About Me

Aside from being a certified Health and Life Coach, I am a wife and a mom to two sweet, sassy girls. As a Montana native I love to be outdoors camping or hiking, or even just finding adventure on a backroad to nowhere. I love to cook and bake (cleaning, well, not so much). My childhood included spending time at my grandparent's wheat farm and from there sprouted a love of cultivating my own backyard garden. When I can, I try to find time for a good bool (or 10!) My vision as a health coach is to help women discover what it means to truly love what they see in the mirror. But that's not exactly how it started out for me....

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As a kid, I grew up in the '80s era of 'fat phobia.' My mom, having been overweight most of her life, was on a constant crusade for better health and weight loss.  I learned early on how to count calories and fat grams, and learned all the horror stories about what happens if you are overweight. Although there were positive intentions behind all of these lessons, I didn't realize it as a child. 

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In high school as I became intrigued by health and wellness. I began working out and learning more about nutrition and it's effects on the body. As most high school girls do, I became more conscious about my appearance. I wasn't necessarily overweight but I wasn't thin either. I also wasn't athletic, overly smart or the slightest bit extroverted. While I had amazing friends, I didn't feel exceptional at anything. Until my first diet, that it. As I began to explore caloric restriction, I did indeed lose weight. The more I restricted, the more weight I lost and the more attention I received. I began to workout and also found a love for running. I was so busy in school activities and studying that I was home less and less for mealtime. When I was, I found ways to make it look like I had eaten when I hadn't. My restrictions took on the guise of becoming vegetarian, then vegan, until it finally turned into full blown anorexia. I was living abroad in Japan the summer before my senior year, and that's when the eating disorder took a turn for the worst. I came home almost unrecognizable and at that point, there was no denying that I needed help. I spent the next 6 years in recovery working with doctors, nutritionists, and therapists, sometimes twice a day. Recovery was full of successes and relapses, time and time again. I went on to earn a degree in Psychology, determined to help other women navigate the difficult journey I had been through already. When I discovered Health and Wellness coaching, I knew that would be the next step toward helping others. I went through the Health Coach Institute certification program in 2019 and their Mastery Transformation program in 2020. I am currently enrolled in the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy and am a Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach candidate. I am also working toward becoming certified through the National Board of Health and Wellness Coaches. Never stop working toward your dreams!

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Along the way, I have learned some valuable lessons: I know first hand that diets don't work. Shaming people because you're not comfortable with their size (in either direction) doesn't work. Stereotyping people based on appearance doesn't work. So what does work? Learning to listen to and respect your body. We are all here, created in our own unique way to serve our highest purpose here on earth. And let me tell you, my pants size has nothing to do with it. And yours doesn't either. When we stop associating health with weight, we begin the delicate process of listening to the body's wisdom and intuition.  We begin to heal our own relationship with food and find what movement fulfills our body and soul. We can finally begin to love ourselves, beyond the body, from the inside out. So let's step out together and dance to the beautiful music of life!

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