My Story
Where it all started...
As a child, I was sick all the time. I had recurring ear and strep throat infections, which led to the removal of my tonsils by the age of 5. My allergies and asthma were so severe, I had to take allergy shots for years to relieve the nagging hives I developed as a teenager. I was allergic to trees, molds, pollen, cats, dust, mites- you name it, I was allergic to it. Although I didn’t have food allergies, I did consume a poor diet. I ate tons of starches, sugar, dairy, and processed foods which I would learn later complicated my health issues and would turn into food sensitivities and an unhealthy gut.
Masking the root issue...
As a teen, I suffered from horrible acne, PMS, and menstrual cramps. It took me passing out in the hallway at my high school for my parents to take me to the doctor. As most doctors do, my doctor prescribed the birth control pill to me at the age of 15. This pill did help mask the period symptoms and help to clear my acne, but I later found that the pill is a disaster for hormone production and balance and once again gut health.
Falling fast
I was your typical college student. Cramming for exams, partying with the social crowd, and not taking care of my mind or body. I ate poorly and worked out to make up for the hangry meals I would indulge in the day after being the fun party girl. My lack of sleep, poor food choices, and nonexistent self-care routine resulted in my body giving me massive signals that it was failing. I came down with Mono (Epstein Barr Virus) my senior year of college and shortly after developed low thyroid. I was tired all the time and started to gain weight fast. As the weight increased, so did my control. I become obsessed with eating healthy and working out. In fact, I took this to the extreme. It took a toll on my adrenals and cortisol levels (stress hormone). My mind was consumed with resisting any more weight gain and limiting food and working out become my priority. While this helped a little, it wasn’t the answer to my problem. With the stress from work, my symptoms worsened. I was fatigued to the point I was in bed by 8:30 and struggled to get out of bed every morning. The struggle was REAL! I dealt with indigestion, bloating, weight gain, a weak immune system, and a roller coaster of emotions and self-hate towards my body.
I knew there was a way out & was determined to find it…
As I mentioned before, I loved working out. During the time of my fatigued state, I developed a deep love for yoga and self-care. Yoga gave me a new perspective towards working out and allowed me to feel self-love I have never experienced. I become a certified yoga instructor to deepen my practice and started my self-care journey. As my success in my career grew so did my stress levels. I began working on my thyroid in a natural way and slowly eliminating the harmful unnatural crap from my life. I felt the difference and saw the light at the end of the tunnel! I was determined to find the missing puzzle pieces to my health story.
My passion & commitment to helping others...
This is when I became a certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner and my health coaching career began. I was inspired to find the root of my health issues and heal from the inside out and help others struggling with similar issues. Through this program, I learned a whole new way of looking at disease and health, from a functional and causal level. When I started digging deeper, I found A LOT of cellular damage, hormone imbalances, and bacterial overgrowth had occurred in the gut. It was like finding all the missing pieces of the puzzle I had been looking for! I figured out which foods were right for my body, continued to test for healing opportunities, and learned how to listen to my body to give it what it needed most.
A big missing piece of my healing...
I enrolled in an emotional eating certification course to help my clients end the dieting cycle once and for all. When I started doing the work, I learned that I was actually an emotional eater! Like many other conditions, emotional eating is on a spectrum. It can look like binging on foods to mask emotions or being so controlling with foods to mask unwanted emotions. As I reflected back on my patterns with food, I was on the controlling end of the spectrum. This finally made sense to me! Instead of dealing with my stress, frustration, anger, or any other toxic emotion, I would control with food. When I would lose control or not see the result I wanted to on my scale, I would downward spiral with negative self-talk. It was a vicious cycle.
TODAY
My hormones are balanced, my immune system is strong, my symptoms have diminished, leaving me feeling energized and balanced. I also look and feel the best I have ever felt, have a healthy relationship with food and working out, and I’m helping my clients combat many of the same issues and get to a healthy and balanced state.
My Story
Howdy, my fellow health gurus! I’m a Certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner and Transformational Mind/Body Coach.
My journey of holistic self-healing began when I decided to take control of my own health; I was tired of being sick and tired. As a child, when I was sick, I relied on an allopathic approach to medicine, known as traditional medicine, full of antibiotics and surgery. What I didn’t know at the time… I was doing more harm than good. Slapping on the band-aid approach by treating the symptoms was causing stress and an imbalance within my body. My immune system weakened, resulting in me being sick far too often! I suffered from food sensitivities, allergies, asthma, and my hormones were out of whack.
When I became committed to changing my approach and seeking the root issue of my body’s malfunction, I began removing hidden stressors, and my body eased back into alignment. This allowed my gut to heal, balanced my hormones, and strengthened my immune system. When the body is in a state of balance, you reap the benefits of high energy, a healthy weight, and an elevation in mood. Now that’s what I call living an enriched life! Sharing my story and spreading the health wealth is my primary purpose, and I am beyond passionate about helping anyone who wants to reclaim their vitality and live a balanced life both mind and body.
