A little bit about me...

Hi! I'm Elizabeth and I'm a Health Coach living in Bryan, Texas! My goal as a coach is to help you along your health journey to find your best self. For some that may look like spending time together on diet and improving food choices, and for others it may include working to find balance between career and personal life while incorporating stress management aids and improving sleep. I will meet you wherever you are on your personal journey to help you achieve your short term and long term health goals.

I have a certificate from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition where I studied over 100 dietary theories, lifestyle management techniques, and everything in between. I work with clients both in the Bryan/College Station, Texas area, as well as remotely via Skype, Hangouts, or phone call. Click Here to learn more about the services I can offer.

My journey...

For a long time I've had what could be considered an obsession with food and health. I've been active my whole life, mostly through playing sports, and then also from doing the work that comes along with growing up on a farm. As a kid, I just loved to help in the kitchen and run around outside for exercise. Then as I got older I read every Women's Health magazine and every article I could find about dieting, losing weight, getting rid of "flab", exercises to do for "that summer bod", counting calories, and health food. I started reading these things in high school, before I had any true need of diet or regimented exercise.

When I went away to college, I did the opposite of what so many college freshmen do, I found the rec center and adopted a tiny notebook that served as my calorie counter. Over that first semester I memorized the calorie counts for many common foods through sheer repetition of tracking, and then would share that info with my friends as we ate together in the cafeteria. I took those exact calorie counts with me in the little notebook to the gym as a goal for a number to burn on the elliptical, or in a group fitness class, and then topped that all off with a run later. By the time I was a senior I could no longer run, and then I struggled walking across campus from the rec center to my part-time job and to class. Finally after three years of pushing my body to its limits with the arc trainer (my favorite machine), relentless step classes, boot camps, and long runs, my knees gave up.

It didn't take too long once I started reading to realize that I had a textbook case of orthorexia. The problem with orthorexia as opposed to other eating disorders is that it doesn't manifest itself to your friends and family quite as strongly as other disorders. If you would have asked my roommates to describe me, they would have said, "Oh Liz is so healthy! She works out every day!" That's great right? Well, I'll say it is, until it's not. Neverending exercise, restricting food, and still binge drinking on the weekends all to keep up with the college norms was the opposite of healthy and I still had a road ahead of me before I finally found what my version of healthy looks like.

Now...

I'm healed! I'm amazing! I'm the best version of myself! Just kidding y'all. I'm sure you've seen the quote, but health truly is a journey, not a destination, and it's not a journey that has a straight line, there are many twists and turns along the way. As I navigate this life, I'm constantly rebalancing to find what works for me in the moment. The right amount of exercise, the perfect plate with the right foods for me, the time I need to spend alone OR with friends/family, and how much chocolate I really need at the end of the day. The difference is that the rebalancing used to be a struggle; an inner push and shove to count calories and internalize guilt over food choices, or minutes on a cardio machine. Now, I've found some ways that have helped me separate those feelings ingrained in me for so long from the true actions I'm taking for my health.

In 2012 I scrapped everything I knew about food choices and started over. I learned about paleo, about a real food approach. I learned about common chemicals in most American households and how they can be impacting your endocrine system, and WHY that is important. I've taken it upon myself to read every piece of health literature I could find from reputable sources to stay on top of this ever changing field of study. In 2015 we welcomed our first baby into the world. That only solidified my need for knowing which foods, materials, cleaners, etc. belong in our home to achieve the best health for our family.

Since March of 2017 I've worked to become certified in the thing I've been learning about my whole life. I would love to help you (and your family) become the healthiest versions of yourselves.