My Story
After years of trying (and failing) to simultaneously run a marathon, get ahead of depression and anxiety, and help my therapy clients do the same--
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I finally discovered what was holding me back--my nutrition.
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Once I changed my nutrition, I blew the limits off what I could do athletically. Not only that, I discovered its power to heal my mood, hormones, energy, gut, and immunity. Later, when I adopted plant-forward nutrition, it took just six weeks before I felt near-immortal when it came to my health, performance, and recovery.
Now, as an ultra endurance athlete and nutrition coach, I'm truly passionate about nutrition, gut health, plants, and pushing the edges of our limits to improve our health, mood, performance, hormones, and recovery. And as a doctoral student of Integrative Wellness at the American College of Healthcare Sciences, I'm helping to bridge the gap between nutrition, holistic wellness, and traditional medicine.
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When I'm not coaching or studying, you will usually find me running on trails, doing jujitsu, tending to my small farm, or going on any number of backyard adventures with my family.
So why the dragonfly?
Because most of us never give a dragonfly a second thought. And yet these amazing creatures can fly up to 30 miles an hour (!!), and they have a 95% success rate when they hunt their prey (!!!). Compare that to renown hunters like the lion or peregrine falcon, who come in around just 23%. These tiny creatures are not to be underestimated. The little dragonfly has become a reminder to me to
Never underestimate what you are capable of.
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Some of us--myself included--have just assumed we can't do something--when really, switching up what we eat could actually change the whole game--for health, for hormones, for performance, for everything. Don't underestimate what you are capable of when you haven't found the right nutrition yet.
And secondly--scientifically and biologically, dragonflies can fly in any direction. But the Japanese samurai culturally and symbolically saw them as a creature that would never fly backwards. They became a symbol of courage and strength. Of never backing down. Of relentless forward motion. It is a lesson that every ultra endurance athlete knows they must embrace at some point.
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Never stop moving forward.
Never underestimate what you are capable of.
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