What is Nutritional Therapy? Are you a therapist?

No, I’m not a therapist. I did go to school to be a Marriage and Family Therapist, but through working with clients found that food, movement and lifestyle had a HUGE impact on mental health along with physical health, emotional health, hormonal health and relational health. Nutritional therapy is about the foundation of our health. I work with clients to find the food that makes them feel their best, and no two people will have the same combination of food and movement that makes them feel good.

I’m a consultant of health, people hire me to research health issues, find how food and lifestyle affect those issues and come back with a plan to help them feel their best through their health journey.

Do you work with kids?

Yes! I love kids, have 4 of my own and specialize in kids with mental and physical health needs. I have a son with a severe autoimmune disease that jump started me into this work. We can work with all sorts of challenges, from picky eating to autoimmune issues to behavioral issues. By focusing on the foundations of a whole foods diet we can support the body to function at its best. I don’t believe in being a short order chef so it makes the most sense to make this a family affair. We will focus on how the whole family is eating, moving and the atmosphere in your kitchen and dinning table.

How do you include kids in this process?

We all know that if kids don’t buy into the process they’ll put their guard up and resist. Its up to you as to how much involvement you want them included in. I believe having them present for at least some of the conversations so they hear from me, not just mom and dad, why nutrition is so important. We’ll include kids in meal creations. They’ll tell me their favorite vegetables and fruits, we’ll take their current favorite meals and modify them to be more nutrient dense. I believe kids should be in the kitchen and garden as much as possible to have a positive relationship with food. We can even set up a fun session on cooking lessons for the kids or they can help clear out the pantry. The amount of involvement is up to you and what suits your family best.

What sort of diet will you put me on?

First, lets eliminate the word ‘diet’ from your vocabulary. Diet means short term, quick fix, restricted eating, a lack of listening to your body. What I do is help guide you toward better food choices, focusing on whole foods and a whole lifestyle approach. We work within the confounds of your current life and see where we can adjust to get to your optimal health. Long term health is a lifelong journey about feeling great and making choices that support your healing journey. I’m not here to tell you you’re doing everything wrong, in fact I bet you’re doing more right than you think you are. Its my job to help guide you toward your best choices and help you make those decision on your own.

Why can’t I find you on social media?

I quit social media years ago. It wasn’t good for my mental health and I wanted to lead by example for my kids. I believe we are designed for personal connection. My business is not a big online platform for millions of people, it’s a one-on-one movement to create connection and heal families one at a time. I hope after our time together you feel healthy and well informed to pass this information to other family and friends who need support on the lifelong health journey. My business thrives on the loving connections between friends and family.

 What sort of paperwork will I fill out?

Well, to be honest, a bunch at first. Its critical to understand your current health as well as your health goals and your current lifestyle. We’ll also go over all of this together. I promise to not make you fill out extraneous paperwork, only vital information for our journey.

What is the process we go through?

Every client is different but initially we make sure we’re a good fit for each other with a free consultation call. Then we’ll set up your initial intake appointment and I’ll send you your paperwork. After the initial appointment I go to work. I do my research and planning and create all my recommendations. The second appointment is where I give you all the recommendations that will help you through your health journey. This is a conversation, a back and forth, where we find balance between “perfect” and “real life.” Some of you will end at this point with the DIY package and feel you’ve got it on your own. Most will continue on with follow up appointments. The follow up appointments are short check-ins where I find ways to support you on this journey and refine your goals and current work. Each session you’ll get an updated recommendations plan based on our conversation and current life goals. Follow up sessions are where the majority of the work happens because this is where you feel change and are getting your hand dirty in this new lifestyle.

How long does this take?

Health is lifelong. But my goal is that you feel so good I’m of no service to you. I want to teach you my ways, teach you the science and give you as many tools as I can to do it on your own. Realistically, healing the gut can take months, depending on severity. We’ll work together anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months to best get you to a stable place where you can take this information and comfortably run with it. Some clients like the accountability of having check in calls, some just want to do it on their own. My packages are curated to fit the variety of clients that walk through my door.

How much cooking am I going to be doing?

I don’t have anyway to break it to you easily, but restaurant food, fast or slow, is filled with hidden inflammation that will not help you on your journey. I recommend for the time we are together and you’re working on healing, you cut out restaurant food as much as possible. For instance our family only eats out about every two weeks and for special occasions. This does mean cooking more. But we are going to work together to figure out how to fit that into your current lifestyle. Working a full-time job is not going to hinder you in this process. Batch cooking, meal prepping, slow cookers and all sorts will help us get through this together. Remember its only hard at first because its new, new is always hard. But it will become your new lifestyle and hopefully you’ll feel so good you won’t want to go back.

We live on a fixed budget, will our food bill go up?

This is very dependent on your current food bills. I find that clients bills don’t always go up they often just re-balance. You’ll hopefully spend less on eating out, less on processed foods, and more on whole foods and better-quality foods. Since I’m a big picture thinker I also recognize that investing money on quality food is more affordable long term than the health consequences of lifelong inflammation and the illnesses that have been proven to come with it.

I don’t live in Bend can we still work together?

Yes! We can work together wherever you are via telehealth.

I have a hundred more questions how can I get them answered?

You and me both! Set up a free 15 minute consultation and we’ll hash through all your questions and see if we’re a good fit for each other.