How better to quench a thirst for knowledge than to study nutrition? That’s exactly what I did. After nearly 10 successful years working in public relations, counseling clients in health, safety, restaurant and fitness industries, I returned to school full-time to earn a master’s degree in nutrition and become a registered dietitian.
What motivates me most is the abundance of misleading nutrition information and advice flooding the marketplace and in the media. It’s my personal goal to learn as much as I can about nutrition research and trends, and to help calm hysteria around current fads and so-called “diets.”
I find that the best client relationship, whether a patient or a business, is one built on a mutual understanding of one’s goals, resources and visions of success. I see myself as a facilitator, helping my clients by providing the tools they need to reach their goals. Many have the drive and determination – I’ll help with getting a plan in place and working with you on the tactics.
Follow me at www.twitter.com/elanard
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/elana-natker/2/181/225
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A Sprinkle of Sage 
Dear Elana,
I “discovered” you in the RDChat on Twitter. My handle is @clickwisdom. I’m glad to find you!
Since May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, I wondered if you might want to share physical activity materials from We Can!. The materials provide lots of simple suggestions for easily getting more physical activity.
We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity and Nutrition), a science-based national education program from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), helps children ages 8-13 stay at a healthy weight. We Can! offers materials to help caregivers and families encourage children to become more active.
I’ve gathered some bullet points together that could be shared on your site if you wish.
We Can! Make Physical Activity Fun Tip Sheet
Click to access tips.pdf
This sheet offers a number of ideas that you can copy and paste into your blog. The physical activity ideas include:
• Do something physically active with your kids each day. Take a walk, play tag, or simply dance around the house to your favorite tunes.
• Make new friends that share your interests. Sign up for a fitness program at your local recreation or community center and meet others with similar fitness goals.
• Meet a friend for workouts. Working out with a friend may help you stay on track and encourage you to challenge yourself.
We Can! Try Tips to Eat Well and Move More Tip Sheet
Click to access tips.pdf
Tips included in this sheet offer common sense eating well and physical activity tips. If you’d like, they can be used as bullet points on your blog. Examples include:
Sample Eating Well Tips:
• Drink water before a meal.
• Avoid food portions larger than your fist.
• Eat off smaller plates.
• Eat before grocery shopping.
• Choose a checkout line without a candy display.
Moving More Tips:
• Go for a half-hour walk instead of watching TV.
• Take the stairs instead of the escalator.
• Acknowledge your efforts with non-food related rewards, such as a family day at the park, lake, or zoo.
• Use a family activity planner to make time each day for activity.
Please let me know if you have any questions, and feel welcome to give me a call.
Sincerely,
Deborah
American Institutes for Research (on behalf of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
301-592-2193
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Hi Elana,
I was wondering if you had any advertising or guest post opportunities available on your site? I would love the opportunity to work with you and I look forward to hearing back from you.
Thanks,
Dan
—
Dan Gilbert
Communications Coordinator
Primrose Schools
dgilbert@primroseschools.com
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Hi Elana,
As you may know, the fourth annual Weight Watchers Lose For Good® campaign is currently underway to help fight hunger. This year, Weight Watchers is inviting you to share what the Lose for Good® Campaign means to you, for the chance to win a cash price of $5,000*! (Click here For Official Rules).
Check out the “Story of You” contest on the Weight Watchers Facebook page and answer the seven questions related to the Lose for Good campaign. You’ll do this by writing creative answers to the questions on seven signs, taking photos with each sign, and posting the photos to the “Story of You” app on Facebook. Then, on October 19, with just a click, you can turn your seven photo answers into a video reflecting your personal story, and have a chance to enter it into our contest.
Three (3) winning stories will be given a chance to spread the good with a cash prize of $5,000*!
Check out Jennifer Hudson’s involvement in “Story of You” — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSSBYMzvGtY.
Get started now by visiting the “Story of You” on the Weight Watchers Facebook page. Just a reminder, you have five more days — until October 17 — to upload your seven photo answers.
We encourage you to continue to spread the word on this contest.
Let us know if you have any questions on how to get involved.
Thank you,
Nikki Addison
(202) 585-2042
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Hello Elana,
My name is Kerry Don. I am co-creator/owner of Coconut Warrior coconut water. Our company is based out of Las Vegas, NV. The reason I’m writing to you is because I wanted to inform you of our new product launch. If this is something of interest to you, and you have any questions, please contact me at kdon@coconutwarrior.com. Also, I would like to request your mailing address so we can send you some Coconut Warrior gear as well as a sample of our product once it’s produced. We are expecting to bring our product to market in the next 2 months.
