My struggle with dieting and exercise began at the age of 13. “Drop a jeans size in 2 weeks” boasted the Special K cereal box, promoting their diet.

🤔Did I even have any jeans sizes to drop at that point? I was under 100 lbs… but the diet spoke to my body image issues.

I was a cheerleader since I was 4 (lots of focus on body image and being small) plus I had never heard of a woman that spoke love, respect, and appreciation of her body. All of my role models growing up spoke negatively of their own bodies and/or other women’s bodies and these behaviors became second nature to me.

For the next ~10 years, I tried so many different diets, cleanses, workouts, to find the “perfect” one. Little did I realize these diets just keep changing names and faces over the years, and it took me YEARS to realize it too. I always ended up worse off with each new diet or yo-yo phase. I faced immune and digestive complications because of the years of malnourishment coupled with over-exercise.

I spent a lot of time letting food fears and poor body image hold me back rather than living, loving and exploring life like I used to.

I realized that I needed to focus more on inner work rather than “working out” to really heal.

I learned to rest and honor my body instead of pushing it to its limits everyday (I didn’t really have a choice, at that point I was in burnout as a 23 year old).

I sought help.

I worked to repattern my subconscious beliefs and allow myself to be FED and nourished- physically and emotionally.

Over time, I learned to give myself much more grace, time, and acceptance, rather than expectating perfectionism.

Today, I don’t count a single macro or calorie. I eat when I’m hungry, stop when I’m full. I eat out regularly without worry. I have snacks or dessert if I want to and trust myself to make choices that make me feel good both physically and mentally. I take more rest days than workout days most weeks. I take whole weeks off of exercise from time to time and don’t die or back slide with my progress.

I know that amount of ease is available for you on the other side as well and I am grateful to be holding space for you on your way there.

This course is what I wish I had and I am very excited to be sharing it with you alongside Julia!

When I was in high school, I was often ridiculed and bullied for being “the weird one”. An honors student who was a socialite but was too uncool to be a part of any group.

I brought my guitar to school and played in the hallway alone. One day in History, my crush told me I was the ugliest girl in class. Being 15, that really affected me. I didn’t know what to do to boost my appeal up and didn’t want to be labeled as ugly and weird. I met crash dieting and began skipping lunch to eat a special K bar.

I demonized calories and attempted to consume 800-1200 per day. I didn’t have a gym membership so I walked home from school (no matter the weather). I was deeply sad, deeply alone, but the compliments FELT GREAT. Before I could notice, I lost 50 lbs in 6 months.

All of my free time was spent doing cardio. My boyfriend at the time had a good relationship with food that then suffered. Everything was crumbling around me.

My mom brought me to the doctor who wanted to send me to an outpatient retreat. Instead, I boldly attempted to reinvent my life by eating more and joining the high school lacrosse team.

Since my my junior year of high school, I knew I was destined to become a Registered Dietitian. From that point on, this desire became a need rather than a want- to help people just like myself who felt totally lost, alone, and like they had no place to go to.

I want to show you that the power is within you all to stop and to rebuild your relationship with food. I was suffering for a long time and I didn’t need to.

I won’t lie- these behaviors were on/ off for a few years until I regained my balance. It takes effort, patience, nurture and energy to not let anxiety and trauma from the past haunt you.

Sydney and I are here to help you with all of your feelings and hold space for you. The journey I have been on was so powerful and so life changing that I knew it was my destiny to be a part of a course like this.