My Bio – the official version (scroll down for my health journey)
I am a Holistic Health Coach (Co-Founder of CRAVE Health) certified by the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and accredited by Columbia University and the American Association for Drugless Practitioners. Prior to becoming a Health Coach, I studied Entrepreneurship, Marketing, and Finance at the University of Arizona and spent many years in the Financial Services and Software industries. I found my way to wellness through my digestive tract and living a balanced, spirited life. I am inspired to help others feel fantastic again without the side effects of medication but with all the juice and spice that life has to offer. In addition, I recently began working closely with bartenders and spirits industry professionals to help them find balance in their lives and stay healthy despite the unique challenges of their job.
Splitting my time between New England and San Francisco has allowed me to foster my connection to nature and draw on the resources needed to give my clients my absolute best. In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my family, cycling, yoga, skiing, dark chocolate, laughter, running, nature, cooking, and reading. It is my privilege to do this work and I am unequivocally grateful for the many people that have come into my life as a result.
My Health Journey – the extended version
Post college my spare time was often spent reading about food and nutrition, and my weight continuously yo-yo’d back and forth over 20 lbs as I experimented with calorie counting and various fad diets. I wasn’t satisfied with my body, and always felt that if I had the “perfect” body then everything else in my life would be “perfect” too. At the time, I wasn’t satisfied with my life – I was in an unhealthy relationship and I wasn’t fulfilled by my career. When I would hit my ideal weight, I felt smarter and much more confident, my self-worth would skyrocket, and everything in my life suddenly felt better. It never lasted long though, because on some level I wasn’t comfortable with success, so I would inadvertently start busting into the pantry digging for chocolate, cookies, and cake. By putting on some weight again, I was just creating a distraction from focusing on the things that really weren’t working for me - my relationship and career.
I worked hard and played hard and on several levels I was enjoying myself. Years later, I came down with bronchitis and it stuck around for a grueling 5 months. I now know that the lungs are associated with grief, and I was in the energetic process of letting go of things as I knew them (relationship & career), and I wasn’t happy about it. The foods I was eating were also keeping me from getting well, but at the time I didn’t know that because according to “mainstream” philosophy, the food I was consuming was healthy. After many months of being sick, I hired a health coach and in just a few weeks of being supported by her, I cleared out my bronchitis by eating more suitable foods for me, getting out of my dissatisfying relationship, and managing my career-life rather than being a victim to it.
Suddenly, my life was healthier and I was choosing healthier foods, not to mention that my body felt safe enough to get rid of it’s protective layers. I found my ideal weight naturally and without effort.
Something was still wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
I was extremely busy, going to school at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and traveling constantly for my new job in software sales. Without fail, every time I would get on an airplane, I got sick. Overall I felt pretty good, so I attributed my cold-catching skills to the fact that I was getting “older” and that was just par for the course. Antibiotics helped, but during one of my school weekends a holistic doctor brought the downfalls of antibiotics to my attention, and I was curious.
Enthused by all I was learning, I went to a holistic doctor only to find out that I had a LOT going on inside my body! I didn’t look sick. I didn’t feel sick. I was tired, but isn’t everyone? I was fairly sick.
The results of my tests showed that I had severe mercury toxicity, leaky gut syndrome, candida, food allergies, adrenal fatigue, and my neurotransmitters were off. It was time to clean up my gut.
Even though I was studying nutrition, I became quickly overwhelmed and more than once I found myself crying in the aisles of the grocery store because I felt alone and it seemed like there was nothing I could eat. I figured it out, and eventually choosing health vs a diet led me down an amazing path of transformation.
I began the process of cleaning up my body from the inside out and slowly but surely my life followed suit in unexpected ways. With this massive clean up process, both my gut and my life felt much worse before they felt better, and it took a lot of time and patience to trust that both would be better for it.
Because I detoxed and cleaned up my diet, my digestive system had the opportunity to heal. I noticed that as this happened, I became more solid in who I was as a person, and I began living in a way that was aligned with that. My intuition became sharper, I could hear my body’s signals and messages in physiological, emotional, and mental formats. I now turn inward for all answers, and I am listening. It’s a new path for me, but I have more peace in my life, and my gut is never wrong.
I have also found that when I eat junk, I have junky thoughts and emotions. I become disconnected from myself and confused about what I want, what my next step is, and who I’ll spend my time with. Life is better without junk in it.
What started off as a food journey for me turned into a health journey and a whole life journey. They cannot be separated from each other and it begins with what we put in our mouths. I love what I do, because as I support my clients wherever they are along their path, they never fail to teach me more about life and how we’re meant to live it. I am privileged to do this work and I am thankful for everyone who has come into my life as a result.
