Meet Your Seattle Nutrition Expert

WHY AM I HERE?

I’m here because I believe my story has power.

I’m here because I’ve been where you are, feeling broken, alone, and confused in my body.

I’m here because I understand what it’s like to be dismissed or ignored by providers, and can help you advocate for your health by learning to trust what your body is telling you.

And I am honored to be part of your story.

MY HEALTH STORY

Growing Up

From a young age, I struggled with body image, disordered eating behaviors, sugar-handling issues like hypoglycemia and excessive appetite, migraines, fatigue, and cystic acne.

As I got older, it became difficult to lose weight or keep it off, the acne persisted, as did the fatigue and hypoglycemia, and I had irregular periods (maybe two each year).

Additionally, growing up in poverty meant that quality food and doctor visits were difficult to come by.

Into Adulthood

As I began making my own money and living on my own, I was provided health insurance and began seeing doctors for my various symptoms.

For years, my dermatologist treated my acne with armfuls of topical medications, antibiotics, and chemical peels.

My gynecologist, upon learning about my irregular cycles (and although I didn’t know at the time they were related, my hypoglycemia and weight issues), put me on “the pill” and told me that would fix my periods. And it did! I had a period every month on the pill and could even manipulate it if I was to go on vacation!

My Infertility Battle

Fast forward to when my partner and I decided we wanted to try to conceive a child. I stopped taking birth control, stopped using my skin treatments, and wouldn’t you know it…

All my symptoms returned.

The acne, the irregular periods (the hypoglycemia, weight issues, and migraines never subsided in the first place).

It was soon discovered that I had PCOS (PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome), did not ovulate. If I could not ovulate, then there would be no egg to produce a baby.

I was again put on two rounds of a medication meant to stimulate ovulation. When it didn’t work, I was told by my gynecologist that with PCOS, I would likely become diabetic, and that unless we could afford expensive infertility treatments (at the time we could not), there was nothing that could be done.

You can imagine the heartbreak this caused (for both me and my partner).

I was left in the dark, riddled with confidence-crushing acne, zero sex drive, body image issues, had to plan my world around when I would eat next, AND I couldn’t conceive a child.

It was a very dark time for us both.

I felt completely broken.

Finding Answers

Fast forward a few more years, and I began researching my own symptoms. I was finding information on PCOS and how to improve insulin sensitivity, lose weight, and gain energy (not all the pieces, but a start).

I began helping myself where providers had left me in the dark.

Over time, it became easier to lose weight, hypoglycemic symptoms reduced, and acne cleared. But there were still some missing pieces (things I naively thought couldn’t be helped).

I then decided to formally study nutrition and used my body as a learning tool during the process.

I’ve since been able to further improve insulin sensitivity, improve my stress response, and I now (at age 41) have regular cycles every 29-30 days (a vast improvement that I’m very proud of!).