15 Key Lessons from my 33rd Year of Life

Saturday is my first official day as a 34 year old! This past year has been an enormous growing year for me, specifically as a mother and woman, as I birthed baby James into our family. Being a mom to two babies (15 months and 3 months old) has led me to reflect much more deeply on the type of person that I want to be, the example that I want to set for my children and the impact that I want to have on others and the world. 

I also work with some of the most successful business leaders, entrepreneurs and podcasters, helping them to reclaim their health and always learn so much from getting a front row seat to the journey. 

So today, I’m sharing my biggest lessons from this past year in hopes that it helps you. This is from the perspective of a functional medicine dietitian, an entrepreneur and business owner, and most importantly–as a mom. 

But before I do, I want to extend an enormous thank you for being part of my community. I’ve devoted my life to helping people transform their health using the power of food as medicine and I wake up every single day with an immense amount of purpose, passion and gratitude for the opportunity that my team and I have to positively impact your health through this newsletter, social media and my programs.   

My Top Lessons from This Past Year 

1-Rise to the Challenge 

I asked Johnny what he would say my biggest life lesson was from this year. He said, “I don’t mean to sound dramatic but something about the importance of overcoming insurmountable odds”. And that really is what this past year feels like! 

I got pregnant at this time last year when McKinley was one week shy of 3 months old. That was not our plan! Growing and birthing a baby is hard. Breastfeeding is hard. Raising kids is hard. But we all rise to the challenge and get stronger for it! And everyday I feel an immense amount of gratitude because it’s a beautiful challenge and I cannot imagine my life any other way. And I regularly remind myself: it could be harder. 

2-Consistency Over Perfection 

Clients that are most successful are 80-90% consistent 100% of the time. And they are committed for so much longer than those who fixate on being 100% perfect. 

Consistency over perfection has been my life mantra this past year. My nutrition wasn’t as optimal as it would have been in a less stressful phase of life. I did not exercise as much as I would have liked. But I never considered just throwing in the towel. Because my health is too important, especially now as a mom. I tried my very best every single day to nurture my body with whole, nutrient-dense foods and high quality supplements because this was the cellular information that impacted my gene expression and served as the building blocks of my children’s cellular health. But at the same time–I gave myself grace.

3-Don’t Be Afraid to Be Intentional Parents 

Johnny and I are very intentional in how we are raising our kids. And one of my biggest pieces of advice: don’t let the criticism and comments bother you. Our kids need us to protect them now more than ever. Unfortunately today, “the norm” is to load kids with sugar, processed foods wrapped in plastic, pharmaceuticals, cartoons, and ipads, all of which are arguably leading contributors to our childhood chronic disease (1 in 3 adolescents and teens has pre-diabetes) and mental health epidemic. 

Things we are intentional about: 

-Prioritizing organic nutrient-dense foods 95% of the time 

-No added sugar until two years old

-Extremely limited exposure to all screens 

-Reverse osmosis water 

-An emphasis on family walks and time spent together in nature

-A lot of time spent researching the cost-benefits of pharmaceuticals that go into their bodies instead of blindly trusting government recommendations 

-Limiting the use of plastics (aka using glass bottles, tupperwares, etc.). For frozen breast milk I do use plastic bags but defrost with cold water.

After my kids turn two, we will have a balance of some added sugar but not before then because they don’t know the difference and their taste buds are still developing. 

Key resources: My friend, Casey Means’ interview with Tucker Carlson (please don’t tie this to politics–it’s a bi-partisan issue and the best podcast I’ve ever listened to); Good Energy by Dr. Casey Means; The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt; and Sugarproof by Dr. Michael Goran. 

4-Setting Yourself Up for Success Prior to Big Life Changes Pays Off 

You never know what you’re training for. Put in the work in advance and trust in the importance of building strong health foundations. Health is about building the endurance and resilience necessary to make transformational phases like pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause, menopause, and stressful life events more manageable. 

It’s a lifelong pursuit of using food to honor our bodies and fuel our cellular biology, establishing habits and routines that serve our highest self and mirroring this for others, especially children. 

5-Create a Supportive Village

Spending more time with family this year has added so much to my life. We moved back to Cleveland to be close to my family and Johnny’s family. I’m especially grateful for my Mom, sister, my sister’s best friend, and my mother-in-law who have made the biggest effort to support my kids and I. We are also blessed with the most caring babysitter who is like family and comes Monday-Thursday. It truly takes a village! 

