I began actively trying to lose weight and started heading down the path of an eating disorder as I got more and more restrictive with food and obsessive about exercise.
Thankfully my eating disorder tendencies resolved once I began to formally study nutrition in college and learned how to have a much healthier relationship with food. However, my relationship with my body remained strained for years. It didn't help that after becoming a mother, I struggled to make myself a priority and be consistent with my healthy behaviors.
Then, 20 years later, I had a transformative experience that changed my entire attitude about my body and my health. Read more below.
My journey with health and body image has been a long one. Here’s a timeline of some of the key moments.
My body image took a huge nose dive…all of the shame of my childhood came flooding back. I felt embarrassed, ashamed, and hopeless.
While in the bathroom mentally beating myself up over how my body looked, I had a powerful spiritual experience. Two messages came loud and clear - "Your body is amazing" and "You're focused on the wrong thing."
I knew right then that it was time to stop basing my worth on my body size — I needed to make peace with my body and put all of my focus on my habits and mindset.
I struggled to find the balance between caring for the needs of my family, having a career, and taking care of my own health. Without realizing it, some of my healthy habits gradually got moved to the backburner.
In the thick of raising young kids and suffered from low energy, frequent mood swings, and frustrations with my health. I often turned to sugar in the afternoon to have enough energy to make it to bedtime.
Learned all I could about habit formation, intuitive eating, body neutrality, and cognitive behavioral therapy. I began implementing all of the techniques I was learning into my life. I focused on creating behaviors and routines that helped me feel great and respect my body.
All of my intensive research — as well as my experience as a dietitian and the trial and error I did on myself — resulted in a habits-driven framework that finally worked.
The results of this approach were significant, and I’ve experienced greater health and more energy than I’ve had in years. I’m more present for my children and no longer feel like I’m at war with my body. I have much more confidence, and I feel a deep peace knowing that I’m loving, respecting, and caring for my body in a healthy and sustainable way.
I hope to help as many women as possible experience the same transformation I had. I love helping others give up dieting and focusing on their weight and to instead love, accept and deeply respect their bodies to new levels of health, energy, confidence, and peace.