Balancing NRG

About Keri Bernstein

Hi, I’m Keri, a Board Certified Holistic Health Nutrition Coach; Pilates and Barre Instructor; and Personal Trainer. I also am a mother, wife, chef, home organizer, dog walker, and author. My many hats can be exhausting and stressful but extremely rewarding nonetheless.

After my three lovely children were born, I started a quest to lose a few pounds. Experimenting with everything I could from quick fix tricks to magical weight loss pills, I was frustrated. Each new focus kept coming up short as the pounds held their ground. Despite the results, I kept searching for the answer.

Finally in January in 2012, my world changed. Instead of toxins, I gobbled up information about the chemicals and processed foods. Their secrets of harmful effects on the human body finally were exposed and I could no longer continue to feed myself or family the processed toxic food.

I learned that processed food’s horrors come in many forms:

  • Causes weight gain, addiction and imbalance to the digestive system
  • Accounts for up to 70% of daily caloric intake
  • Shortens life span
  • Contain harmful ingredients like cellulose (ground up wood pulp – found in cheese) and Sodium Bisulfite (toilet bowl cleaning chemical found – found in chips)
  • Proven to facilitate many modern diseases including cancer

Starting Small

Changing the way one person eats was going to be difficult, but to change a family’s eating patterns was going to be an even bigger challenge. To offset the intensity of life changes, I started small. Instead of white and wheat pasta, I started using brown rice pasta. Here and there quinoa, barley, amaranth and sorghum made it into our meals instead. Then black bean pasta for it’s protein and fiber and an effort to be more plant based. The next thing I knew, our energy was higher, our waists a little slimmer, and our moods a whole lot brighter.

I started escalating to finding alternatives to the chemically laden snack foods my kids often craved. The best option was to make cakes, cookies and candies myself with dates and other fruit to substitute for sugar. Preparing ahead of time and portioning snacks into Ziploc bags kept the convenience we all had grown to adore.

Spending time making my children healthy food became an act of love. I enjoy knowing I’m feeding my children the very best and contributing to their health. For my son’s birthday in college I sent him a cookie pie made with chickpeas instead of flour. He loved it and never knew! (Until now of course, sorry Jake!)

Balancing NRG is Born

The beauty of life is that it comes in all shapes, sizes, needs, and battles. In the beginning of my “no package” experiment, I had to learn what exactly my body needed. Each morsel of food works differently with each system it encounters and I went on a journey to test them all.

Eventually I was able to find the foods that fuel me and cut out the ones that didn’t. I gained so much energy I felt more incredible than I did in my twenties! As a personal trainer I was unable to stop just at engaging them physically. In order for each client to achieve maximum potential, I had to focus on their bodies’ need for fuel as well. In 2012, I made the decision to go back to school to learn more about nutrition so I could help my clients get optimal success in their health.

While at school my life completely changed…

First I learned that it can be really easy and simple to cook and eat package free. Then I was surprised to find that people actually like the way real food tastes, even without the added junk!

As I learned how to cook quick, easy and delicious meals that anyone (even my husband) can make, I felt a yearning to share! All the recipes and healthy habits I kept discovering needed to be easily given to clients and friends, and I started BalancingNRG.com.

With support and purpose, it has grown into something even bigger than my hopes could have envisioned. I am thankful each day that I have the opportunity to share my love of fitness and real food with each visitor. The biggest message I have for anyone is that there is no magical diet nor meal plan that fits everyone. You are different, I am different, and your friends are different. If you listen to the things your body is telling you, make slow and small changes, then you too can learn how to balance it all to live a happy, healthy, and fabulous life.

Cheers,
Keri

Fun Facts

  • I have three children: Jake, 21; Dylan, 20 in July; and Carly, 18
  • Their favorite snacks are:
    • Jake- Anything Chocolate
    • Dylan- tortilla chips with salsa, hummus or guacamole
    • Carly- guacamole and hummus
  • Our golden retriever Gracie was rescued 4 years ago from West Virginia.
  • I taught elementary school for 7 years before I had my children.
  • I have an art minor in college and I love making things. I have made and sold mosaics; stained glass; and metal and beaded jewelry. I also love knitting and sewing.
  • I was born in Philadelphia but grew up in Hollywood, Florida. I spent elementary through high school in Florida until my family moved back to Pennsylvania
  • I am a Board Certified Holistic Health and Nutrition Counselor. AADP (American Association or Drugless Practitioners)
  • While learning at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I studied over 100 dietary theories and got a chance to learn from teachers and leaders like Andrew Weil, Mark Hyman, and Deepak Chopra.

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