My Story
I have been generally healthy all of my life. I am of Italian and Sicilian heritage, where delicious home-cooked meals with fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruits from our garden were a part of normal daily life. I was fortunate to have the natural ability to cook and the love of gardening because of what was handed down to me by my parents and my grandparents. I found out that life can present many challenges when I became a busy single mother working full-time, and I was challenged with having time to cook or get enough exercise. I soon became part of the “sandwich generation” when I was still raising my son, and became my mother’s caregiver upon her diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. This was an extremely stressful time in my life, and my blood tests began to reveal the effects of stress showing biomarkers of inflammation, high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and increasing blood pressure. I was putting on unhealthy weight as well. I wanted to decrease the risks of disease after I lost my father to cancer and watched my mother’s sad decline from Alzheimer’s disease. I had an interest in nutrition for many years, reading, researching, and keeping up on the latest health studies. My dream to learn more about holistic nutrition and lifestyle practices for my own application, and also to share this knowledge with others, became a reality. I graduated from Bauman College as a certified nutrition consultant (NC), and from the Functional Nutrition Alliance to become a certified functional nutrition and lifestyle practitioner (FNLP). I am a proud member of the National Association of Nutrition Professionals (NANP). I am certified with Dr. Dale Bredesen's ReCode 2.0 program for the prevention of Alzheimer's and the reversal of mild cognitive impairment.
Prevention is key to enjoying a healthy life by implementing good nutrition, good lifestyle habits, and avoiding exposure to toxins when possible. I have seen the positive changes that good nutrition, exercise, avoiding toxins, getting quality sleep, and managing stress have had on my health. Today’s research and studies show that although we may have the genetics of our parents who have suffered certain diseases, that we do not have to turn on these genes. I am a firm believer in functional nutrition and functional medicine, which look for the root cause of a health issue, assessing what could be going on in the body and applying holistic nutrition and lifestyle approaches to manage or even reverse many of these issues. It all begins with addressing digestion. We are what we eat and what we absorb. I look forward to sharing this knowledge through individual consulting or group classes. My passion is to educate, inspire, and motivate others with compassion and support to take control of their health and reach their optimal health goals.
My Approach
Here at Holistic Harmony Nutrition, I provide an individual and personalized method in taking attainable and positive steps forward to help you take control of your health.
This includes coaching, personalized meal plans, pantry makeovers, grocery store tours, cooking classes, and healthy recipes. Also, to focus on other lifestyle approaches, including sleep, exercise, stress management, and ways to reduce exposure from common toxins.