About me
What drives me | My qualifications | This is me
Toasted bread with olive oil, garlic, tomatoes cut into quarters, fresh herbs and a bit of balsamic vinegar...
...preferably with friends and family around a long wooden table. That is what I love. You do not need much to be happy. But it took me a long time to realise that.
Ten years ago I still thought that a healthy lifestyle can only be achieved through sacrifice and discipline. The more stressful my day was, the fattier, sweeter and more unhealthy my food would be. I often just did not have the time to cook healthy food.
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Until acute diverticulitis brought me to a complete standstill in 2013. For years I had not looked after myself enough and did not pay attention to my eating habits. I did not notice a lingering colon infection in my stress-filled daily life. After the big colon operation I totally changed my life.
There is much truth in the saying ‘you are what you eat.’ I had to recognise this in a very personal and painful way.
Photo: Elfriede Liebenow
Chocolate & nutrition coaching are a fabulous combination
I read numerous studies to find out what could have led to my colon problems and to learn what the relationship between stress and nutrition is. Then, during the follow-up checkup, my gastroenterologist asked me whether I am a nutritionist. Looking back, this was the moment when I decided to use my experience and turn my newfound passion into my profession. Having just turned 40, I studied again, became a nutritionist and opened my own practice.
‘Will I still be able to enjoy my espresso with chocolate when I come to you for consultation?’, one of my clients once asked me during the preliminary interview. Good nutrition does not mean denying oneself much loved rituals. Therefore my answer was ‘yes’.
Dealing with emotional eating is an important part of my consultation these days.
I meet you where you are at this moment
During the many years in my profession I could see that there is a close relationship between stress and eating habits. Therefore I got an additional qualification as coach for stress management and for burnout prophylaxis and nowadays work as a health expert focusing on prevention. My clients are private individuals as well as companies who care about the health of their employees.
My work is needs-based, in other words, I do not prescribe to you what you should do. I rather point you to a suitable strategy, so that you can prevent illness due to stress and diet, instead of treating this once it has occurred.
Inner strength, resilience against stress and correct eating habits form a good basis for this. Let me be your partner.
We are a team that meets on the same level!
My Qualifications
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Education as coach for stress management and burnout prevention at the Acdemy for Sports | sponsored by the City of Hamburg
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Education as certified nutritionist at the Apollon University of Health Management
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Account director at communications agencies, amongst others, BCW Hamburg
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Manager of international company communications for the Grupo Cortefiel, Madrid
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Assistant for the Paris correspondent for ARD (Germany's regional public-service broadcaster)
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Editor for current affairs at NDR (public radio and television broadcaster for northern Germany), Hamburg
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Studies in political science and romance studies, graduated as political scientist.
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If you like to know more about me, just give me a call. You can also visit me on Instagram, LinkedIn oder facebook.
Further education & training
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Silent inflammation and the importance of silent and low-threshold inflammations
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FODMAP: Nutrition with irritable bowel syndrome
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Practical sports nutrition - applied nutrition for leisure sportsmen and women and for popular sport (VFED Verband für Ernährung und Diätetik e.V. (organisation for nutrition and dietetics))
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Mindful eating and prevention of stress and diet related illnesses
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Stress management as prophylaxis for burnout: Goals, approaches and the importance of mediators
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Successful facilitation of stress management training for employees and managers
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Introduction to relaxation techniques: Body scan, progressive muscle relaxation, meditative breathing
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Occupational health management and prevention for individuals: Five-day intensive seminar on work-life balance (IBP Institute for Burnout Prevention, Hamburg)
This is me
Water, mountains and breathing
I am Doreen, 50 years old, and the mother of two amazing children. I have lived and worked with my Spanish husband in three countries. I love the ocean and anything that has to do with water. I love sailing and rowing.
Three years ago I discovered ice swimming. I combined the intensive cold training with a breathing and concentration technique. This is good for the heart, brain and the immune system. A drum in the garden has to make do as my diving pool!
Hiking has a very special meaning for me. In 2017 I crossed the Alps on foot along the E5 route with my children and my husband, who had survived cancer.
And last year I fulfilled a dream of mine with my daughter in Norway: I learnt cross-country skiing and took part in a dog sled tour. I relax with yoga and meditation. Or just by breathing in and out deeply.
Because sometimes that is all you need.
Why does
the colibri
fascinate me so?
Colibris are small, charged with energy, agile and 100% focused. The little bon vivant is my logo, as it amazes me how his metabolism is adapted to his needs.
The colibri has high energy needs, which he feeds with calory-rich foods like oily seeds and nectar. His metabolism is perfectly adapted, because he eats exactly as much as he needs.
During rest periods he reduces his energy output by reducing his heart beat and breathing more slowly. The small bird needs this balance between calory intake, burning up energy and rest periods to survive.
And this may suggest how important this balance is, also for us as humans.