Where It All Started
I always like to say that Nutrition is, and always was, in my blood because it’s always been a huge passion of mine for as long as I can remember. I grew up in a household where rich and heavy foods were a daily staple, and my appetite was literally never ending. My mother and father loved to cook and always emphasized large family style meals and gatherings. As delicious, memorable and fun those times were, looking back there was never much significance on the nutritional value of our meals or how more nutrient dense foods could be implemented into our daily routines, creating balance.
My mother battled with food, weight and “dieting” her whole life. Because of this, my three sisters and I became accustomed to years of fad dieting, quick fixes and diet culture from a very young age. The older we all grew; we began to see the positive benefits of eating more nutritiously and being more active. Learning early on, I followed in my sister’s footsteps and began playing highly competitive sports at the age of 5 up throughout college. Right around the beginning of high school was when I really started to become aware of and obsessed with diet culture. I tried every and anything to look a certain way and fell deeper and deeper into an unhealthy pattern for years. As most of us do, I truly believed that I needed to look a certain way and be a certain size in order to be happy.
At the same time, my father became sick and passed away from Leukemia. For months, while at the hospital, I began to see a much different side of Nutrition, only deepening my curiosity to learn more on a Clinical level. I also began to view “health” and “dieting” in a completely different light. I frequently saw the way patients were poorly instructed to eat certain foods. For example, my father could have an abundance of candy, but wasn’t allowed to have any fruits or vegetables. Shockingly, there was little to no guidance and even more minimal efforts to implement basic and realistic nutrition into a patient’s intake. Luckily this is much different now, but seeing so many commonalities and struggles in and outside of the hospital, simply in everyday life, I became fascinated with Nutrition.
The second I could, I began conducting my own research to learn more about exercise and Nutrition. I shadowed and worked in gyms since I was 14 years old and learned to love everything from how the body moves and works to how food also plays a vital role. I loved it so much I got certified to become a trainer during my senior year in high school and will never forget stepping into my first health food store. I bought everything and anything I could afford just to test it out and to learn it’s scientific background and specific purpose. Diving deeper into my passion and studies, I found notable similarities amongst diverse groups of individuals. The most common conclusion was that a lot of people didn’t and still don’t understand basic nutrition. Because of this, I really wanted to create a solution and easy way for people to understand, seeing the importance. I also wanted to find ways people would realistically try new foods, but in a way, they would have fun with it.
