My Story
I am a Certified Holistic Nutritional Weight Loss Coach, Personal Trainer, Group Fitness Instructor and Menopause Coaching Specialist. I have a strong passion and dedication to overall health and wellness. I believe that everyone deserves to live a healthy and fulfilling life, and I'm here to guide and support you on your journey toward achieving your health and wellness goals.
If I am being honest, I think I was born fluffy. I was the adorable chubby girl with huge cheeks, and a little buddha belly running around naked and carefree for the first two years of my life. There are many pictures to prove this, but I will spare you all that cuteness.
When I began figure skating at the age of nine, I felt insecure about my body. It bothered me that all the other skaters looked much thinner in their costumes, and I always obsessed over my tummy in the mirror before having to get on the ice in front of an arena full of spectators.
Looking back, I am certain that the only thing that stopped me from crossing the childhood obesity line was the countless hours of exercise I did, training on and off the ice, for the next eight years. I know today that nutrition was a huge part of it. My parents did their best to feed us healthy meals, and like most parents, they would keep “treats” in the house. I would come home from school and grab a wagon wheel, or a pudding, and go hide in the bathroom to eat it before dinner. Do you remember the days of Kool-Aid and Tang? I shudder now to think of how much white sugar my sister and I would dump into the jug before we added the powder and stirred it up with tap water. Yikes!
My figure skating career ended after sustaining a back injury and being rear-ended while I was out learning to drive one day with my dad. With my eating habits still the same and the training programs ending, I graduated from high school in a size 16 grad dress and the boy I had been dating for three years broke up with me over the phone in front of his family because he said I had gained too much weight.
In my early twenties, I discovered the joy of exercise again. Focusing on aerobics classes and long-distance running until my knees let me know in my thirties that running was no longer meant for me. I hired a personal trainer and attended every kind of fitness class available. I told myself, that if I could just consistently work up a sweat, I could keep the extra pounds at bay. My sole reason, which I now refer to as “my why” was to be thin and look good as I navigated the dating world as a single woman living in Vancouver, BC.
When my biological mother passed away from cancer at 54, and her mother passed away four months later in her early seventies of complications that stemmed from her type 2 diabetes, my “why” shifted. I had never seen either of them eat a single vegetable that was not covered in cheese sauce, or even drink any water. Unless you count the ice cubes that hit the glass before mixing up a good spicy Caesar. Nutrition or exercise was simply not part of their lifestyle.
I really focused on nutritional balance in my late thirties and by the time I met my husband at forty, we became two out of the over a million people in British Columbia, Canada without a physician, once ours had retired.
We decided it was up to us to take control of our own health and do everything we could to avoid needing a doctor. We are still indulging in life and do not have to give up our favorite things that we both enjoy so much. Yes, I still eat chocolate, almost every single day. It is all about the balance.
I have read countless books and spent hundreds of hours listening to health podcasts that give me ideas and inspiration. When my “why” changed from just wanting to be thin, to choosing to live a lifestyle that promotes good health and longevity, that is when the magic happened for me. At 49, I feel stronger and healthier, with more energy and confidence than I ever have before. Wishing to share everything that I had learned with anyone who would listen, I started working my way through my numerous certifications in my mid 40's . I will continue to educate myself and still consider my body a work in progress. I am ok with that. This is my passion, my life now, and I love it. My goal is to teach you how you can love it too.
I now reside in Victoria BC and when I am not engrossed in a book or listening to the latest podcast, you can usually find me in the kitchen cooking up or baking healthy recipes. I do the side dishes and my husband does the protein. We like to get out for hikes and camping or just hang out together and laugh at how entertaining our four cats are. There is never a dull moment in our house!