kitchen skills.
teaching
Speaking engagements
Group discussions
In-home group cooking instruction
In-home one-on-one cooking instruction
Date night cooking class(es)
in-home coaching
In-home coaching for individuals, couples, and group/family
Pantry and fridge clean-out
Cooking lessons and hands-on guidance
In-between session support, including phone and text support, and follow-up notes for each session
Customized simple recipes, weekly nourishment plans, and cooking techniques
Food shopping guidance to meet your lifestyle
Field trip to local farm to source nutrient-dense food options
long-distance coaching
Online video or phone coaching sessions
In-between session support, including phone and text support, and follow-up notes for each session
Customized simple recipes, weekly nourishment plans, and cooking techniques
Food shopping guidance to meet your lifestyle
Support around integrated lifestyle and nutrition
in-home coaching + personal chef services (limited availability)
In-home coaching services
+ Customized personal chef service
Perfect for those who simply cannot cook for themselves because of medical reasons or life circumstances
It’s my pleasure to empower you to create healthy, nutritious, and delicious meals that support the life you desire.
Do you want to increase the flavor and consistency of the meals you prepare?
Are you so busy that you have a hard time cooking during the week?
Do you have a special diet such as GAPS, Auto-immune Protocol, FODMAPS, or have food allergies or intolerances that sometimes feel daunting and make it difficult to keep cooking simple?
Are your food preferences or dietary restrictions, or that of family members, creating a home landscape with meals that feel complex or overwhelming?
Nourishment coaching can support you to find health while keeping things simple, serene, and joyful.
Everyone's needs are so different.
As your Nourishment Coach, I look at your unique food conundrum as a puzzle and I'm passionate about creating simple systems that work in the kitchen and in your life! I have 15 years of experience, focusing on special diets and clean foods that are delicious and fulfilling. I use healing spices, roots, protein, healthy fats, and organic vegetables and herbs to assist you with this journey.
I meet you where you are, and together, we build a refined path of nourishment, that empowers you with tools to bring nutrient-dense foods to your body in a simple and sustainable way.
I hold you accountable, following up with you often, in a compassionate container, free of judgment.
I invite you to take this journey, and start with finding out more by getting in touch with me!
Testimonials
“
I was moved to sign on for nourishment coaching with Chef Maria following advice from my healthcare practitioner that I eat a more nutrient-dense diet. This advice happened to coincide with Maria's launch of Heartful Kitchen: a cookbook for every body. Overwhelmed by the prospect of eating differently (combined with continued responsibilities to cook for family members), I took this as a sign and contacted my new navigator for a complimentary initial session.
Maria has been the ideal sherpa in my journey to steer away from excess carbs and sugars — longtime dietary staples of mine. She has given me tools for preparing tasty vegetables, proteins, and healthy fats, while also equipping me with a number of resources to make food preparation healthier while keeping it relatively stress-free.
She is everything you'd want in an experienced guide — knowledgeable, flexible, and an exceedingly careful listener who provides detailed notes after each consultation and is available between sessions via texting and email.
I particularly appreciate her ability to adjust ingredients for my particular digestive needs. In fact, every recipe in the cookbook includes recommended adjustments for individuals following particular food plans, including my own low FODMAPS requirement. She has helped me work through my inclinations to give up when I don't eat "perfectly" and through her kind support and guidance, I am more aware of choosing what I want to eat and the steps I need to prepare delicious and healthy foods.
It's easier than I anticipated and sometimes I hear Maria's gentle instruction in my head when I plan my snacks for the day ahead. I've observed feeling more satisfied after eating and less tired through the day, with an easier time maintaining my weight (versus gaining). I strongly recommend this investment in your health and nutrition.
— Holly C. (long-distance coaching client)
“
Heartful eating with Maria has been the magic bullet to help me regain my digestive health, vitality, mental focus and reduce inflammation I had been experiencing for over a year.
I had been spending much focus on trying to determine why I had many food sensitivities that were causing acid reflux, sleepless nights, irregular energies, cravings and sinus issues. I signed up for Chef Maria’s cooking classes and she came to my home for a kickstart program. Besides being fun, her wisdom and concern about the wellbeing of her clients, her follow-up and referrals are stellar.
Within 4 days of preparing my meals from Chef Maria’s Heartful Kitchen cookbook, my digestive issues and sugar cravings disappeared. I had less perceived hunger and I was sleeping well again. Weeks later, my level of hunger diminished, and I am being sustained by far less quantity than I had been eating in the past. The balance of quality rich foods are satisfying and sustain me through the day.
Within a few weeks, I noticed my sinus issues virtually disappeared. I am enjoying preparing delicious meals that I can eat for several days and be creative with the well-stocked refrigerator to make supplemental dishes. I look forward to planning my meals, love being in my kitchen (which is a first for me) as well as being creative by adding special touches to my meals. My friends are also reaping the benefits from my new culinary explorations too! I’m beginning to feel like the me I thought I should always be.
— Leslie V. G. (in-home one-on-one class)
“
Who doesn't like a kind, non-judgmental, and encouraging soul?
Chef Maria has a warm easy-going way of discovering your needs and how to best address them. Her consultation is packed with sound advice on how to manage one's health, specifically geared toward individual issues.
She covers not only creative and nourishing food recommendations, but also overall care of self, including fresh air and exercise, meditation/prayer, journaling, sleeping, supplements, socializing, and just slowing down and appreciating life.
Her motivating demeanor backed by sound knowledge inspires me to be aware of and implement her creative, healthy self-care practices.
Being held accountable helps with achieving these goals. I receive follow-up emails with detailed how-to suggestions and links pertaining expressly for my autoimmune needs. I'm grateful to have met her!
— Melissa S. (coaching client)
Chef Maria Cooper made the effort to get to know me. That is the first thing she did that impressed me and it still does.
In so doing I knew immediately how she would be able to help me. I am almost 70 years of age but I am also an Ironman. My life is a time-crunched blitz of coaching others and training myself. Yet this is the exact challenge I want to maintain as long as possible. My nutrition absolutely has to fuel this crazy life.
Could I get a bit more organized and better nourished? Maria and I chatted on FaceTime. Me, waving my iPad through my kitchen, Chef Maria observed, asked questions, and took notes. She had to know where we were starting.
We’ve laughed a lot on our consult calls. We are working together like teammates to create small transformations, targeting more wholesome living habits.
Just when I am about to forget what we talked about, the review and guidelines religiously arrive in my email box. She doesn’t forget. And like all good coaches, she follows up and checks in. She assures you — “you got this”.
I simply don’t know how you could do better than a coaching commitment with Chef Maria Cooper. She comes with generations of cooking savvy, but she moves at a pace where I live, her client…
It is a lovely dance of coaching wisdom combined with a true appreciation of what nature’s bounty has to offer. I consider myself smart and a darn good cook. Nevertheless, Maria’s mentorship has upgraded my whole system of buying, prepping, and nourishing myself. And the best news, it’s painless and simple. It’s always hopeful.
— Susan K. (long-distance coaching client)