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Some call me crunchy, some call me crazy. I am a passionately curious person, a life-long learner, and a lover of spontenaeity.  I adore people and find each one fascinating.  When I see you, I see a a masterpiece. I want to know your story. I want to know your jam (as my brother-in-law puts it!)  Tell me about you! I grew up in Colorado in the shadow of Pikes Peak and fell in love with the God of the Universe as I gazed at His glory and majesty every day.  It was easy to also fall in love with science and wanting to know how EVERYTHING worked as I was often transfixed with wonder at the world around me.  My parents are both avid learners and teachers, and they passed on their inquisitive minds and hard-working spirits to me!  We were an athletic adventurous family.  For me, playing outside, climbing a tree, picking fresh fruits from the garden, biking all the way downtown and camping in a tent were the best adventures a kid could know!

I have an undergraduate degree in Biological Science with an emphasis in anatomy from Colorado State University, which I always intended to use as a stepping stone to medical school, to try to follow in my grandfather’s footsteps.  What actually happened was that I married a military guy and had the privilege of being a military wife, pursuing my interests in epidemiology for the next 18 years through reading books, watching seminars, joining masterclasses by renown doctors, and simply continuing to educate myself and implement what I was learning.

Wearing the hats of wife, homeschooling mother of four and home-executive, I know the challenges of trying to balance all the plates that these roles bring.  I’ve struggled with fatigue for decades and have finally learned how to get some of that energy back in the last few years.  The road has been long and arduous.  I have not arrived, but I sure have some amazing tools to share which have helped me get to where I am now.  Finally, I am living a more energetic life and am reaching more of my potential!

When it comes to food, all my friends know I hate to cook!  The only thing I like about food is finding the best and least expensive places to get CLEAN food.  It’s a challenge I am always up for!  How can the products I buy be good for the earth, good for the farmers, good for the economy, and good for us?  Our family eats 90% of our meat from local farmers, raises our own chickens for eggs, makes sourdough bread and many other fermented foods, assembles meals from scratch for the majority of the time, and eats a whole food diet.  We also enjoy “junk foods” on a regular basis because I am determined that we not be too extreme and make certain our lives do not revolve around food!  Eating the way we do is just what we have always done, so it’s just not a big deal. There is much more to life!  I know it has made a difference in our overall health, though, to eat this way, and I am grateful for all the tools my parents and my schooling have given me!

We love hiking and camping in the Shenandoah mountains, fishing any body of water we can find, planting things outside, and making time for our friends.  

In the morning you’ll find me sleeping until 7am and slowly getting the day going with reading, journaling and a cup of tea.  During the day, I try to crack the whip over everybody’s head, including my own, to get our tasks accomplished, but I would RATHER get distracted and spontaneously play the piano, call a friend, visit a neighbor or clean some random corner of this house.  Somehow we mostly get things done that really need to be done each day.  Juggling priorities is not my forte!  I usually feel I am just putting out whatever fire is burning the brightest and the hottest!  It’s ok.  I’ve learned to be kind to myself and realize that I worked hard all day, so I have to be content and trust that I did what I was supposed to do, the best I could, and that is good enough. 

In the evening we enjoy meals around the table, Dad’s favorite country playlist on in the background, cleaning up together and movie nights on the weekends or having friends over for food and fires in the firepit.

I can’t wait to meet you!  You should be celebrated.  What is your story?  What are your health goals, hopes or dreams?  I would love to journey with you and cheer you on along the way!  I truly believe health is a journey, not a destination, so none of us has arrived because not one of us is perfect.  Let’s go on your health adventure together!

Which of these pictures would you say is “PRIMARY FOOD” and which would you say is “SECONDARY FOOD”?

They are meant to represent a nutritious meal, career, relationships, exercise and spirituality.  How would you put these in order based on importance?

Primary Foods

Nutrition is actually SECONDARY FOOD.  PRIMARY FOODS, which are non-food sources, are what actually nourish and fuel us.  

These are CAREER, RELATIONSHIPS, EXERCISE and SPIRITUALITY.  The more primary food we give ourselves, the less we depend on secondary food.  On the contrary, the more we fill ourselves with secondary food, the less space we leave for primary food.

I like to say that PRIMARY FOOD overrides SECONDARY FOOD.  Think about it.  A person who eats a perfectly balance organic plant based diet and even exercises regularly can still have chronic immune disease because they hate what they do for a living or because they are in a toxic relationship!  

CAREER & RELATIONSHIPS

Career and relationships are both areas for great stress or great peace and pleasure in life.

If you have someone waiting for you at home that will say, “Hey honey! Come sit with me on the couch and tell me about your day,” and then you get to go fill up on that wonderful PRIMARY FOOD of that healthy relationship, are you as likely to go fill up on binge eating from the fridge or drinking several glasses of wine?  No.  The area of relationships is an area where we can experience a great amount of comfort and food for the heart and soul.  When we can fill up there, we are less likely to fill up on secondary foods.  We all know that  we do not make great food choices when we are stressed by a toxic career.

There’s also the impact of toxic relationships. Everyone has experienced this.  It may be a family member, partner or co-worker who causes your blood pressure to rise or adrenaline to course through your system at just the thought of them!  

EXERCISE AND SPIRITUALITY

Exercise and spirituality are both areas where we can manage and regulate stress.  

No amount of kale and quinoa will make up for lack of movement!  We also all know how good it feels to just move our body through some form of exercise. We have so many choices!  Some people do better with more gentle exercise, while others benefit more from vigorous activity.  This is an area where bio-individuality applies.  You need to find what works for YOU!

“We are material beings in a spiritual world, “ Joshua Rosenthal boldly declares over and over again at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.  It has been scientifically proven that even spiritual practices as simple as meditation have staggering numbers of health benefits.  I could list dozens of sources! 

Study: How mindfulness may change the brain in depressed patients

Article: Where’s the Proof That Mindfulness Meditation Works?

Article: Scientific Proof the Next Global Meditation Can Change the World