About me

People often ask my why I got interested in nutrition. There really isn’t a crazy interesting reason. I just love learning. I fell in love with the topic and all it connects with.

I grew up in a small town in Minnesota and ventured out to a small college in Iowa, Simpson College. Let’s just say I wasn’t eating avocado toast & salmon every day. My healthy habits have developed over time and continue to evolve (& I still don’t eat healthy every day). Nutrition & movement have always been a source of comfort for me and an escape from stress & anxiety. A few years ago I started reading and listening to a lot more podcasts & growing my knowledge of topics related to functional medicine, mental health & spirituality.

While in college I played softball & basketball. I stayed very busy along with an active social life and challenging classes. I had always been used to an active & busy lifestyle. Resting wasn’t my specialty. I mean why would you stay in when you could be out meeting new people & enjoying some drinks after a week of hard work?

I was enjoying college but started to feel myself getting burnt out. I cut back a little but continued to push myself and enjoy my time to the fullest. It wasn’t until COVID hit (in my junior year) that my perspective shifted. I finally was forced to rest. I finally had the time to really tune into my nutrition and do some nutrient tracking. I felt what it was like to sleep consistently, eat enough for my body and not be constantly running myself to the ground. Sure, I missed being at college (a lot) but I was learning so much about my body.

I also took the leap to quit my birth control pill after doing a deep dive into research and discovering some of my favorite women’s health experts. I had originally gone on it to “balance” out my periods. Or so I thought. I hardly paid any attention to my periods before going on the pill because they were so light and came every 3-4 months. My doctor had done blood work once to check my thyroid when I was 16, but nothing came back concerning her. Once I came off the pill, my skin exploded. Much worse than it had ever been in the years before starting the pill. I later learned that androgens (especially testosterone) are suppressed when on the pill, so they can have a “rebound” effect when you come off.

Being my stubborn self, I didn’t go back on the pill and set out to heal from within. I realized there was a deeper issue but couldn’t afford much lab work or functional medicine treatment at the time. I had my testosterone and vitamin D levels tested. Neither were optimal. I won’t go much farther into this here but this basically told me, there’s a hormonal & an inflammatory component to my acne.

I began researching, cleaning up my diet (especially sugar) and testing some supplements. But I had no idea what I was doing. After a few months and a lot of frustration, I invested in a functional medicine course specifically for acne. I learned the basics of lifestyle change for hormone health and got some recommendations for better quality supplements. From there, my knowledge continued to evolve. However I was also getting back to my busy, sleep deprived, over-exercising habits. On top of that I tried going vegan for a whole 3 months thinking more vegetables may solve my issues (wrong).

I went back to the content in the course I had purchased & realized I had the tools to destress my body. I began incorporating more protein & consistently eating above my daily calories needs. Sleeping, meditating, going to acupuncture & consistently using supplements that targeted blood sugar & inflammation. I also stopped doing so much cardio (once I was done with basketball) and think this made a huge difference. My period & acne both regulated together and are still getting there, but I’ve seen major improvements.

I’ve realized I could have probably sped this process up by working with a practitioner, but I couldn’t find one in my price range at the time. I’ve since learned that there are affordable labs, supplements & practices that can make an impact on even the most stubborn health issues. I’ve also realized I can help those who are looking for the help I needed.

I’ve learned that listening to my body is so important. Habits and routines are everything. Relationships & self-talk make a bigger difference than I thought.

I believe the small red flags our bodies give us are important. They can become bigger issues down the road. As women we often live with stress. We must nourish our physical bodies to be our best emotionally & spiritually.