About me

I have always been active and have had digestion trouble for as long as I can remember. I used to get strep throat all the time, and it seemed I was always on antibiotics. The food I was raised on didn't help either. I had two working parents, so dinner was usually out of a box or can. Hot dogs and red kool-aid was probably the best lunch ever invented, and don't get me started on pre-packaged ramen noodles! We used caustic chemicals to clean the house. I was a child of the 80s, so I had some really big hair, and you couldn't achieve height without some serious hair products, so there are more chemicals. I'm sure my childhood isn't unique, and knowing what I know now, it is clear that my current health was built on a sketchy foundation.

As I entered my 30s, I started having back pain along with continued digestion problems. I had two small children, which didn't leave much time for figuring out what was wrong, so I just decided to grin and bear it. I assumed everyone has some issue they deal with all the time, and this was mine. I now know that we don't have to grin and bear it. Our bodies are made to function flawlessly; if they don't, we should find out the problem and strive to fix it.  

In 2005, I found Pilates. I am blessed that I was introduced to this form of exercise by a woman who trained with Joseph Pilates and was a physical therapist. She immediately saw that I had scoliosis (undiagnosed at that point, even though I had been seeing doctors for my back pain). She began to show me how to use authentic, classical Pilates to ease my pain and strengthen muscles that I didn't know existed. I was so excited about how Pilates kept me out of pain and made me stronger that I became a comprehensively trained classical teacher and started helping others the way my instructor had helped me. Not being in constant pain gave me the energy to start fixing my digestion. I went into full research mode and found the Paleo diet, which was new and controversial at the time. It was like magic the way it decreased my symptoms so quickly. Since then, my diet has changed, but Paleo did teach me that no matter what eating style best suits a person, whole, fresh foods are always the way to go.

Starting in 2014, my daughter started experiencing some terrifying medical symptoms. Since I had been doing so much research to fix my problems, I was able to sound knowledgeable enough for her pediatrician to run some tests I asked for. The results looked pretty scary to my untrained eye, but he told me she just needed some B vitamins and to switch her shampoo since her hair was falling out in clumps - "It must just be an allergic reaction." I know he meant well, but my instinct told me this was over his head, and I sought out different doctors. At this point, I stumbled across Functional Medicine and finally found the answers we needed. A few years later, my skills were needed again as my father started presenting with his own set of scary and puzzling symptoms. By this point, I had become adept at being a patient advocate and not taking the status quo from doctors. I genuinely believe every doctor my Dad saw was trying their best to help him; they just never had the training to make a difference. I finally convinced my father to see a Functional Medicine doctor, and it was with this approach that we saw the most success.  

After those two experiences, I knew that becoming a Health Coach would allow me to use my knowledge to help even more people. My vision for Fitlosophy started evolving into a "one-stop shop for fitness and wellness," I wanted to see it come true. I received my certification from the Vanderbilt School of Nursing in March 2019 and passed the National Health Coaching Board Exam in July 2019. I expanded my knowledge with a nutrition certification from Precision Nutrition and a certification covering hormones and nutrition from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. Since I am always striving to increase my knowledge to help myself age better and more gracefully and others too, I found Functional Patterns and have been integrating those exercises and training fundamentals into my program. You can read more about it on the Functional Patterns page here. The final piece to realizing my vision of what I wanted Fitlosophy to be came with completing my Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Certification, which allows me to help others order functional labs and teach them what they mean while assisting them in implementing that knowledge into their lives.

I am on a mission to help people find out how their bodies are functioning and give them the tools to help themselves feel better, have more energy, and live the lives they have always wanted to live.

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