Tracy is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian/Nutritionist with over 25 years of experience working in nutrition science, education and healthcare.
Many chronic illnesses are inextricably linked to diet, which means they are preventable. Working with critically ill patients really makes you realize how important it is to stay out of the hospital! I also discovered that I was pretty good at taking complex concepts and making them easy-to-understand which is important when you're talking about nutrition, since every metabolic process in your body is related to what goes into your mouth. And since most adults spend the majority of their waking hours at their jobs, it's a great place to reach–and teach–people about the importance of creating and maintaining healthy habits and also get everyone excited about eating right and being fit! Small, simple changes in lifestyle habits can mean big changes to how a person feels. Plus, behavior change is easier when you have group support, and I really love working within a group dynamic.
Client Feedback: What did You Gain from the Program?
Why corporate wellness?
Tracy earned her BS in Food Science & Human Nutrition and an MS in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and an additional MS in Clinical Nutrition from Rush University in Chicago, where she completed her clinical training.
She has worked as a critical care and lead dietitian in both adult and pediatric hospitals, and has taught undergraduate and graduate level nutrition courses for which she has been nominated and received teaching excellence awards. In addition to her clinical work, she has been a regular contributor to Kidshealth.org as a freelance writer and recipe developer, launched the Health and Wellness channel for an online behavioral health company, and has been published in both the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry and the Journal of Renal Nutrition.
In recent years, her focus has been studying more holistic approaches to lifestyle change and examining health from a functional point of view; in 2013 she earned credentials as a Certified Worksite Wellness Specialist to bring her effective teaching style and programming to businesses looking to contain–and ultimately lower–healthcare costs.
"Navigating the nutrition information highway was hard enough before the internet. Now it’s even more difficult to sift through conflicting reports on what’s good–and not so good for you. Achieving optimal wellness is impossible without healthy habits. I look forward to helping your employees and clients learn more about how their eating and lifestyle choices are affecting their overall health and sense of well-being and ultimately reach their goals."
- "Great ideas on how to manage my eating habits and stress level"
- "Became much more aware of the kinds of food I was eating"
- "Insight into myself"
- "Better understanding of how food affects the body. I lost weight and have more energy"
- "More confidence in how to eat properly and prepare better foods fairly quickly."
- "I gained a different way of looking at food and how your body handles it."