My Simple Living Journey

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My simple living journey may be relatively new. But the real journey started back when I was only 8 years old. But the bad habits I learned then stayed with me my whole life! While I was a little overweight as a child because of it, the problems got worse as I got older.

Once I went to college the weight really piled on because of the stress I was putting on myself to be perfect.  t was then that I began using food to soothe myself. I comforted myself with food to the point that I became morbidly obese at a whopping 265 pounds. But there were also additional health challenges. I struggled with severe acid reflux and other digestive issues. I also struggled with depression, panic attacks, and allergies.

The Talk that Made the Difference

Back in 2011, I saw a Ted Talk that changed my life. I came across a talk by a woman named Robyn O’Brien, who spoke about what is in our food. As a former researcher, she looked at the data to see how food allergies and cancer had risen in the US as the use of chemicals such as glyphosate increased.

At the time I was married, and my ex had a laundry list of health issues he was dealing with. My mother had also been diagnosed with uterine cancer the year before. My mother, husband and I had been consuming a diet full of highly processed and packaged foods. I wondered if the foods we were consuming were contributing to their health issues. I had been raised eating plenty of highly processed foods, so they were common in my life.

Life an unhealthy adult

Most of my adult life was spent as a pretty unhealthy person. I have been overweight for pretty much as long as I can remember. I remember going to Weight Watchers meetings with my Mom when I was a pre-teen (yikes!). The result was that I spent my teen years being about 30-40 pounds overweight. It definitely took a toll on my self-esteem.

Of course, I was miserable. But I didn’t know how to make a change. But seeing that video made me want to begin making changes. I started learning more about the food we eat. I was shocked to discover what really is in our food. And it was then that I made the decision to clean up my diet.

I started this website in August of 2011, and then went and studied at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to become a health coach. That was followed by becoming a stress management coach. I wanted to help others get well. But in the meantime, I was forgetting to make myself a priority and work on my own health.

A defining period

In 2014, I had a couple of life-changing events that really put things into perspective for me. My mother, who had been diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2010, passed away. Two months later my husband and I separated and eventually divorced. The stress of these events took an even greater toll on my health, which honestly wasn’t great, to begin with.

I lost my voice for 6 months and became incredibly fatigued to the point that getting out of bed and functioning was difficult for me. I was dealing with massive amounts of grief, depression, and anxiety. And I knew that something had to change and that for the first time in my life, I had to make myself the priority. Several years earlier I had completed health coaching certification. But I had been so busy trying to help others that I was last on my list. I felt that self-care was selfish…but I couldn’t have been more wrong!

Learning to put myself first

I began the process of learning to put myself first. I focused on eating whole, real foods. But changing the food wasn’t enough so I also focused on managing stress, healing my gut, getting off of the couch, and getting better sleep. I definitely experienced improvement, was doing okay, and was definitely healthier than ever. But there was still a missing piece of the puzzle.

Forward to 2021. In September of that year, I unexpectedly lost my father. When we went through his belongings I was shocked at how much “stuff” he had accumulated over the decades. It led me to begin taking a look at my life. Although I had been writing about simple eating, with a few posts on simplifying life, I wasn’t truly living a simple lifestyle myself. I had been attempting to live in the world the way others expected…always being busy. But hustle culture and being a part of the grind were never something that made me thrive. In fact, as an empath it was just the opposite. Unfortunately I was trying to keep up with the status quo and not honoring the fact that being busy all the time just wasn’t the right approach to life for me.

Committing to the simple living journey

My dad’s passing and two years of quarantine time during the Covid pandemic had shown me that it was time for a different way of living…and one that honors who I truly am. So I began clearing out so many of the things in my life that just aren’t needed or that don’t work for me anymore. From physical clutter to digital clutter, I’m going through it all. Of course, I am still focused on a simple, cleaner way of eating. But even the recipes I am creating now are more simple than they used to be!

And I feel called to share what I’ve learned.

Throughout my life, I’ve always been fascinated with natural ways to heal the body. It is safe to say that I’ve loved learning about natural health on my journey to heal myself. And to say that I am passionate about it is an understatement. As a result, over the years I have studied a host of different natural healing modalities such as hypnosis, aromatherapy, NLP, EFT, FasterEFT, and nutrition.

I received my Holistic Health Coaching training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, the largest nutrition school in the world. It was here that I was trained in more than one hundred dietary theories and studied a variety of practical lifestyle coaching methods. Through this training, I discovered how amazing the human body is. The body has the amazing ability to heal itself, with the proper tools. For four and a half years I worked at FDN, one of the largest functional health coaching training schools. And although I didn’t receive certification, I learned a LOT!

How I’m changing what I do on my simple living journey

I am using what I’ve learned and have changed my own way of eating, using exercise, getting quality sleep, connecting with others, and managing stress to change my life. What I’ve been through has prompted me to share my journey to a healthier me. I have helped others around me do that as well, and I hope to inspire even more people to make the commitment to take the journey for themselves. Of course, I still have a ways to go, weight to lose, and symptoms to resolve. But I am passionate about helping others to stop struggling with feeling fatigued, foggy, and not so good. We all should have plenty of energy and be living optimal lives.

I truly hope that you’ll join me and make a commitment to yourself….you deserve to be the healthiest and best you possible!

My background

Certifications include: Certified master hypnotist, Certified holistic health coach and Certified stress management coach.

I use energy tools such as EFT, heart connection, and intuition to help others get results. Let me show you as an energy sensitive that there is a different way of being in the world than what you currently experience.

I see so many people who are struggling to thrive…especially now. 

I’ll be sharing great information here about:
*How to use food to support you energetically.
*How to simplify your life.
*Using nature to support healing in your bodies.
*The role mindset plays in your life *Herbs that can be beneficial to empaths and sensitives.
*Managing energy so that you aren’t always exhausted, overwhelmed, and depleted.
*Simple ways to release and clear energy, reduce stress and regulate the nervous system.

You were drawn to my site for a reason. There are no coincidences! While I’m not a doctor or therapist, I know that the things I’m learning on my own simple living journey can give you ideas on how you can live a happier, healthier, more simple life too! It’s time for you to stop struggling and start thriving instead. I’m doing it and you can too!