Welcome! Through this blog, I hope to share recipes, evidence-based research, nutrition tips and tricks, and my own personal journey with nutrition and dietetics.
To start, I’d love to share my journey to becoming a Registered Dietitian.
As the youngest of five and the only girl, I naturally spent a lot of time in the kitchen helping my mom get food on the table for our family. I loved the process of creating a meal or baked good - the aromas, flavors, appearance, and everything in between! The entire process of being in the kitchen, creating something from scratch, plating it, and then enjoying that creation is a joy of mine that has endured for almost 20 years.
Throughout middle school and high school, I became an avid swimmer and runner, which helped me understand the importance of food as fuel for athletic performance. This led me to further explore nutrition and develop a love for whole foods that nourished my body well.
Although research sparked my interest in nutrition, it also temporarily led me into a restrictive cycle of worrying too much about what I was eating due to misinformation. In high school, I began limiting the foods I ate in an unhealthy way, which resulted in unnecessary weight loss, decreased strength and athletic performance, and an unhealthy sense of control over food.
Despite this, I majored in nutrition pre-dietetics at Auburn University, which slowly opened my eyes to the importance of a balanced diet and consuming enough calories to support my metabolism, overall health, and longevity. Throughout college, I gradually reintroduced foods I had limited over the years due to misinformation. As I did, I began to feel stronger, happier, and more reconnected to the idea of food as fuel.
After graduating from Auburn, I attended Samford University to complete my master's degree in nutrition science and my dietetic internship. This graduate-level curriculum and 1,000 hours of supervised practice provided further insight that continued to positively shape my understanding of nutrition, both for myself and for my future clients. Throughout graduate school, I focused on increasing my protein intake, eating enough to feel energized and satiated, and gaining lean muscle to further support my metabolism and hormonal health.
Since then, I have continued to prioritize a balanced style of eating that includes non-starchy fruits and vegetables, starchy vegetables and whole grains, plenty of quality protein, and healthy fats, while still enjoying the occasional sweet treat or comfort meal. I have truly felt the difference in my energy, strength, mood, and overall well-being!
Now more than ever, I understand at a biological level how important quality nutrition is for our mental, physical, and spiritual health.
Over the past year, I have also sought a deeper understanding of what Biblical Scripture teaches about sustainable eating, how we should think about nutrition, the manner in which we should eat, and how our nutrition impacts our mental, physical, and spiritual well-being.
What I have discovered has been eye-opening and has inspired me to create a program centered around using Biblical teachings to cultivate healthy relationships with food, with the goal of supporting metabolic and gut health along the way.
This RESTORE Program is something I am incredibly passionate about, and I am so eager to share what I have learned with my clients. I look forward to helping others discover a more balanced, sustainable, and nourishing approach to food that supports their health and allows them to live a purposeful and abundant life.
