Not OK.

I decided I would check out my thyroid, where the leading endocrinologist in town told me that if I wasn’t losing weight, I must be lying about what I ate. (What?!) Other doctors suggested another prescription like Prozac or told me to eat less and move more.

Seriously?

The thing that bothered me most was that I was not being heard. I am extraordinarily attuned to my body. I know what feels right, and I sure as hell know when something is off.

I finally found a functional medicine doctor who agreed to “just try” some medication to see if it changed anything. Well, guess what? It did! I had found a solution for that moment, and although my thyroid needs constant tweaking, I now know where my optimal lab values are.

That experience taught me to stand up for my health when dealing with medical professionals. No one knows your body like you. Over the years, I’ve dealt with many food intolerances and allergies, and a gut issue resulting from mis-prescribed antibiotics. I could say that I would rather not have had these things happen. However, the outcome was that I found a ton of informative tests and fascinating science regarding nutrition, our microbiome, and exactly how to optimize the gut.

This experience led me to become a registered dietitian and gut health nutritionist to dedicate my life to helping others take control of their gut health to live their best life. I’m based in Austin with clients all over. I provide one-to-one consultation and support that is highly effective both in-person and via phone or Zoom. I absolutely love what I do. I thrive when learning about nutrition and love passing along what I gather. My favorite part is watching as my clients become empowered, as they begin to rule their lives in a way they almost forgot they could. The results have been astounding, and I can’t wait to share them with you!

I didn’t set out to climb a mountain. It wasn’t my life goal or anything like that. But last summer, I was hanging out in Breckenridge, trying to breathe (Breckenridge is 8,500 ft above sea level) and looking at the peaks. It always takes me a few days to adjust to the difference in oxygen molecules bouncing around in the air, and so my workouts suffer, and I feel like a wimpy little bitch for a while. But that’s fine.

Colorado in the summertime is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited. Plus, coming from Texas in July, the weather in Breckenridge is fantastic! My amazing man and I stay in the same place, a little cabin at the base of a mountain, feed the same chipmunks and “our” fox and appreciate working in a different landscape. We hike and ride bikes and do all the outdoor activities that we love in Texas, but in Breckenridge, it feels different, more temperate, and more relaxing.

Last year, we wandered through town and happened into one of the local outdoor sporting goods stores. The employees we chatted with asked if we had planned to do a “14er”. We had zero clue what that was. We learned a “14er” is a mountain peak exceeding 14,000 feet in altitude. That’s high. There are 58 fourteeners in Colorado, and apparently, there’s a whole bragging rights thing in listing how many you’ve climbed.

Me? Oh, yeah…one. Last year.

See, my guy and I interpreted those people talking about whether we planned to hike up a fourteener as a challenge, and so, a day later, we did it. We chose the closest fourteener to where we were staying, Gray’s Peak, the 10th highest, and started at 3:30 am to get there, get up, and back down before dark. Eight miles round trip, up and back.

It was one of the most physically demanding activities that I’ve done in my life and also one of the most rewarding. I ignored the whiny little bitch in my head while we climbed that f-ing mountain, all the way to the top. My age – my health – my lack of oxygen – wasn’t going to stop me!