MY STORY

There were many years where I struggled with constant calorie counting, jumping from diet to diet (none of which worked long-term…anyone with me?), and body image issues. Counting calories, eliminating entire food groups, and spending most of the time feeling hungry. I didn’t see my hunger as a healthy appetite, I saw it as a sign of weakness.

Of course, looking back, I was a healthy size and had a perfectly healthy appetite, but the constant ‘on a diet, off a diet’ cycle left me with low self-esteem and terrible habits. I would avoid social situations and celebrations where I would be tempted to 'cheat', and I couldn’t enjoy food, even though all I thought about was food. These were just some of the thoughts that used to constantly run through my mind: “I can’t have this food, even though I love it." "What will I eat later?" "How am I going to make it through this party without eating foods I’m not ‘allowed’ to have?" "How am I going to track my calories if I eat out at a restaurant?”

And because I was constantly thinking about diet and calories, I would end up even more hungry because I’d have food on my mind 24/7. I was dieting in the name of health, and all the while I was stressed out, feeling down on myself and out of control, and I wasn’t any healthier for it. The sad thing is I spent so much energy, time, and effort stressing about food, my body, and my weight when I could have been spending that precious time on more important things - like living and enjoying life.

 
 

I decided to start researching, and I found that each year 45 million Americans go on a diet, yet most studies show that the majority (95%) of diets fail. People may lose weight quickly, but most people who diet will end up gaining back all of the weight that they lost and then some. It starts this perpetual vicious dieting cycle that people can't get out of (I was once trapped in it myself). The diet industry will tell you that it's your fault the diet didn't work - if you would have just tried harder or had more willpower, then you would have been successful. Diet and weight loss are a 71 billion dollar industry, but more than two-thirds of adults in the United States are either overweight or obese.

Dieting is a serious money-making industry, and clearly, we are not any thinner or healthier because of it. It is focused on vanity and losing weight quickly by any means necessary (even if it means cutting out entire food groups or creating super unhealthy and unrealistic restrictions). I want you to know that if you have tried a diet and didn't succeed - it is not your fault, it's the diet's fault. You do not lack willpower, you are not flawed, but that diet sure is. Your body is designed to be nourished and fueled, and it's not meant to live on fumes - THAT, my friend, is why diets don't work. 
 
After a long journey, I finally figured out that it didn't have to be this way, and that dieting and stressing over food didn't make me any healthier - instead, it had the opposite effect. I also saw so many people around me struggling with the vicious cycle of dieting - they'd lose weight quickly, but most were never able to keep it off.

Once I figured out that diets don't work or make us any healthier, I wondered, "So, what does?". It is important to our health to maintain a healthy weight, but obviously dieting isn't the answer. I took my passion for food, nutrition, and helping others, and decided to get my Masters in Public Health and Nutrition. 

During my time in grad school, I was educated about nutrition and health from resources based on science and medically proven research, and I learned how to promote health and attain a balanced weight through proper nutrition. I had a major mindset shift, and I realized that taking care of my body wasn't the same thing as obsessively trying to manipulate it. I found that I could live and enjoy my life, maintain a healthy lifestyle (and weight), and not obsess over every flaw or morsel of food. I was able to make peace with food, achieve a balanced and healthy lifestyle, and learn to love my body at last.

The Journey to Healing 

Once I made this realization and implemented all that I learned into my own life, I no longer felt like I was depriving myself of food or enforcing extreme calorie restrictions on my body. I was just eating real, healthy, food, and I naturally got to a balanced weight that is maintainable in the long run without fad dieting.
 
Now, instead of disliking my body and picking apart my flaws, I’m grateful for all that my body does for me. Rather than jumping from diet to diet and counting calories, now I focus on nourishing my body. 

Finally finding food freedom and learning what it meant to fuel my body was a gift. I no longer feel sad when I think about all of the energy, time, and effort that I spent stressing about food, my body, and my weight. Ultimately, that time wasn't wasted at all because it led me to this place.

Now my passion and life mission is to teach and empower you to find the amazing freedom that comes from jumping off the diet rollercoaster. I want to provide you with the encouragement, support, and knowledge that you need to live a healthy lifestyle and nourish your body so that you can live life to the fullest! I have the educational background that allows me to teach you about health and nutrition, but because I overcame my own struggles in this area, I also have the personal experience to guide you and support you as you work to live a healthy lifestyle, nourish your body, and reclaim your life!

a new found purpose

are you ready to:

Learn about nutrition and health in a straightforward, easy-to-understand way? 

Make a healthy lifestyle simple and enjoyable, without deprivation and dread? 

Finally understand how to nourish yourself and let your body reach a healthy weight without dieting? 

Understand how to eat for optimal health so that you are empowered to make healthy choices for a lifetime? 

Have a healthy relationship with food and your body?