Hey, What's up, Hello...

I grew up in the 90s with a father who had been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in the 70s. I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in 2006. To say my life has largely involved food and nutrition would be an understatement. As a young adult concerned with my health I quickly fell into the diet culture cycle and tried EVERY popular quick fix at the time. Every flashy headlining plan or product worked… but only for a short period of time and ultimately was not sustainable. Very, very slowly I began to realize that healthy is not 'one-size-fits-all' and healthy is not supposed to be ‘all or nothing’ and healthy is not a numeric reading on a scale. In 2015 while still on my journey, figuring out what miraculous health plan I wanted to try next, I joined a weight loss clinic. I was given phentermine to curb my appetite, strict macronutrient guidelines to follow and unrealistic goals of maintainable weight loss.  While these weight loss clinics can be full of harmful information and dialogue, I was in awe of the education I was getting from the RDNs they had on staff. This part of my journey was really when I started to realize what my own passion was. I was not their typical client that would just take the prescription and run. I was the super nerdy patient that pushed them to answer hard questions, asked them specifics of my condition, and didn’t follow all their rules. They in return encouraged me to research my condition and to investigate lifestyle changes that would work for me specifically.  Even though they were supposed to be a center for quick in and out appointments giving general information and guidelines to every client I could tell that they loved it when I would come in and push them to use the knowledge they had went to school for and spent so much money getting the credentials and licenses for. I could tell they wished they could do more for every client but that they couldn’t due to the structure of the clinic. It was here, at age 30, that I realized what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to help people like me discover the right way to their definition of healthy. I thought I would do it through health and wellness coaching or personal training (both of which I went through programs for but didn’t keep the credentials for) at first but ultimately discovered that Registered Dietitian Nutritionist is the education and title I wanted. I started at the University of Arizona in May 2021,  graduating with my Bachelors of Science in Nutritional Science with Dietetic Emphasis, an accredited DPD program, in December 2024. I will now go on to my Master’s program and Dietetic Internship in the Fall Semester of 2025. After my graduate program, internship and obtaining my license I plan to work one on one with clients as a nutrition counselor. I plan to continue my education and experience after obtaining my dietitian license by working towards my CEDS, Certified Eating Disorer Specialist credentials.​​