Hey guys, welcome to my world!
I was not too sure how I should go about writing this first post. The whole purpose of my creating this page was to show my journey of becoming a nutritional therapist and discovering the power of food so that I could one day share my knowledge and help others. I wanted to come off as knowledgeable and awesome, a nutritional Rockstar here to help you. Soooo I initially wanted to hold off on starting this page. But then I thought, well there are hundreds of women out there already rocking that concept online. I want this to be my journey, authentic and honest. From the beginning.
So here’s the thing, I have been an extroverted introvert pretty much my entire life. Always second guessing myself but always wanting to be heard, so I usually did that through my actions and not my words. So naturally this whole writing words thing is a new challenge for me. But, I feel like it is the perfect way to get to know you, and you to know me, but still in a safe extroverted introvert way. Crazy huh?
I am a thirty something girl who grew up in a small town in Canada. So small we had to drive an hour to go see a movie, or for any kind of decent shopping. I guess you could say a country girl. Ever since I could remember I always had this bountiful energy. Like I am talking, Energizer Bunny bouncing off the wall, Jill… go sit on your hands kind of energy and enthusiasm about life and all things in it. I would get school supplies in August and being so excited about it, I would play with the books and papers and organize them pretending I was in school while other kids were out riding their bikes and enjoying the last threads of summer. I was that girl that would save dragonflies from drowning in our pool and place them in the sun to warm up until they flew away.
Literally everything made me happy!
Not sure when it happened but when I hit the age of maybe 12 or 13 or you know…. that fun time in a girls life, I noticed a change. The overthinking, the anxiety about feeling different than all the other girls. Why with all this bountiful potential and drive did I not feel worthy? I hated it.
Eventually, after struggling with social anxiety throughout high school came university. Here I studied what I loved. Criminal Justice and politics. A woman in a man’s world. Again, I wondered why am I once again not interested by other more “feminine” programs? Well because I love law, criminal psychology and discovering the nitty gritty dirty sides of humanity. Again, despite always feeling like an outsider by not having fun artsy things to talk about, I pushed through. Don’t get me wrong I had the best time of my life in school. I made some righteous friendships with some amazing women who I am still best friends with until this day. They are my tribe. We embrace each other’s differences and have passionate discussions about life, politics and the world. Oh and a wicked awesome meme chain. If you know you know :p
After a few years of chaining myself to a desk as a paralegal and yawning every minute of it, I took a chance on something that always sat in a tiny little box in the back of my mind. I kept it there out of pure insecurity. I dusted it off and pulled it out of the darkness. I became a police officer.
Boy oh boy did I thrive and love the challenge. I threw myself head first and found my place. Just like every budding new officer, I took every opportunity, never said no and worked copious amounts of overtime to prove myself. I truly love what I do. But being the ‘Yes’ girl takes its toll.
Before I was always able to eat whatever I wanted and got by. Don’t hate… but never really struggled with weight. I was super active. If anything I struggled maintaining muscle. I never had a butt. Haha.
Then came…. shiftwork. It only took about 1.5 yrs of playing that game that I started struggling with an un-relinquishing fatigue. A fatigue that I fed with candy and sugar on nightshifts. Carbs carbs carbs. They had always worked for me in the past, why not now? Well that was a hard no. And then came the no sleep train. My brain would not shut off, I tossed and turned all night, and if I was lucky I managed 3 hours of sleep before my next shift. Then came coffee… Mmmm…. Anyways, It got to the point where I spent all my down time preparing my body for the next set of shifts. Always having to be switched on and mentally and physically ready. I thought to myself… this can’t be my life. It’s no life at all. I had zero energy to socialize which when you have an insertion of depression from the sudden loss of your father and the crushing detonation of your relationship at the time, you become unable to function.
Yet that feisty energy deep down in my soul never extinguished. I wanted and needed to get my energy back. It was just who I was.
But how?
It has been quite the adventure over the last 5 years discovering what has worked for me. I discovered the power of food. The power of self care and always discovering new things. Along the way I found that I love to share what I have learned with my coworkers and watch it help them as it did me. I thought danggg I dig this! I hope through sharing and helping you with what I learn, we can build each other to a more nourished life. Lets NOURISH our LIFESTYLES.
Ps. Puppies always help! Lol.
If any of this connects with you just stick with me!
❤
nourishlifestyles.ca 