my journey
Like everyone, my journey with fitness and nutrition has been a unique one. With valleys of extreme adversity and peaks of very prestigious accomplishments, it brings me great joy and sense of purpose to be able to share those experiences with my clients to help them wherever they are on their own path.
My background of formal education is in nutrition, having both a Bachelors and Master’s Degrees in Dietetics and my Registered Dietitian (RD) license from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. My interest in nutrition has always been driven by my devotion to my athletic performance (even as a young teen,) but along the way I fell victim to the pressure and ideals imposed by our society and diet culture, landing me in a decade long battle with eating disorder. This poor relationship with food stemmed through my years of studying nutrition and beyond- proving that “talking the talk” doesn’t always mean everything…
I was a Registered Dietitian, preaching the importance of nutrition while I was secretly battling my own demons around food guilt and manic yo-yoing in my diet practices. I was embarrassed and felt like a big fake- I knew this wasn’t the way to live but I didn’t know how to get out of this place.
It wasn’t until 2014 that I found a new found respect for my body and what it can do, not just what it looked like. This revelation came from starting to train under CrossFit methodologies; I wanted to be strong and perform well. I tried to emulate what I saw other athletes doing, but was still struggling with restrictive eating patterns and food guilt, but I was becoming more invested in wanting to compete and achieve in this sport. It was then I enlisted the help of my first and only nutrition coach. Through this supporting relationship, I felt encouraged and safe when it came to changing my habits- I trusted this person to guide me. Over the course of a year, I increased by intake by one thousand calories! I was able to sustain my training sessions with better performances and saw improvements in almost ALL of my lifting numbers. For the first time I really believed that food really IS our ally!
Fast forward five years and I have competed in four Reebok CrossFit Games, touting that I am “one of the fittest women on Earth,” all while eating more food than I ever imagined, giving myself more freedom to eat foods I enjoy without guilt or shame, and learning the value of treating your body right. I now work under the nutrition coach that showed me this better way and I get to help others find this same freedom. I’ve also taken steps to further education myself on eating disorder treatment and specialize in working with individuals with disordered eating.
After years of training for hours on end, I now get to share my gained experience in the gym as well. Through my success as an athlete, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a variety of knowledgeable coaches and fitness professionals from who I’ve learned so much. I’ve ensured to round out my first hand experience with certifications as well, to make me not only a knowledgeable trainer, but a credible one too!
Last year I took a step back from competing to grow a family. This bouncing baby boy has brought a new layer of amazing to my life, but also a new layer of obstacles. The postpartum journey is a different animal, both physically AND mentally. I still have moments of struggle when it comes to my journey with food and fitness, especially now with demands of parenthood.
I like to believe I am a truly unique resource in the saturated health and fitness space because I know only talk the talk, but I walk the walk. I’ve been in the same trenches you are now, and I will go back there and sit with you, reassuring you there IS a way out!
