My Wellness Jouney
I’m a California-born, Louisiana girl who ended up back in California at the age of 29. As a little girl, we would frequently gather around my grandmother’s table for fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits. We mostly ate vegetables that were out of a can and smothered in cheese. Where I grew up, people ate cracklins, which are fried pork skins. It was not your typical “health food” environment. I was well into my 20’s when I tasted my first avocado or had any multi-cultural foods, such as sushi or naan. So, I think you get the idea -- I wasn’t exposed to many seasonal, organic, & local foods, and I definitely wasn’t following the “Eating For Health” model that I learned about in nutrition school.
In the past 10 years, a few things have motivated me to go on this journey:
1) both of my parents’ health started to decline fast, and for no apparent reason. Old age? I wasn’t willing to accept that for an answer.
2) Many of my seemingly “healthy” friends had complaints about gut distress and other mysterious ailments.
3) I had three children, and I knew it was my responsibility to teach them healthy eating habits, so that they can grow up to live their best lives and influence generations to come.
What was happening? I started to ask myself, “could this really be a result of the food and the environment?”
YES, IT COULD.
To me, happiness and healing is feeling amazing in the bodies we were given. Wellness is expressed in our physical, emotional, and spiritual beings equally. I believe it is an integration of our outward beings and the deep longing in our souls to live our best lives, despite the distractions we face each day. Ultimately, if we don’t have our health, how can we show up for ourselves and others? I strongly believe we can enrich our souls by feeding our bodies with all the things that were meant for us to achieve optimal health and longevity.
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”
Matthew 16:26
From the time I was young, I was always interested in the intricate workings of the human body. My whole family was very involved in youth sports, and I was always active as a kid. I started feeling that I had the exercise piece figured out. I graduated with a BA in Public Relations/Mass Communications and a minor in Kinesiology from Louisiana State University. While studying at LSU, I completed a group exercise certification from the Cooper Clinic of Aerobics Research in Dallas, Texas. I taught a variety of exercise classes for the next 20 years in Louisiana, Texas, Illinois and California, and most recently at a barre and functional movement studio in Menlo Park, California where I live with my husband and three kids. What I learned was that although exercise and community is very important, the body needed more than these things to be at its best. There appeared to be many people not getting healthier/fitter/thinner on exercise alone. Where does food fit in? Sleep? Stress?
WE NEED IT ALL.
It was time to take a closer look at the importance of food on our well-being. After a few years of my own self-study in nutrition, and a number of food challenges, cleanses, and detoxes, I had bought into “clean eating” personally, and I wanted to take it a step further. I was curious about what it truly meant to optimize your health by eating the right foods and pursuing a holistic lifestyle. And, frankly, I was tired of the abundance of misinformation out there. I studied holistic nutrition at Bauman College, and learned so much about what is in our food, what is in our environment, and the healing power of food. Food is a privilege, and our society has reached a place where many people are misusing (sometimes unknowingly) and abusing food. As a result, many are suffering from chronic disease and ailments. We have to look at the root cause of many of these issues, and not just the “quick fix” that we’ve all grown accustom to.
