Dawn Jackson Blatner

I can’t say enough good things about Dawn. I was referred to her by a friend who had so many great things to say about her, and I was definitely not dissapointed1
I have had chronic digestive issues my whole life, which had recently gotten worse. I wanted to meet with a nutritionist as opposed to a MD because I believe the body is meant to heal itself. Many diseases can be treated with the right diet, however western medicine likes to treat things with a little pill, which will only mask and not really heal anything.
Anyways — for 2 weeks before our first meeting she had me track everything I ate and all the digestive issues I experienced in a food log. When I came in to see her, we spoke about my issues and then she went over the my food log with me.
She had SO much information and was able to make it seem so simple and logical and easy to understand. We talked about how I ate, sitting down to meals, chewing food, things I ate, drinking water with meals, chewing gum and on and on.
Beside addressing my digestive issues she also gave me advice and tidbits about how to eat healthier in general. Portions, types of foods, etc.
I left with at least 5 items to change in my eating habits and many other suggestions for eating healthier.
What I loved best about Dawn’s approach was she really didn’t ask for me to do a huge diet overhaul and entirely change everything. She looked at what I was already doing and gave suggestions on how to tweak it to make it healthier and easier on my digestive system.
She’s also a great person to work with, full of energy and enthusiasm, and chock full of knowledge.
I would even recommend seeing her if you don’t have a specific issue, but just want to be healthier in general. She totally changed my life (seriously) and was worth every penny.

I was suffering from nutritional information overload. I was literally waking up every day confused and aimless in my plan for feeding myself. I am an athletic woman (technically a semi-​pro athlete), and my diet was negating all the exercise I engage in. Dawn helped me understand why I should be at a certain weight – I was beating myself up about how much I thought I should weigh. upset that I didn’t know how I should think about food when I am feeding myself, and most importantly what I should be eating before and after a workout. Dawn straightenend it all out for me! I thought that being paralyzingly sore the day after a workout was a factor of my age (36). But really it was because I was not feeding myself properly!
I honestly have never felt stronger or better since I’ve seen Dawn. I am getting slimmer every week, and I am not feeling deprived and my workouts are not suffering. She set a realistic goal for me that doesn’t revolve around a number, but rather optimum athletic performance and long term health.
It is SO WORTH the fee to see her to get you on track. She’s totally dialed in when you meet with her, she doesn’t upsell or push supplements like some nutritionists I have heard about, and she is the first nutritionist that I’ve seen that understands the female athlete! REJOICE! I cannot recommend her highly enough… if you are in doubt, just go for it, you will not be disappointed.

Dawn is seriously one of the most energetic dietitians I have ever met. I would recommend her to anyone! She makes nutrition fun, exciting, and easy all at the same time. After watching one of her cooking demos at the Taste of Chicago, I instantly bought her book hoping it would be a good one (like I have with past cook book purchases). However, unlike other cook books/​nutrition books, I find myself using it AT LEAST on a weekly basis, if not more! It is certainly my number one go-​to book! I am constantly referring my clients, friends and family to get this book because each recipe is SO easy with very few ingredients (not to mention super healthy and tasty). If you are a vegetarian (like me) or vegan and want to do so in a healthy way, her book is also the one for you!
I have also attended two of Dawn’s cooking class at the Chopping Block in Chicago. She was super friendly and outgoing! Her classes are not centered on difficult, hard to find ingredients, but rather realistic recipes that you can easily replicate on your own. I also enjoyed her helpful nutrition tips throughout the class that were up-​to-​date with the latest science on food and nutrition. Even with my background in nutrition, I still learned new tips on food, nutrition, and cooking from her and can’t wait to attend another one of her classes in the future!

I wouldn’t be the healthy person I am today if it wasn’t for Dawn. That might sound dramatic but it’s true. Thanks to her insight and encouragement I lost weight and more importantly kept it off. It’s always a pleasure to sit and meet with Dawn, who is knowledgeable on so many nutrition-​related topics but more importantly just fun to meet with. She loves food and understands the love of food and that makes it easy to talk with her (and she’s just fun and funny). What I especially appreciate is how accessible she is even outside her office hours: we communicate via email in addition to in person and she’s helped me out several times in terms of advice on how to deal with a food-​related situation or keeping me accountable or just cheering me on. I’ve recommended her to all my friends who’ve asked about nutrition advice and I’ll do the same here!

Dawn is the best nutritionist out there. There is a reason why she is on NBC and Fitness magazine, etc. She really has a common sense approach to food and weight loss and/​or healthy eating. I lost 60lbs under her care. The things she taught me I still use to this day !

If you’ve read my reviews you’re probably thinking that I eat a lot of cake! I have to admit I do, but with my wedding just 4 months away I’ve been trying to eat a little healthier. I by no means want to lose a ton of weight, but everyone always says that their wedding day was the skinniest they’ve ever been and if this is the skinniest I’m going to be I’m destined for a fat life!
I recently took a «healthy in a hurry» class with registered and licensed Dietician, Dawn Jackson Blatner, at the Chopping Block. I was impressed by Dawn’s knowledge and enthusiasm and even learned a thing or two about cooking. And this is coming from the girl who can barely boil a pot of water. So when I was writing the Weekly Unilocal on sticking to your New Years Resolution I decided to interview Dawn, which you can read right here:
Yep, that’s me who writes the Weekly Unilocal.If you like it, let me know. If not, keep it to yourself. I kid, I kid… feedback ALWAYS welcome.
Anyway, I couldn’t believe how much I learned from just interviewing Dawn over the phone! I’ve been hearing Dawn’s voice in my head over the past month while eating at restaurants (ex: stay away from anything sauteed, only order dessert if there are 3 other people at the table to share it with, etc).
I’m pretty good at sticking to my weight watchers (well, besides the cake problem), and I’m only of the few people in this world who enjoys working out, but I thought if I had just a few more tips from Dawn I’d be taking in that wedding dress at least 2 sizes! Well, maybe just 1 size, but a girl can dream!
I booked an hour long session with Dawn (she sees patients every Friday at her Michigan Avenue office) and it was the most fun I had all week! I told her a little bit about my challenges of eating healthy (especially when I travel for work) and she gave me a few great pointers that I can’t wait to put into use!
The best thing about Dawn is that you can tell she truly loves her job; I’ve never seen someone get so excited about eating healthy! But if I start looking as good in my pants as Dawn looks in hers I’ll be all about fruits and veggies too! Even if i can’t have my cake…