MILL HALL - Sandy Considine has a passion for healthy living and nutrition.
It's no wonder that she reaches out to people to help them lead healthier lifestyles.
Encircle Well Being is her home-based business that includes workshops and client-based instruction.
"It's a holistic approach - mind, body spirit along with diet," Considine said.
Considine's journey toward a healthier lifestyle may have really begun when she tried to overcome some of her own medical issues.
"I have medically high cholesterol. I have brought mine down naturally through food. I had joint pain. When I eliminated processed food, wheat, and dairy products, the joint pain went away," she said. "I went many years without knowing I had a gluten intolerance."
She eats a lot of raw vegetables and fruits and avoids processed foods and feels her diet has helped with issues such as fatigue and avoiding illnesses.
Considine teaches people how to embrace healthier diets.
Her workshops include how to prepare foods and cooking.
"I do vegetarian workshops," she said. "I work with the individual client. Or, we can just work with food-related issues. I do individual juicing workshops. I go to people's home for one-on-one consultations."
Her philosophy, she said, is based on preventing health issues.
"I also like to teach people how to read food labels," she said. "It's a matter of educating what to put in your body because you truly are what you eat."
Considine said she'd like to change the eating habits of many people.
But she realizes that it can be tough to learn to eat healthy.
"People want to eat healthy, but they are bombarded by advertisements and bad food," she said.
She acknowledged that the first step toward nutrition can be the hardest.
But that first step can lead to a lifetime of positive change.
"Once you start eating healthy, you change your pallet. You won't crave some of these foods," she said.
Considine realizes that everyone is different, and that's why she works with many of her clients individually.
"There is no one-set plan," she said.
She likes to create a supportive environment to allow people to reach goals.
Too many approaches to nutrition, Considine noted, dwell on calories and carbs and fats.
She steers her clients toward a happy and healthy lifestyle that introduces flexibility and fun rather than denial and discipline.
Considine forsees expanding her clientele to include corporate clients.
Nutrition and healthy eating, she said, can work to lower insurance rates and cut down on illnesses, including diabetes.
She takes a dim view of the menu choices in school districts.
"Hopefully, we can get in there and change school lunches," she said.
Overall, she said she's pleased with the direction of her business and the path she's chosen.
She offers prospective clients free initial consultations.
Her website is www.encirclewellbeing.com.
