My life journey that led me to this field has been long and ever changing.
I was raised close to a farm setting. My parents turned our yard into a garden, and everything I ate throughout my childhood was natural and seasonal. Growing up during socialism was not easy. The foods available were limited, so we grew whatever we could to increase diversity and get ahead. In a country with communist government growing your own food was one way of saving money. Besides what we harvested I grew up on cheap meats. I never liked the well done slowly cooked low quality cuts.
As a result when I was a teenager and the ‘gates opened’ and our country followed the world and started becoming more industrialized and other foods were more readily available, my diet shifted from home cooking to more processed, fast foods with tons of refined sugar.
I dealt with constant gas & bloating, iron-deficiency anemia, blood sugar imbalances and extreme cravings. I was also getting frequent strep throat infections and I was on antibiotics 3-4 times per year!
As soon as I started to feed myself during my teenage years, I started gaining belly weight and I was having a constant struggle with my body image. I was obsessed with calorie counting and fat free items; jumping from one diet to another, eventually becoming a chronic yo-yo dieter.
I would eat something “bad” and exercise right after to burn the calories, I would eat something “good” and exercise to burn the calories. I was a workout freak but my body wasn’t showing it. Today I would call myself a skinny fat. I looked fit but I didn’t feel fit.
I stopped obsessing on what to eat and started to pay attention to how and when I eat.
I was interested in the idea of healthy eating, which back then meant calorie counting, fat free labels, eating six times a day. Switching from starving myself to breaking down at night and stuffing myself with first available, rarely healthy foods. I was always bloated, chronically constipated. Gassiness was my daily torture, I had no idea that it was not normal to have flatulence all the time!!! I suffered but with no education about healthy bowels I quietly lived with pain. The ‘old normal’ was a random bathroom visit, often only once every two to three days.
Things didn’t get better! After I graduated from college and got a teaching job, I was unable to handle stress, I experienced anxiety and was tired all the time. Often I was upset and nervous, snapping at my friends and getting derailed by my students. Coffee was my energy source. Sometimes I would drink it all day just so I wouldn’t have to eat. Long stretches of depriving myself vere broken by sugar splurges. Neither was good for me and neither made me happy.
After I moved to US, I put lots of my eating choices into hands of our chefs at restaurants where I worked at and my bad erratic eating stabilized and I started to feel better. My weight became more stable. Having an employee meal before work around five o’clock showed up to be the best thing to happen to my health in a long time. I was still out of control gassy and constipated. I was getting sick frequently and I needed a change.
None of my symptoms were ever attributed to my eating schedule or lack of morning elimination. Randomly I found Ayurveda and started educating myself. Making small changes to my lifestyle. My transformation started very slowly, going from no breakfast which meant just a cup of coffee, to toast and eggs, to instant oats, to a variety of nutrient dense breakfast options today.
I stopped obsessing on what to eat and started to pay attention to how and when I eat. The one simple habit of eating only three meals a day and shifting from a sugar burning mode to the fat one got me out of being bloated. I learned through Ayurveda the importance of daily elimination and first time in my life I am gas free and I ‘go’ every single morning. The feeling lighter, younger, sexier is a huge and surprising reward. I would not go back to my heavy achy belly. I prefer to eat food where I know where it comes from. If I can recognize the plant or the animal, if I know the farmer or better yet if I grew it I enjoy just about any colour, texture and taste.
About five years ago, I started to realize how my job as a waitress was becoming less and less sustainable for me. I had the urge to move in a different direction but wasn’t sure where to go with no official education in US. At that point I was long time yogi, self taught nutritionist and vivid gardener. I loved being outside and exercising. How to turn my passions into a dharma was the question. That is when a friend told me about Ayurveda. Ayur what? Without going through the signup process I immediately paid for Living Ayurveda Course with Cate Stillman and my life turned around. I fell deeply in love with this unbelievably grounded science of longevity. I was starving to know how to be good to myself, how to treat myself correctly, how to listen to my body’s talk and understand its language.
My passion for nutrition is still growing; I am witnessing firsthand the POWER of food
I appreciate home cooking and enjoy food that has been prepared with love.
After learning about different body types and figuring out my constitution, I finally understood why I was not amongst the strongest ladies in the valley even though I exercised daily. I am not one of the Pitta/Kapha body types that have the drive and power to climb the highest peaks with ease. I now know my tendencies to eat sporadically, disperse my energy and jump from one thought to another one easily. I have to make effort to eat on schedule, to incorporate grounding rituals and create daily routines in order to stay balanced.
Finally after seeing that this was my dharma, I decided to pursue my passion and eventually decided to educate others of the same things that helped me keep my weight in check, brought my energy back and literally transformed my life. Here I am, I chose to start fresh (no pun intended). I obtained several Certifications in Living Ayurveda course from Cate Stillman of yogahealer.com. A course to master the art of living in integrity with Ayurvedic wisdom. Where I learned all the tools to achieve my goals, live a healthier lifestyle, reduce stress and balance it all. Only a year later I hungrily joined another course with my teacher Yoga Health Coaching. Going through the course by myself three times, I changed just about everything in my life. I was guided through a slow and steady shift. I would feel better with each new Ayurvedic habit. With every new lesson, I felt more vibrant and it all fitted in just right.
Now, I am on my journey to health, I am still learning everyday about this marvelous machine that we have. Our body. And I love it more and more for being a great communicator and amazing instant feedback.
Owing to my special focus on holistic body work, I have also completed the Polarity Healing Training with Bruce Burger in Guatemala and India.
Both of my trainings are now not only my passion – THEY ARE MY LIFE.
Throughout this journey- I have also realized how important not only the food I put in/on my body is, but how uniquely each one of those foods react within every single person.
My goal is to help you figure out what foods and practices best nourish your body and will help you thrive.
What else do I love? Nature, Live Concerts, Traveling, and I love FOOD!
Today, I love to enjoy a variety of nutritious foods including my favorite, organic dark chocolate and the occasional glass of red wine, while listening to some of my favorite dance tunes (admit it, you love them too… for What is love?
When I’m not deciphering nutrition labels or reviewing the latest research, you can find me on a plane headed to the next training and exploring the hidden gems that our planet has to offer.
Interested on how we can work together?
BOOK A FREE AYURVEDA CLARITY CALL!