This is my Story
My love of food started when I was a little girl helping my mom in the kitchen. Ever the entertainers, my parents loved to have people over and the menus were always fantastic. I grew up in a small agricultural town in Wine Country California and when our new High School campus revealed a culinary arts program I was the first to sign-up and introduce myself to the teacher. It was there that I was introduced to the world of culinary technique and discipline. Mince! Dice! Julienne! My supplementary education came from watching countless hours of the pros: Ina Garten, Giada De Laurentiis and Martha Stewart! I know, not Le Cordon Bleu.
Fast forward in time to when I was 18 years old. In one month I gained 15 pounds and after some bloodwork we found out that my thyroid was under attack and I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. Hashi’s what?? Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease that can wreck havoc on your hormonal system and your whole body. I was given hormone replacement for it and told to check labs every month. It took years to find my right dose of thyroid replacement but I finally did and felt good…. Not great.
Fast forward again, I am married and have two wonderful children. We live in a cute and cozy home in the San Francisco Bay Area and I feel terrible! What is going on? Chronic fatigue, irritability, depression, GI issues, weight gain, and 8 other ailments affecting me every day. My doctor ran a blood test and an endoscopy and BAM! Celiac Disease diagnosis, another autoimmune disease. Treatment: stop eating all Gluten! You know, that protein found in wheat, barley, and rye…
FOOD IS MEDICINE:
“My fatigue went away, my skin cleared up, I dropped 10 pounds of inflammation weight in 1 week! I had loads of energy and I was happy again. My life changed and I not only believe it, but I am living-proof that, FOOD IS MEDICINE! Good, organic, non-processed food is medicine.”
Our whole household turned upside down as I cleaned every pot, pan, and cooking equipment (I have a lot) that we own. Pantry was cleaned out and replaced with gluten free products. However, 3 months into being very strictly gluten free and I was still feeling terrible and that’s when I started to do more research.
It all started with watching a docu-series about Hashimoto's. In that series they talked about how FOOD and LIFESTYLE can help to heal and can even put Hashimoto’s into remission! Mind completely blown! I started to dig deeper and research more and started the AIP (auto-immune protocol) Diet and found that dairy and eggs are big no-no’s for me. I went to see a function medicine doctor that was able to run tests that my big Healthcare provider didn’t even offer! My fatigue went away, my skin cleared up, I dropped 10 pounds of inflammation weight in 1 week! I had loads of energy and I was happy again. My life changed and I not only believe it, but I am living-proof that, FOOD IS MEDICINE! Good, organic, non-processed food is medicine.
I was driven to learn more and how to spread this message to all my friends and family who told me about how cruddy they felt all the time. So, in the middle of a pandemic at the start of distanced learning (a kindergartner, no less!) I enrolled in the Nutrition Consultant program at Bauman College. I didn’t know how I was going to balance it all but I couldn’t wait any longer, lives were at stake!
I am now a proud graduate and with the knowledge of nutrition and how the body functions as a whole, I am ready to help guide the masses to better health. I want you to know that an autoimmune diagnosis or any diagnosis is not the end-all-be-all. You can make small changes to diet and lifestyle that will have a huge impact. Its my pleasure to help create tailor-made plans that will work for you to help you rediscover how good it can feel in your body. To have the energy to play with your kids at the park. To have the mental clarity to tackle your workload with ease and efficiency. How to feel whole and complete again in your life.. or maybe for the first time.