My passion for nutrition and healthy living goes as far back as I can remember, growing up in a household in Arizona where white bread and anything processed was forbidden. This was during a time when there was very little awareness about nutrition. I remember looking forward to my mom and my annual trip to a health ranch called Rancho La Puerta, where there was an emphasis on hiking, aerobics, yoga, and meditation, as well as healthy, organic, locally-grown food. I can recall how fantastic I felt when I left each time – and even made the connection back then that how I felt was directly related to what I ate, how active I was, and how little stress there was there.

I graduated from Arizona State University with a B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing/Advertising. I worked in New York and Los Angeles for over fifteen years in television and magazine sales. I felt constantly stressed from deadlines and such an intense environment and hectic lifestyle. After landing the job of my dreams working for Vogue Magazine, the stress caught up with me and I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma at the age of 32. That was when I stepped back and really evaluated how my health was affected by the choices I was making. I finally had real life reasons to change my stressful lifestyle in the advertising business and further immerse myself into a healthier lifestyle. The combination of medical treatment, exercise and nutrition cured my disease and I have been completely healthy ever since. The more my husband and I learned about nutrition as the basis for a healthy lifestyle, the more we tried it, and the better we felt both physically and mentally. We then went on to have two healthy daughters, who’ve always had nutrition as a main foundation in their lives.

Unfortunately, our commitment to a healthy lifestyle didn’t shield our family from another health related ordeal. In 2004, my husband was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at the young age of 43. He fought it valiantly for 18 months and then passed away on November 1st, 2005. We were together for 22 years and he had never even missed a day of work due to illness! This tragedy, coupled with my own brush with mortality, inspired me to delve even deeper into the practice and understanding of healthy living.

I decided to attend the American University of Complementary Medicine for Integrative Nutrition and became a Certified Integrative Nutritionist. I also apprenticed with Ashley Koff, a Registered Dietician, and learned a great deal from her. I acted as a spokesperson for The City of Hope, raising awareness and money for cancer research. I contribute nutrition advice to the website www.SheSez.com by writing articles that are posted monthly. Currently, in addition to seeing patients privately, I work with the Akasha Center in Santa Monica to assist them with their clients and their cleanse program.

I am now, thankfully, able to support my frenetic pace with an extensive workout regime that includes yoga, meditation, and hiking. I pay focused attention to nutrition, and make sure that my two teenage daughters always remain mindful of what they eat and how active they are. They will tell you I’m not the average mom when it comes to what’s on the dinner table!

I have always been interested in helping people live the healthiest, happiest and most peaceful life that they can. I hope to truly empower people to become more health conscious and to take control of their lives by changing the way they look and think about food.