Background

Over 12 years ago, my political and spiritually beliefs led me to search for a state of higher consciousness through not eating. I was 15 and anorexic. It took about a year for me to hit rock bottom and realize my life was in my hands, and I alone had the power to pull myself out of the dark place I had found myself in. Eating disorders have many reasons, and my story deserves it’s own space, you can read more about my personal journey with recovery (here). What was important from this time in my life is, I learned I cared enough about food, and sustainable, healthy food to die for it. If I wanted to survive, I had to teach myself to care enough about it to live for it.

I taught myself how to nourish my body, how much food my body actually needed, how to use food as fuel, how to cope with weight gain, and how to redirect that energy into life-enriching passion. I got back into running, cycling, and duathlon races, the sports I cared about before anorexia took me out of them. The only problem was I kept getting injured, even after a healthy amount of weight gain.

Several doctors told me that my only solution to my athletic injuries was to run less millage, or undergo surgery. I had seen food heal me once and I knew it could do it again. I wanted to get better, to perform better, not settle for a life without the activities that I love.

I approached performance from a holistic perspective. I focused on well-rounded training, nutrition for recovery and strength, and yoga for injury prevention and flexibility. And it worked.

I was vegan for a time, raw vegan for a time, and paleo for a time. They all worked, to various degrees. I opened my mind to a perspective of food that encompassed many philosophies, combining eastern healing arts and western science. I completed a degree in anthropology, focused on food and medical anthropology to study the cultural aspects of health and to dive into ancestral nutrition.

I have seen first hand how being properly nourished can enable us to live with vitality, and how being improperly nourished can contribute to depression, anxiety, injuries, dis-ease, inflammation, gut distress, and a host of other conditions that prevent us from being our best selves. I now work with clients on building a healthy approach to nutrition that allows them to achieve their goals and overcome the challenges with food and health that are holding them back.