I've been immersed in the health and wellness industry for over 25 years—so I'm certainly not new to this rodeo! I entered this field because for most of my life I struggled with food and my weight.
But rather than allow the battle to take over my life, I decided to make it my life's work. I turned my mess into my message and mission. It's a continuous journey, but I’m finally free from the shackles of food prison. Today, I have a healthy relationship with food and my weight, and I eat whatever I want, whenever I want—but my desire around food has changed.
I'm far from perfect, but imperfection is now perfectly built into my own personal eating plan. I've let go of rigidity and self-judgment, and now I enjoy food, cooking, eating, and life—so much more. I finally understand how healthy habits can create a delicious life!
My Weight Loss Story
My journey to health and wellness has been a long and winding road. I grew up as a shy, four-eyed, freckled-faced kid in the 1960s in a small town on the Central Coast of California. It was a time when nutrition wasn't something people knew very much about. The only nutrition education I received was in elementary school where we learned about the "Basic Four Food Groups." Other than that, we were pretty much on our own.
In the 1960s and '70s, packaged snacks, frozen meals, and fast foods were all the rage. And the TV commercials promoting them had a big influence on my young, impressionable mind. My diet staples included Pop-Tarts, Wonder Bread bologna sandwiches, frozen TV dinners, and Jello with Cool Whip—in other words, lots of refined carbs and tons of sugar!
But as horrible as my food choices were back then, I have to give my mom some credit. She was a stay-at-home mom during my childhood, and even though she didn't know a lot about nutrition, we sat down at the dinner table every night as a family and ate a warm home-cooked meal. (Although, it was heavy on the starch, thanks to her daily homemade flour tortillas!)
My Love Affair with Sugar
As a kid, my prized possessions were my cotton candy machine, snow cone maker, and Easy-Bake Oven. My favorite class in middle school was home economics. I loved the cooking classes and I recreated all the dessert recipes at home for my family—many times over. As an added bonus, my dad was a route salesman for a soft drink company. So I had unlimited access to his delivery truck, which was full of RC Cola, Nehi, and Diet Rite Soda. Needless to say, my brother, sister, and I were very popular with the neighborhood kids (with their parents—not so much!).
I've had a love affair with sugar for as long as I can remember. Looking back now, I can see that my body was literally addicted to sugar. I recall having frequent headaches throughout my childhood, but I never made the connection—and neither did the doctors—back then. My headaches finally subsided in high school when I began dieting and eating less sugar—strange coincidence! Consequently, it’s no surprise that during my childhood this song by The Archies was one of my favorites, and it pretty much summed up my relationship with sugar.
The School Years
Although I was an active kid, I was never "slim." I had more of an athletic built. In elementary school, I walked to school every day and roller skated in my neighborhood. In middle school, I played basketball and rode my bike everywhere. In high school, I played softball and was on the swim team. I loved being active and moving my body. However, because of my carb heavy diet, when I entered high school, I was about 15 pounds overweight. Although, it may not seem like much, the extra weight weighed heavy on my teenage mind—and on my petite five-foot-three-inch frame.
During high school, I became very self-conscious of my body and the excess weight. I didn't like being heavier than all my friends. I just wanted to look like the models in Seventeen Magazine. I idolized Twiggy, the world's first supermodel, who had set the stage with her stick-thin figure. Thus, my journey to a smaller body-size began. I struggled with my self-image and wanted more than anything to be slim—so I started crash dieting.
College and Beyond
During my college years, I continued the cycle of yo-yo dieting. I would lose 5 pounds and gain 10. Then lose 10 pounds and gain 15. By the end of college, I was far from slim—go figure! After graduating from Cal State Long Beach with a degree in Psychology, my lifelong passion for fashion took me to San Francisco where I attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) and began working in the fashion industry.
I took on a high-stress job as an assistant buyer which included lots of dining out, endless happy hours, and tons of stress eating—which caused me to gain even more weight. Eventually, the department store I was working for went out of business—and I was out of a job.
