About Amy

My Story, is truly OUR story...

The following story intimately shows that I have truly been there and done that. It's been a long journey of trial and error. After eight years of searching alone in the dark, I trialed in-depth at least six different elimination diets (Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), Paleo/Primal, Gluten-Free, Nourishing Traditions (properly prepared grains, nuts, etc), Gut & Psychology Syndrome (GAPS), Whole30, Low FODMAP and the Autoimmune Paleo Protocol (AIP)), all in the hopes to relieve my symptoms.

I know first-hand how damaging it is to have a medical professional minimize or flat out deny your health concerns. Your fears. Your innate body wisdom. I know how hopeless it feels to leave those appointments without any answers, and how overwhelming it can feel to arrive at home and get back to playing "Dr. Google" in the desperate hopes that there's an answer waiting for you...somewhere.

My personal health struggles combined with my intensive, well-rounded training as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner allows me to genuinely connect with my clients on a head AND heart-based level. You no longer have to fight this battle alone. Heck, you don't have to fight it AT ALL. I have the tools and skills to co-create a bio-individual plan with you that best fits your personal goals. The Nutritional Therapy path is just that: nutritious, delicious, nourishing, therapeutic and EFFECTIVE. Dear friend, the struggle ends now.

When I was six months old, my mom's mama bear wisdom kicked in, and she rushed me to a doctor (who was hard to track down on the 4th of July) due to unusual vomiting. The doctor minimized her fears, and told her to go home. She refused. Not long after arriving at the hospital, the severity of my symptoms intensified, and it was discovered that part of my small intestine had slipped into my large intestine. I was rushed into an emergency surgery, where they proceeded to undo the problem and chose to also remove my appendix (which supposedly had no function). During this process, they removed a whoooollle lotta good bacteria, and introduced a whoooolllle lotta bad bacteria, marking the start of a downhill gut journey for yours truly.

I grew up eating the Standard American Diet (which, in the mid-80s meant an adequate supply of refined sugars, processed carbohydrates, and antibiotics). By highschool, I had turned myself into a cheese-pizza-eating, Cola-drinking vegetarian, and my guts had finally had enough. They rebelled. Hard.

I missed a full month of my freshmen year of high school, with painful, alternating bouts of constipation and diarrhea. I had three colonoscopies and 1 endoscopy in less than a year. The diagnosis: Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

I had brief relief in college, when after an American Indian ceremony I had assisted with, I was encouraged to nourish myself with a bowl of (freshly hunted) bison stew. The introduction of meat brought my health up to a tolerable degree, but I continued on with my SAD ways.

After college graduation, I worked for a local food co-op and soon after started apprenticing on organic herb and vegetable farms. I was paid in part by the food I helped to grow, so I started cooking, and an inner revolution began.

I was soon turned on to the ways of Sally Fallon and learned about Weston Price, just in time for the pregnancy of my first child. I turned to the traditional preparation of foods, but continued to consume grains.

By the time my first-born was two, my guts came back at me with a vengeance, and I was eventually diagnosed with Celiac Disease. The Specific Carbohydrate Diet put my newly-diagnosed (yet long-standing) autoimmune disease into remission.

A few years later and my second pregnancy...still mostly SCD, but a little lax with gluten-free treats. I got a puffy collarbone with no explained reason. Over the course of two years, I went to three medical doctors and requested thyroid tests. All results came back normal, and I was told to not worry.

Pregnancy #3 comes along, and the collarbone swelling has spread to my throat. It's hard to breathe at night. I'm anxious and fear that my air will be cut off. I go back to the doctors and essentially beg for a sonogram. Lo and behold, they find a nodule and goiter. But it's all normal, you see, and I'm sent back home with no answers and no relief.

I somehow stumble upon the Paleo path, and decide to try it. After the carb flu subsides, I feel great! But not 100%. The search continues and i discover the magical Mickey Trescott and the AutoImmune Paleo Protocol. Through her resources, I find a nearby Functional Medicine doctor and am finally diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease (an autoimmune thyroid disease). AIP puts 90% of my symptoms into remission.

{Mickey Trescott and other NTP practitioners like her have literally restored my health and inspired my path, and to them I am forever grateful.}

Long-standing gut health issues can be tricky to navigate. An imbalance in the gastrointestinal system has a ripple effect and can disrupt the health of neighboring systems, such as blood sugar handling, liver and gallbladder health, the skin, energy, mental clarity, autoimmune issues, allergies/intolerances, inflammation and much more.

If you have struggled with a stubborn health ailment or simply want to actualize your body's health potential through the healing power of FOOD, please contact me today!