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My Method and Approach

My Method and Approach
Rooted in The Mindful Nutrition Method™ by McKel Hill Kooienga, MS, RDN

When Food Feels Calm, Life Opens Up. A calmer, more nourishing way to change your relationship with food.

For more than a decade, I’ve helped thousands of people across the world transform how they eat, how they feel, and how they care for themselves — using a mindful, science-backed approach that goes beyond traditional nutrition advice.

I created The Mindful Nutrition Method™ to offer something different: A way of eating that feels supportive, grounded, and aligned with your life — not restrictive, complicated, or overwhelming.

If you’ve tried diets, macros, “just listen to your body,” habit tracking, or anything in between, and it still feels noisy or hard…

You’re not alone. And you’re not broken. You simply haven’t been taught a method that integrates the whole you: your biology, your emotions, your habits, and your real life.

This is where my work begins.

THE PHILOSOPHY

Taking care — on and off the plate.

Nutrition is never just about nutrients. It’s about how you feel, how you cope, how you rest, how you pace your days, and how you care for yourself when life feels chaotic.

It’s also about honoring the many beautiful roles plays in our lives, such as connection, culture, creativity, and comfort.

My approach blends:

  • Evidence-based nutrition
  • Mindful eating
  • Nervous system awareness
  • Behavior change science
  • Emotional nourishment
  • Compassion-led mindset work

So you can eat in a way that feels calm, steady, and sustainable — not perfect.

THE MINDFUL NUTRITION METHOD™

A structured method merging the science and art for lasting change.

This is the core of how I work. It’s a clear, compassionate, repeatable process that helps you:

  • Reconnect with your body
  • Build balanced meals
  • Reframe unhelpful thoughts
  • Regulate your emotions
  • Realign your habits
  • Reinforce what actually supports your life

Below are the foundational pillars of my method:

1. The 5R Framework

A transformational arc you move through in coaching and in daily life:

Reconnect → Rebuild → Reframe → Realign → Reinforce

Each phase builds awareness, structure, mindset, and long-term resilience. This framework is the backbone of every coaching experience.

2. The CARE Eating Practice™

A daily 4-step ritual that creates calm before you eat — so you can stay connected and present with your food and your body.

3. The Foundational Five™

A simple, flexible framework for building balanced meals without tracking, restricting, or overthinking. This is the method thousands of people use to feel nourished, energized, and grounded.

4. Mindful Mindset Shifts

Unlearning diet rules, all-or-nothing cycles, guilt, “good vs. bad” foods, and internal pressure. This work helps you rebuild trust in yourself — the foundation of food freedom.

5. Mindful Living Practices

Gentle routines that support your eating patterns: sleep, stress resilience, emotional regulation, pacing, and intention setting. Because how you live affects how you eat.

WHY MY APPROACH IS DIFFERENT

This is nutrition that treats the whole human — not just the food.

Most approaches fall into two extremes — and neither creates lasting change.

On one side, you have rigid diets — plans, rules, tracking, perfectionism, and constantly trying to “stay on track.” These approaches disconnect you from your body and keep you stuck in stress, guilt, and all-or-nothing cycles.

On the other side, you’ll find pure freedom eating or “just listen to your body” approaches, which can feel like an open road but often lack structure, guidance, or support. Many people end up overwhelmed, confused about what balanced eating actually looks like, or unsure how to care for themselves in moments of stress, fatigue, or emotional eating.

Both extremes miss the same essential elements: your nervous system, your lived experiences, your stress response, your patterns, and your emotional world. And because of that, neither helps you build sustainable habits, confidence, or peace with food.

The Mindful Nutrition Method sits in the center — the place of actual balance.

It blends mindful awareness with practical structure, compassion with clarity, and flexibility with science-backed guidance.

  • Not rigid.
  • Not chaotic.
  • Not “eat whatever you want.”
  • Not “follow these rules forever.”

It’s the grounded middle path — where harmony, compassion, self-trust, and true nourishment can finally exist together.

WHO THIS IS FOR

You’ll feel at home in this work if you want to:

  • Feel calm and grounded around food
  • Stop overthinking, obsessing, or “starting over”
  • Build balanced meals without stress
  • Trust your hunger, fullness, and body cues
  • Break patterns of emotional eating or all-or-nothing cycles
  • Nourish yourself without dieting
  • Create habits that support your energy, mood, and daily life

You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be ready for a gentler, more effective way.

HOW WE CAN WORK TOGETHER

I offer two pathways based on where you are in your journey:

The Calm Plate Course

A self-paced mini-course that teaches the Foundational Five and helps you build balanced meals with confidence.
Perfect for anyone wanting clarity and ease.

The Mindful Nutrition Way Coaching

My 4-month private coaching experience for deeper emotional, behavioral, and mindset transformation using the full Mindful Nutrition Method. This is where long-term food peace is created.

If you’re ready to feel calm, confident, and grounded with food… you’re in the right place. Begin with the resource that fits your next step:

→ Get the Peaceful Eating Guide
→ Join The Calm Plate
→ Apply for The Mindful Nutrition Way