At that point, I was at my highest weight. So I became an expert at strategically wearing black and hiding behind oversized handbags. I was exhausted, frustrated, and fed up. I knew that if I wanted to go back into the workforce with confidence, energy, and stamina, I needed to feel good about myself.
I was determined to lose the weight once and for all. I began educating myself with everything I could get my hands on about nutrition and weight loss. I dined out less and I began to eat more whole foods—especially vegetables. I also started walking the hilly streets of San Francisco. And after a couple of months, I had lost 15 pounds.
The Jenny Craig Years
With my lighter body, my new-found knowledge of nutrition, and my increased self-confidence, I was hired as a Weight Loss Consultant for Jenny Craig International in San Francisco.
I immersed myself in the Jenny Craig Program, not only as a consultant, but also as a client. I was able to lose 15 more pounds on the program and I felt fantastic! I really enjoyed working one-on-one with clients and continued to learn more about nutrition and weight loss. I loved my job and it made me feel really good knowing that I was helping others improve their health and their lives.
A couple of years earlier, I had met my husband, and after being married for five years, we were ready to start a family. We decided to move back to the Central Coast so we could be closer to my parents. I left my job with Jenny Craig, but thanks to everything I had learned about diet and nutrition, I had two healthy pregnancies and delivered two healthy babies (who are now two healthy young adults!).
The Healthy Way
I eventually got back into the health and wellness field and was hired as a Weight Loss Counselor at The Healthy Way Weight & Lifestyle Solutions, a local weight loss center in Santa Cruz, California.
While working at The Healthy Way, I gained more valuable experience and realized that the field of health, wellness, and nutrition is ever-changing—and there's always more to learn. I was happy to be working in the industry again, and at that point in my career, I knew that it was going to be my life’s work.
It was while working at The Healthy Way that I saw the strong correlation between a client's mindset and their long-term success. This observation inspired me to write my book Weight Loss,The Screenplay: Discover Your Inner Superstar and Manage Your Weight for Life—which has taken me on a whole new life's path. (Click here to learn more about the book.)
Life in Southern California
My husband's job has since brought us to Southern California where I continue to study, research, and educate myself about all things nutrition, health, wellness, mindset, and self-empowerment. I became a Certified Precision Nutrition Coach and Culinary Nutrition Expert, and most recently became Certified as a Life & Weight Loss Coach.
I'm eager to share with you all that I've learned over the years, so that you can take whatever resonates with you and use it to begin to change the trajectory of your own life.
If I had a theme song to the movie of my life up until now, it would be this heartfelt song by Natasha Bedingfield called "Freckles." Enjoy!
"Freckles"
written by Natasha Bedingfield & Tobias Gad
I used to care so much about what others think about.
I almost didn't have a thought of my own.
The slightest remark would make me embark
on a journey of self-doubt.
But that was a while ago.
This girl has got stronger,
and if I knew then what I know now,
I would have told myself, “Don't worry any longer, it's okay.”
'Cause a face without freckles is like a sky without the stars.
Why waste a second not loving who you are?
Those little imperfections make you beautiful, lovable, valuable.
They show your personality inside your heart,
reflecting who you are,
Who you are.
Who you are.
Who you are.
I wondered if I could trade my body with somebody else in magazines.
Would the whole world fall at my feet?
I felt unworthy and would blame my failures on the ugliness I could see,
when the mirror looked at me.
Sometimes I still feel like that little girl who doesn't belong in her own world.
But I'm getting better at reminding myself,
That a face without freckles is like a sky without the stars.
Why waste a second not loving who you are?
Those little imperfections make you beautiful, lovable, valuable.
They show your personality inside your heart,
Reflecting who you are.
Reflecting who you are.
Reflecting who you are.
‘Cause a face without freckles is like a sky without the stars.
Why waste a second not loving who you are?
Those little imperfections make you beautiful, lovable, valuable.
They show your personality inside your heart,
Reflecting who you are.
Reflecting who you are.
Reflecting who you are.
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