Currently, we are trying to raise money on Kickstarter.com to fund our first production run. The way Kickstarter works is such that it allows people with great ideas a chance to execute them with help from supporters. In addition, Kickstarter will only charge their card (those who have made a $ pledge) and disburse the money to us if we reach the entire $30,000 goal by our deadline. Our Kickstarter campaign will go Live in the next couple of days, and then we have 30 days to reach our goal.
In addition, we will be more than happy to mention you on our social media outlets (website, FB page, etc.) if you can help spread the word about our Kickstarter campaign on your social media outlets. Any support is greatly appreciated!
Thank you for your time.
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Dear Elana:
One of my friends referred your site to me as a great resource for information on Nutrition. I found your site to have a variety of topics that are Food and Nutrition related. The articles were very interesting and informative; especially the information about Mythbusting: Fresh vs. Frozen. While browsing your site I noticed that you allow guest posts. Can you please tell me what your criteria are on guest posting? I have an idea for a post that relates to Nutrition, and I think it would be of interest to you and your readers.
Would you like me to send over the article?
I look forward to hearing from you,
Anna Callie
annacallie74@gmail.com
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Hi there,
Festive Health is a website that offers customers all sorts of deals, freebies, and coupons. It offers ways for consumers to save on all sorts of products. We understand that living a healthy lifestyle can be a bit expensive. We created Festive Health with the vision of an avenue for consumers to shop for nutritional products at discounted rates.
I was looking through your blog and am impressed. The structure and content are both concise and vibrant. We here at festive health see you as a perfect fit to be one of the bloggers that we work with. We provide additional exposure for a wide variety of bloggers. All you have to do is to blog about Festive Health and share it on a social media platform of your choice! We establish personal relationships with every blogger we work and if it makes sense for both parties we can discuss a long-term partnership. Please email me back if you’re interested and would like to discuss further details.
Thanks!
Lorenzo Achacoso
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Hello Elana,
I was reading an article today in the Richmond Times Dispatch in which you were quoted. You talked about cutting up various vegetables you use in salads and storing them in containers. I was wondering if you have any tips for doing this and keeping the veggies fresh. How long will they last? Do you keep the carrots and celery in a container with water? How long does the lettuce last?
I would appreciate any advice you could give me.
Thank you!
Robin Hegner
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Hi Elana,
I am contacting you because recently, I’ve been considering nutrition as a possible career path, and I was hoping you might have some advice to give, particularly as someone who came to nutrition after working for ten years in other fields.
I received a Bachelor’s Degree in History from UC Davis five years ago, and while I was there, I had the opportunity to take some introductory courses in Food Science and Winemaking, which stimulated an already present curiosity about cooking and the science behind it. Then, during my sophomore year, I discovered Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, and it transformed me from someone who merely appreciated good food and nutrition to one keenly interested in the culture, ethics, and politics of food and agriculture. Since then, I have become an avid home cook and baker and find myself using up most of my spare time either cooking or reading about food in some form or fashion.
After I graduated, I flirted with the prospect of a career in education and spent some time tutoring high school students in history, writing, and SAT/ACT prep, but eventually decided that, while I enjoyed teaching, ultimately, I was drawn to the subject matter more than the act of teaching itself and so put that idea on hold. I picked up a part-time job at Williams-Sonoma (mostly for the 40% discount, since I probably spent more there than I made!) and then fell into an outside sales position at a Los Angeles based food distribution company, where I’ve been for the past year and a half.
I am pretty sure now that I want my professional life to involve food in some way; however, I am not satisfied working in sales and distribution. It is too far removed from the actual process of cooking, and I do not feel that the environment facilitates intellectual growth or creativity. While I know I have a strong interest in nutrition and sharing my knowledge with others, I’m not entirely clear on what the day to day work of a dietitian entails, whether it be in a clinical setting or your current area of private practice and consulting. I was hoping you might be able to share some of your own experiences in the field such as what a typical day is like and how your time is split up taking care of various tasks. I would also be interested in any suggestions you may have for other resources I could look to for advice or inspiration.
I apologize for the long-windedness, but I figured the more information you had about where I’m coming from, the easier it would be to reply. Thank you!!
Your newest avid reader,
Hannah 🙂
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