Manuel Villacorta, MS, RD, CSSD
In 2004, I founded MV Nutrition, my private practice, in San Francisco and since then I am proud to say that we’ve helped over 2,000 Bay Area residents with their health goals and received four awards 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012 as “Best Nutritionist” in San Francisco. After four years of reading the research literature, applying it in my private practice, seeing thousands of people and witnessing great success, I had a vision. It became clear to me that I have something to share with the rest of the nation. This is when the Eating Free philosophy and weight management program was born. Eating Free is an online weight management program that offers free online tools, educational videos, food and exercise tracking, recipes, blog and the latest nutrition information.
My book, Eating Free: The Carb-Friendly Way to Lose Inches, Embrace Your Hunger and Keep Your Weight of for Good, was released May 14th, 2012 by publishing house Health Communications Inc.
I am a compelling, charismatic speaker with great passion for spreading the Eating Free philosophy with a realistic approach to wellness and weight management. I can educate your team members and empower them to make the right food choices, while motivating them to take charge of their own health. As a speaker, I am often praised for making audiences feel heard, motivated and engaged. I have spoken at annual state and national conventions for organizations, associations and corporations as part of their wellness strategy. I can also speak to small and large groups providing seminars, workshops, retreats and one hour power talks. According to many of my clients, my enthusiasm and encouragement has changed their lives.
Last but not least I love representing food companies that I believe in. I can act as a brand ambassador for your company. I have worked as a spokesperson on state wide campaigns reaching the Latino market for the "California Latino 5-A-Day Program" and "Got Milk".
My biggest and most successful experience as a spokesperson is when I acted as a media representative for the brand Foster Farms (one of the largest chicken producers on the West Coast). Their campaign enlisted me as their trusted Foster Farms’ nutritionist to serve as the key spokesperson. I acted as a primary brand ambassador to discuss the health attributes of Foster Farms’ chicken compared to “plumped” chicken competitors, and further explained the contribution of high-sodium consumption and other poor nutrition habits to ailments prevalent in the Latino community such as cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.
The program was widely successful in informing consumers about plumping and convincingly differentiating Foster Farms’ truly natural products from the saltwater-injected products of its competitors. The event strategy helped forge over 400,000 personal interactions with consumers and media hits yielded over two million media impressions. By the end of 2009, their efforts resulted in increasing brand awareness and maintaining Foster Farms’ position as the preferred poultry brand of Latino consumers in California, despite the brand’s premium price and an economic recession. Furthermore, company research revealed that PR initiatives had a high recall rate among Latino consumers.
I will be a perfect fit for your company. Aside from already establishing a great relationship with major media avenues as an on-air contributor for Univision (weekly segments), Estrella TV, Telemundo (monthly segments), Fox News Latino (monthly articles) and Huffington Post, I am also known for my warm, approachable style and my bilingual/bicultural proficiency in English and Spanish which have made me an in-demand health and nutrition expert on local and national television and radio channels, as well as in articles appearing in print publications and online, such as: CNN En Español, Latina Magazine, El Consejero, Men’s Health, Prevention, Self, MORE, Fitness among others.
I can bring my national recognition as a health and nutrition expert status and 16 years of experience as a registered dietitian/nutritionist. For now I am acting as a media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, I am the voice of 74,000 dietitians among all national media avenues.
Another quality that you should know about me is that I walk the talk! I practice what I preach, eat balanced, enjoy food shopping, love cooking, and exercise for health. Once in a while like my desserts!