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My personal life journey has taken me down many fitness and nutrition paths. I grew up in shadows, and the first rays of light came from some awareness that there is much that I can control. How we live and experience life through our bodies is foundational to everything. To thrive from the inside out, one must consider how to care for the physical. Exercise is my anti-depressant. Nutrition is my foundation. At this stage in my journey, I take a much more holistic approach. I am not one thing. If I had to describe my eating style, I would call myself a ‘flexitarian.’ I have been vegetarian, and flirted heavily with paleo and vegan. I believe there is much benefit to examining our food choices and how those choices impact our lives. My most dramatic results have come from avoiding wheat sugar and dairy, and from doing ANY kind of exercise on a regular basis. Running was my first love, and having been a sedentary young person, completing 3 marathons is one of my proudest achievements. To change you have to be willing to be uncomfortable, but it is worth it, to get out of different uncomfortable. I fell in love with yoga in my 30s, and have been a practicing yogi ever since. That journey took me all the way to a national yoga competition, a very humbling and teaching experience. Presently, I teach yoga and mindfulness and am continuing to evolve. I recently became a nationally certified personal trainer. These days I strive to find a balance of modalities between yoga, resistance training and running. I have many tools to share from my journey, and I continue to evolve. Nutrition and fitness are foundational, but unique to every individual. Move your body every day, and eat as closely to nature as works for you. These are my guiding lights. And live your life with joy as you do so. So sometimes, eat the thing, and be lazy! Like all things, this is an individual journey, and my goal is to help you increase your awareness and give you the tools you need to achieve your lifestyle goals.

I am highlighting the tools that are the most helpful to me at this time, and that have been the most impactful along the way. My goal is to add more and more over time, so that this can be a library, and a network of healing and support for you. If you have found something that has been particularly helpful or supportive to your journey along the way, please share, I would love to hear about it!

Books that changed my life include:

These books come from the perspectives, to oversimplify, of both a vegan and a paleo of sorts lifestyle.

But not just any paleo lifestyle, one that has an emphasis on living fruits and vegetables, and includes a portion of particularly sourced animal protein for health benefit.

What any book or lifestyle journey that I support or has proven beneficial to me, is an intentional lifestyle that leads back to natural, organic, plant life and away from the industrial food grid.

As such, I ultimately live a lifestyle that is emerging as flexitarian. In part because I am just not an absolutist any more, but if I were, I would likely become and remain vegan, as it seems to promote the truest expression of life for humans and the planet available. However, you will see me eat non-vegan things. And so I offer that it is my experience that eating as far from the industrial food grid as possible, and being as inclusive of plant and vegetables that grow the closest to the sun as possible is the most beneficial way to live and heal.

I am not a scientist. I am an experiential learner. And I believe in meeting people where they are at, and that there is always room to improve. I have read and experienced a Doctrates worth of nutrition and exercise knowledge. I can tell you the 2 things that have been the most beneficial to me on my journey.

1. I discovered exercise when I was 18 years old. That evolved from walking, to running, to group exercise classes, to running marathons, to yoga, to strength training, to ultimately now, a combination of primarily yoga sprinkled with walking, running and resistance training.
   
   
2. I changed my health the most when I gave up wheat sugar and dairy for 30 days. Now this is always my root. When I stray too much, when things creep in too much, and I stop feeling good, I go back and remove these thing from my diet for a period of time, and these days, more and more, I also remove caffeine, alcohol and animal. At least for periods of time. What that really creates is a shift from what I am excluding, to what I am including, which is as many and as varied combinations of fresh fruits and vegetables as possible, as well as supportive herbs, and supplements of organic superfoods, including amino acids, a superfood shake, a detoxifying supplement, and crazy delicious tart cherry juice.

I am open to the possibility that my lifestyle will continue to evolve as I play and learn and grow. But what I can tell you is facing stuff, being intentional, and taking breaks from my habits, have changed everything.

I am currently a certified yoga teacher, group exercise instructor and personal trainer. I intend to continue to educate and pursue deeper education in all areas of behavior change. I am my own specimen, and a self proclaimed wellbeing junkie.

I am available to coach you teach you and share tools. And I have experts in my toolbox to refer you to, if your needs are beyond my scope. Feel free to reach out for a free 15 minute conversation, or check out my network for links to some of my tools and experts.

Whatever you are looking for, find the joy, move your body, eat delicious and beneficial things.