6-Purpose is My Fuel 

So many people ask me how I’m “doing it all”. And I really don’t do it all–I have my village and an amazing team. But I do dedicate a ton of my time, attention and focus to making our nutrition programs the best that they can be. Now that I have two kids my time feels so much more valuable and it’s harder to be away from them. But every time I hear a story from someone about how my programs or team have changed their lives, it fuels me. Every time that I think about how often people are dismissed in traditional healthcare and left to suffer with their symptoms when it’s entirely possible to reverse their type 2 diabetes, autoimmune disease, migraines, fatigue, high cholesterol, menopausal symptoms, cravings and more, it fuels me. Purpose for what I do and the lives that we impact is my fuel. 

7-People Heal in Community

This past year we crossed a huge milestone of more than 20,000 people doing the Blood Sugar Reset. The community support in the Blood Sugar Reset is a huge contributor to people’s success. I witnessed the power of community again this past year after launching my membership, The Being Collective in January. We have an incredible group of humans who are supporting each other, reversing disease, supporting longevity, modeling healthy behaviors for their kids, and so much more. Health is contagious. 

8-The Freezer is a Game Changer

We had a freezer in our garage in Jacksonville and bought a new one when we moved to Cleveland for my breast milk. We keep the freezer completely stocked! This includes chicken, salmon, turkey burgers, grass-fed beef, vegetable medleys, berries and other fruit, and meals that we batch cooked from The Being Collective. It saves me more often than I even realize. 

9-The Culinary Medicine Movement is Growing

Every fall for the last seven years I’ve taught an Integrative and Functional Nutrition course that I co-created at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. My colleagues at Case created an incredible culinary medicine curriculum for medical school students. The Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University just invested in a state of the art culinary teaching kitchen for medical, nursing and nutrition students. The evidence is clear: better culinary skills leads to lower food costs and cooking barriers which increases diet quality and improves health outcomes. Cooking your own food is one of the most important things you can do for your health. 

10-There is No Rush 

Carving out time for rest and allowing time to heal is essential postpartum. I shared that I gained 40 lbs with both pregnancies and I went into James’ pregnancy 10 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight with McKinley. And while I am committed to my health and excited to get back into my jeans, I am in no rush. Pregnancy takes a huge toll on the body and requires time for healing. 

At this time last year, I was able to fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans. But the back to back pregnancies has changed my experience this time. I’m reminding myself that there is no need to compare myself now to myself at this time last year. And that nutrition is impacting SO much more than my weight. 

11-Relationships Are Everything

I recently had a coaching call with a client who is a CEO of a fortune 500 company. When we logged on Zoom, she asked me to take my computer downstairs so that she could see my kids. Her time is so limited and we had a number of items to address in the coaching call but she took the extra 5 minutes to ask about my family. 

12-Give More Than You Take 

As you may know, I’m a medical advisor for the company Wenatal, the highest quality prenatal company for men and women (since 50% of infertility is driven by males). This is the prenatal that Johnny and I have both taken the last three years, prior to conceiving, during pregnancy and now postpartum. I am very good friends with the founders, who are the most generous and supportive women. They always go so far out of their way for me and for others in their community. I am constantly in awe of their support and inspired to be more like them. 

13-No One is Coming to Save You 

The healthcare system is not coming to save you. There is little to no incentive for the conventional system to help you learn how to use food and lifestyle changes to support your health, to reverse symptoms and to get off of unnecessary medication. As Dr. Casey Means outlines in her interview listed above: healthcare is the fastest growing industry in the United States. And a sick patient with chronic disease is very profitable. It starts with you waking up to the corruption of the healthcare system and taking ownership of your health and daily choices. 

14-Everything is a Learning Opportunity

The science of neuroplasticity tells us that your past doesn’t define you. The only way that we learn and grow is through experiences. Instead of seeing something as a mistake, I’m continuously reframing it as an opportunity for learning and growing. I use this not only as a business owner but as a mom to help decrease mom guilt.

15-Smoothies Are So Easy 

This isn’t a new lesson. It was just reinforced this past year with always needing quick grab and go meals–especially lunches. Throwing ingredients in a blender and making a quick meal that is loaded with the protein that I need for recovery in addition to antioxidants, polyphenols, vitamins and minerals that support my cellular health is so easy. And having smoothies like the ones that we create for The Being Collective that have a specific flavor profile makes it that much more fun and enjoyable. Two of my absolute favorites: Strawberry Lemonade Smoothie and Strawberries and Cream Smoothie. 

Thank you for being here for this journey! I’m excited for the lessons that year 34 has in store!