How it all started

From a young age, I’ve been fascinated with nutrition and wellness. When I was in 6th grade, my whole family went on a diet. This was my first exposure to diet culture in the United States and the beginning of a long journey that led me through various fad diets, a lot of confusion about what “healthy” actually meant, a fear of certain foods, and a belief that low fat or no fat meant a food was healthy. My understanding of nutrition at that time led to years of weight fluctuations and other signs and symptoms from my body that something wasn't quite right. Despite all the confusion along the way, I loved trying to find the answers about how the foods I ate and my lifestyle impacted how my body felt. I knew I wanted to figure out the “key” to wellness, but it took me many years to get there.

This journey eventually led me to functional nutrition – where food meets physiology. Before I ever heard the term functional nutrition, I had already seen its impact in my own life. When I was in high school, an unintentional dietary change - eliminating soda - “cured” me of my daily headaches. In college, I experienced chronic gut issues that at the time I thought I’d just have to learn to live with – for a while I thought this is just me. Over time, however, and with the help of a holistic practitioner, I learned to manage and work toward healing the roots of the dysfunction I was experiencing. I began slowly seeing how food impacted my body. 

My journey of unlearning

I had an “ah-ha” moment when I was in graduate school working on my nursing degree. I was living with my sister when I had purchased a “zero calorie," fat free “butter” spray. She said “Why do you eat that? You know that’s not real food, right?” It had never occurred to me that the “zero calorie” spray that I had used as a substitute for butter for years wasn’t in fact real food. Butter wasn’t even on the ingredient list. 

This kicked off 12 years of unlearning nearly everything I thought to be true about food. What’s even better is that it revealed the best outcome I could have imagined – that some of the foods I thought to be “bad,” could actually be a regular part of both a satisfying and even healing diet for my body. I can eat real butter DAILY? Sign me up!

What is functional nutrition?

Seven years into my nursing career I first heard the term functional nutrition. Functional Nutrition derives from Functional Medicine. Functional Medicine and Functional Nutrition share three fundamental principles:

1. valuing a therapeutic relationship between client and practitioner
2. working with systems and frameworks
3. addressing root causes (rather than chasing a sign, symptom, or diagnosis)

When I learned about these principles, I thought to myself this is it. It was what I had been looking for – an approach to wellness that made sense and was attainable. An approach that works with the body and not against it. An approach that brings fulfillment and not depletion. And an approach that truly simplifies the key to living a healthy and whole life. 

As a Certified Functional Nutrition Counselor, I work one-on-one with clients to address the root causes of dysfunction in the body and guide them through manageable changes tailored to each unique individual.

Can you relate?

Do you ever feel confused about what “healthy” really means? 

Do you experience symptoms like fatigue, indigestion, bloating, insomnia, weight gain, or maybe even a diagnosis that feels like it’s just “who you are?” 

Do you desire to feel confident in your food choices and how they impact your health and the health of your family?  

Do you experience symptoms that conventional medicine has either dismissed or just hasn’t been able to address?

If any of these questions resonate with you, I’d love to help you. I know how overwhelming it can feel to discern between all the conflicting information you see and hear about nutrition and health. I invite you to schedule a free consultation with me by clicking on the link below.