Richer Health is BIG on education. Nicolette Richer, founder and CEO of the health consulting company Richer Health, believes that education is one of the routes she wants to pursue to make her community, the province of BC, Canada, and then, the world (!) a healthier place.
Because Nicolette herself could not keep up with the demand to help people heal cancer and chronic disease, she designed a new program. The need to expand her army of health advocates was real. "Now that we've accomplished one of our life-long dreams and are about to open up the Richer Health Retreat Centre, I feel there is just not enough time in a day to help everyone who is asking for it. While we were brainstorming about a new team for the Retreat Centre, our necessity for like-minded people with an intrinsic desire to educate and help became even clearer."
The Richer Health Retreat Centre will be a tranquil place, a sanctuary for those looking to rest, revive and reactivate their own body. There will be a holistic health team on site to ensure clients' needs are met at all times. Hence the need for more people to preach how food can be medicine.
Since there is no such thing as a “problem” in Nicolette’s world, she decided to create her very own Train the Trainer program - a course to become a nutritional educator. We had a chat and picked her brain about her goals in creating this course.
What made you create your very own “Train the Trainer” course?
I believe food is the most powerful medicine. It always has been, we have only forgotten. You don’t have to be a doctor, scientist, Michelin star chef or rocket-engineer to know what to do. If you give food a chance to be your medicine, you will experience and feel it. And that will make you look at food on a whole other level.
You will realize how potent food is, how strong, and therefore how important our food choices are. My dream is for everybody to be able to experience this. That is why I want to pass on what I know to other open-minded people. They will touch others too and teach them the practical skills needed in the kitchen, how to get rid of their addiction to processed food, feel energised, and become healthy again.
If we look back at the history of food, we know what to do. We know how to eat to survive and stay healthy. We’ve been derailed since factories introduced mass production and machines in the food industry. It is time to go back to the principles we knew before: live in line with nature, eat what mother earth provides.
The Train the Trainer course will not only learn aspirant trainers the art of food but also it also touches on the science behind it, on how everything is related. By sharing this knowledge, more people can spread this message and we will be able to redesign the landscape of food, nutrition, health. Preventing disease in general.
Who did you have in mind when designing the course?
This course to become a nutritional educator is for those with a desire to leave a positive print on society, energised by the idea of life-long learning, with a love to share knowledge and ideas, inspire and motivate.
We managed to get hold of two aspiring Nutritional Educators of this first Train the Trainer batch that started in August 2017. We unravel their reason(s) for signing up and get a sneak peek of what to expect from them as future health advocates.
Hi Chris, hi Jean, what made you sign up for this course?
Chris: The reason I signed up for it is because I have a genuine passion to encourage people to live a healthier life. I really love inspiring people to do greater things and I believe that a very strong starting point for living an incredible life begins with the food we use to fuel our bodies.
Jean: : I strongly believe that what we put into our bodies has a direct impact on how we feel. Unfortunately, most people have no idea that we can heal from the inside out. I want to learn more so I can share this knowledge with the world and create a healthy future for both myself and others.
When and how did you learn there’s a connection between disease and diet?
Chris: I can’t give any other explanation of my personal connection to disease and the role of food other than from the perspective of it sparking my initial interest. It is something I have been interested in since my teens but never fully pursued any learning in until more recently.
However, my family do have a strong history of psoriasis as well as my best friend when I was growing up. After years of trying to convince them to try and look at what they ate, rather than what cream to put on, my little brother finally took my advice. The results were incredible and reassured me that I was absolutely focusing in the right direction.
Jean: I came to realize I have had an unhealthy relationship with food and booze for years. Overeating and drinking with friends was leading to extreme digestive issues, low energy, inability to sleep, mood swings and depression. It can be challenging to change your lifestyle, but I had enough of dragging myself through the day. I want to wake up energized and I can, now that I nourish myself properly! My goal is to lead a positive and healthy life.
Imagine you are in an elevator and have 1 minute to pitch to a complete stranger what they can expect from working with you as a nutritional educator. What would your message be?
Chris: I'd encourage people to look beyond what they know as normal and hope they realize that there’s a more productive and uplifting way to live and feel.
Jean: I teach how whole, unrefined foods can act as medicine to heal the body naturally from the inside out. My new favourite quote "Eat food, mostly plants, not too much.”
Thanks for sharing your stories. You've both spiked our curiosity and we would be keen to learn more from you after finishing the Train the Trainer's course.
Do you want to become part of Nicolette’s Richer Health army? Do you want to help your community getting healthy? The next Train the Trainer course starts the first weekend of December, 2017.
Want to learn about our other online course that teaches you how to revitalise your body and kick disease using food as medicine? Than our Eat to Beat online course is just for you.
Stephie Hennekam likes to think of herself as a knowledgeable foodie, wandering traveler, teacher, active yogi, lover of nature, free spirited writer & life long student. She loves going off the beaten path, following her (gut)- feeling and isn't shy to try new stuff. After all, nothing beats experiencing something yourself.
As a former university college teacher, researcher, independent (sports)dietitian and jack of all trades at a vegan restaurant, she has now discovered her life goal of teaching & helping others to work towards a healthy, energised life filled with love, peace & happiness.