My journey started about 10 years ago.

Actually, if I’m being honest, it started long before that—but 10 years ago is when I first admitted I might have a problem.

Life was unbearable. I was completely miserable. In order for you to understand the misery I’ll have to be frank: I had diarrhea six to seven times a day.

I don’t say this to be crude or to gross you out. On the contrary, I say it to connect—to give you a little more of my background, and a little more insight as to why I am here and how I might be able to help you too.

But it wasn’t just my stomach issues that kept me from living a normal life. I was exhausted all of the time, my joints ached, I felt weak, I couldn’t think straight, my skin was red and ruddy—and no matter what I ate (when I actually could eat), I continued to lose weight.

I felt awful all the time. And I didn’t quite know what to do.

I tried changing my diet first. Of course, I had no idea what I was doing. I found one diet called the “All White Diet”, which was meant to heal IBS (a disease many doctors, specialists, and well-meaning friends suspected I had). It was a pretty simple directive. Only eat foods that are white. As you might’ve guessed, this diet didn’t have the intended effect. Instead, my stomach felt as if it were going to pop out of my body.

And still, the “All White Diet” was just the first of many—many that hurt me instead of healing me. I couldn’t live like this, so I finally broke down and went crawling back to a doctor.

It wasn’t the first time I’d been, of course. I’d complained about my upset stomach before—to the point where I’d been advised to take anti-depressants for it (um, no thank you!)—but I knew this was something worse; something bigger and more dire than your average stomachache. This time I knew that I had to do something different, because things were just getting worse and I was starting to get scared.

My doctor tested me for Celiac Disease first.

Nothing.

Then she advised me to get a colonoscopy and an endoscopy—rather invasive procedures, if you’re unaware . . . neither of which produced any meaningful answers.

I was understandably upset and nearing my wit’s end.

“What about my food?” I asked, desperately. “Should I change what I eat? Should I be eating more? What foods might make me feel better?”

I didn’t get the answer I expected: She just didn’t know. She was as confused by my loss of appetite as I was. She had no idea what might make me feel better. She recommended I see a nutritionist instead.

Oh, I wasn’t seeing a nutritionist . . . I was seeing red. She—a doctor specializing in gastrointestinal health—still had no answers for me! She still couldn’t tell me what to eat—or what not to!

She still couldn’t tell me how to finally feel better.

I was at a loss. When your doctor can’t help, what the hell do you do?

After some steaming and, admittedly, a little bit of moping, I finally started my next search . . . for a holistic nutritionist. I searched and I searched and I searched for the right person, hoping that I would finally find my answer . . .

. . . the answer that would help me feel better again.

. . . the answer that would guide me back to feeling like myself.

And, at long last, I finally found a woman who seemed like a good fit. I made my appointment. And in that first appointment she said something to me that I will never forget.

“This is going to be a journey,” she explained. “It will be a journey that takes time, but it will be a journey back to your health. Back to you. And I will help you get there.”

She was right. It was one of the best journeys of my life.

On that journey, I learned how to listen to and nourish my body. I learned how to design my life to enhance my health. I learned how to have a healthy relationship with myself.

I learned the right path to take back to good health, and I took the steps to get me there.

This has been a long journey, but I am so grateful for it, because it has led to my true calling—to help you on yours.

To help you feel better.

To help you connect with your body.

To help bring you home to yourself.