I grew up in a house where we used food to celebrate everything — birthdays, holidays, the first day of school. My mother loved to cook, I loved to help, and I also loved to eat. This is where my passion for food, cooking and being with family/community began. 

Being part of a half Latina family and growing up in the 80s, image and physical appearance were so important. Comments on weight and appearance were common and were stated outright by friends and family. I was expected to show up with a smile on my face to, you know, keep up “appearances”. This combined with all the 80’s airbrushed models had a diabolical influence on my development and self-image.

Taught to strive for perfection and excel in all areas of life, there was no room for less than that. My father would wake us at 6am so we could seize the day, and as the eldest daughter, I was expected to help everyone around me and be ”responsible”.

I learned to be everything for everyone around me. This lead to emotions of stress and anxiety and feeling overwhelmed as I showed up for everyone but myself.

As a teen with very little outlet for my own emotions, I became an emotional eater. Chocolate was my go-to and still is, although now in healthier and smaller quantities! I ate when I was anxious, I ate when I was bored.

I was always eating and exercising in extremes, and eating my emotions – either in deprivation or in excess. I would lose weight, gain weight, and eventually these patterns began to wreak havoc on my metabolism and my hormones.
When life evolved and I found myself at the center of my own family, very little focus went to prioritizing my needs. I took care of my people, managed the household, and worked while still waking up for the 5am boot camp, volunteering for the school, and giving back to the community.

This is what I saw women do, this is how I was raised. This is what I learned to be.

My whole life reflected my lack of prioritizing myself. The combination of wanting to look my best and being a people pleaser, always saying “yes” and striving to be perfect, created a lot of overwhelm, stress and anxiety for me.

I woke up one morning and could not get out of bed – my body ached in extreme pain and I felt physically and mentally exhausted. I had hit my max. I had officially burned out. All the stress, running around, eating sugar for energy, drinking caffeine to stay awake, and drinking wine to soothe me had taken its toll on my body.

After visiting various doctors, I found out I had osteoarthritis of the neck, a thyroid condition, and was on the verge of adrenal fatigue. I realized the years of living on sugar and caffeine while taking care of everyone but me, had caught up with me. I felt too young for this.

I realized all the negative thoughts, lack of prioritizing myself, my food addictions contributed to low energy, gut issues, hormonal imbalances.

I was suddenly faced with the decision to either take medication for the rest of my life and have surgery or make extreme lifestyle and nutritional changes.

I knew I had to change. As I read the side effects of the medications and imagined the recovery period after surgery, I knew that the Pharma path was not for me. Instead I chose holistic modalities and, after much experimentation, I healed my body, mind and spirit.

This was no easy path for me as everyone around me was still moving at a rapid pace, and was taking the easy route of medication rather than lifestyle changes. Afterall, my dad was a doctor and I grew up on antibiotics. Who used food and lifestyle changes to heal their body, anyway?

Regardless, I strove forward, determined to make big changes and regain my health in the way I felt was best for me, building better boundaries. I succeeded in regaining my energy, I found the foods that fueled me, I changed my way of exercising, learned to say no and I slowed down.

Letting go of old and limited beliefs was a challenge, but if I could make these changes, and heal in this way, I questioned: why isn’t everyone doing this? I wondered, do other people know that there are alternatives, and deeper solutions?

I became a coach and with determination began to help women like myself prioritize themselves, slow down, nourish their bodies, and really, truly heal.

As I got older my body changed again — hormonally this time.

I was a caretaker again, this time with my mother. Rather than doing it all, my focus was to support her and my family and I decided to take a back seat in my health coaching practice.

Our body naturally goes through changes over the years. At each stage, we need to evolve and learn to eat differently, in addition to learning how we can achieve better balance and reduce stress.

Each of us has to make sacrifices for family and others at various times in our life. Only we can decide when it is our time. If you have given yourself to all of those around you whether it be as a daughter, sister, wife or mom and feel it is time to make yourself the priority. Don’t keep second guessing you.

Most people do not take care of their health until they are forced to, but it doesn’t need to be that way. If you’re ready to start putting yourself first — to start prioritizing your health, your body, and your needs, you’re in the right place.
You can still continue to be a great mom, wife, sister and daughter. I would be honored to guide you through your journey.

If you resonate with any of this and want to start a conversation, reach out!

My journey here