Natasha Coughlin
@natashacoughlin
Registered Dietitian, Holistic Health Coach
Hi, I'm Natasha Coughlin, a Registered Dietitian, Holistic Health Coach, a mom of three, and my biggest passions are health promoting cooking and helping others achieve optimal health through personalized nutrition. I received my Masters degree in Human Nutrition from Columbia University, and completed my Dietetic Internship through Lehman College.
Like most practitioners in the Health and Wellness space (or at least the compassionate and successful ones), I came into this work through my own and my family’s struggles with health issues. I understand first-hand how frustrating it can be to hear “everything is normal” when it doesn’t feel that way, or “there is not much we can do” and you are of the mindset of not stopping until you find something that can be done. I suffered from digestive issues like acid reflux, nausea, bloating, and food sensitivities for years until IT found Functional Medicine and started applying its principles to heal myself.
My biggest heartache and inspiration is my oldest son James, who has autism and a host of medical diagnoses. It was through learning how to best help him, that I was able to get well myself and had a realization that my purpose was to help others achieve the same.
That experience had put me on the path of secking higher education, so that I could be truly effective in helping as many people as possible. I went back to school as a mom of three with an already super busy life. But I believe that if you are truly passionate about something, you can find a way.
So, that’s exactly what I am doing today in my private practice in New Canaan and virtually - helping my clients be heard, realize that they are not alone on this journey to better health, and that healing is possible.
I take a very individualized approach to health. I primarily work with mid-life women, although have been enjoying helping couples and families get healthy together. My holistic approach to health involves working on multiple pillars of health; diet, exercise, sleep, hormone optimization, and effective stress management techniques.
I enjoy working with my clients on getting them to adopt new healthy habits and learning to cook and love real whole foods. One particular area of professional interest is optimizing mental health through targeted diet, lifestyle, and supplementation. I empower my clients to take control over their own health and use food as an effective tool.
My clients’ successes inspire me to keep going, but I always stress that they are the ones doing “the work."
What I love about my work is that I get to listen to my client's health concerns and histories and help them get their health (and weight) to an optimal level. My biggest motivation is hearing them say “no one has ever listened to me like this or explained why I have these symptoms”. I am a big believer that doing something without support can work, but doing it with someone with knowledge and experience makes the process so much faster, easier and more successful. We may not be able to see our own blind spots, and it takes a trained eye to identify and overcome those.
If you — like so many women who come to me, are working hard to get healthy and achieve weight you desire, have tried everything, have lost weight only to gain it back, then you need my support. I know Dr. Google is chock full of information but applying it to you, and your unique biology and symptoms takes a professional. I want to save you time and money by avoiding trial and error. I do testing when necessary. We look at your unique genetics and lifestyle. We achieve results together using proven and scientifically validated solutions.
I can help you to permanently lose weight and keep it off. My clients don’t do diets, go hungry, or deprive themselves (quite the opposite!). They learn to enjoy putting together simple and healthy meals and know how to make healthy choices on the go. I hear my clients say I save them money because they don’t have to turn to expensive take out and buy loads of supplements.
We can figure out together why you always feel tired, and even though you want to like exercise, you feel worse instead of being energized afterwards. I can meet you where you are and help you take those next steps to being successful with your health and weight goals.
The bottom line is I can help you figure out and implement what works for YOU.
About Natasha
- She received her Master of Science in Human Nutrition degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
- She completed her Master's thesis work at Weill Cornell Comprehensive Metabolic Weight Control Center, where she saw clients with weight and endocrine issues, including diabetes/prediabetes, PCOS, and thyroid disease. She was also one of the researchers and a co-author of “The Impact of Food Order on Postprandial Glycemic Excursions in Prediabetes”, a study conducted at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
- Natasha completed her Dietetic Internship through Lehman College of the City University of New York, which allowed her opportunities to gain clinical experience in a variety of settings in Connecticut and Westchester County, NY. She holds a bachelor’s degree in general studies from the University of Connecticut.
Although Natasha is a classically trained dietitian, her personal and professional interests have always been in the field of Functional and Integrative Medicine. She pursued a Certified Holistic Health Coach credential through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and a certification through the Integrative and Functional Nutrition Academy. Her interest in health-promoting cooking brought her to the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City, where she was trained in implementing various allergen-free diets.
Natasha lives with her family in New Canaan, CT. In her free time, you will likely find her grocery shopping and cooking, researching the latest in functional medicine, working in her organic garden, listening to an audiobook, or practicing yoga.