EVERYONE STARTS SOMEWHERE
Here I am, a self-awareness junkie. In the past dozen years I've attended more seminars, motivational speeches and conferences; have read more personal awareness and self-empowerment books; and have tried more holistic modalities along the path of my spiritual journey than I can count.

The spiral into my own personal evolution began nine years ago though, when I read Debbie Ford's best-selling book, Spiritual Divorce. Yes, I was in a marriage that wasn't working, but this book is about more than that. It blazes a trail of inspiration for anyone wanting to reach a higher level within themselves, and reclaim their lives. Reading this book began the liberation of my free spirit and was the beginning of my spiritual wake-up call.

Five years after reading this book, I emerged from my comfort zone and divorced in 2005, further searching the discovery of my most authentic self. I felt the fear, but clutched on the firm belief that each of us has the power to invent our lives as we want it to be, and to bring positive energies into it (the Law of Attraction). This unwavering vision was the catalyst that gave me courage and pushed me forward to take the leap and create a better, balanced and healthier world for myself and my son.

I made a lot of changes that first year on my own. The biggest one at the time, I went back to college for 18 months. I also slowly learned an important lesson as my days threaded together into one big perpetual To-Do list: you can't be everything to everyone, and it's okay to say no when you have to ... or want to.

And so, I excused myself from positions on my son's school board and condo association's board of directors. My son transferred from a Catholic school to a more challenging and resourceful public school. We found a good home for our puppy that was overwhelming our busy lives. It didn't happen overnight and it wasn't always easy, but we started to focus on what really mattered.

GETTING LOST SO I COULD FIND MY WAY
Growing up in the 1970's, at my fingertips were TV dinners, canned raviolis, Slim Jims, cheese doodles and gallons of milk. I hear of foodies (people who eat healthy) who grew up in raw-eating, vegetable-juicing, nutrient-loving pioneer families and think ... oh my gosh, this was happening then?

It took 30 something years later for me to stumble on, trip face-first over, and then finally celebrate natural foods and living. As a newly single parent, I had a sudden interest in wanting to feel better every day, and keeping myself healthy and able to take care of my son ... yet I had no idea the rabbit hole that was just beginning.

I didn't have to give up processed food, sugar and junk drinks for too long before I lost weight, had more energy, and a 'brain fog' lifted. I was oh so fascinated by this and wanted to know how this was happening, so I educated myself on everything nutrition. But I focused on the wrong things: reducing calories ... instead of the beautiful, healing nutrients that nature's food gives to our bodies.

Food is tremendously powerful to a body's health, and I soon found myself on the dark side of this power. Low-calorie, zero-fat foods became my best friends for too many months. Within seven months I lost 40+ pounds and went from a size 12 to a size less-than-zero. Because my cholesterol dropped 140 points (280 to 140), and I felt physically terrific and exercised daily, I thought I was healthy. And for awhile, I was.

What I didn't know was that our bodies need (the right kind of) carbs, protein and fat to function properly. Good fat (poly- and mono-unsaturated) creates an energy source; it cushions and protects internal organs; it carries fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) throughout the body; and more. Yet I was getting zero fat, carbs, and protein, and minimal iron in my diet from eating only fruits and vegetables for months. My body fat scaled in at a dangerously low 7%.

I soon learned these good fats are also essential for healthy hair after my own began to fall out. My period stopped for many months as well, since estrogen is affected by weight being too low for an extended time. The coating of my tongue and the tone of my skin changed as it does when your body goes through a state of detox.

And that's the problem I had created for myself: by not giving my body the balance it needed from different foods, I was 10 pounds underweight for where my body wanted to be in order to be healthy. These symptoms were alarms from my body telling me it was not happy and something was not right.

It took a 1,000-mile journey and a mountain climb to finally discover - and eventually accept - that I was abusing the very thing I was trying to improve (my health!) by not allowing the proper balance of foods in my diet. With the same zealous I started with, I did a 180 in my thinking and tackled new research.

This time, I set out to find the foods needed to heal myself and create overall - and lasting - wellness in my nutrition, my psyche, and ultimately my Life. I didn't realize until later that my new selection of foods was a fusion of the Macrobiotic and Okinawa styles of eating: whole grains, land and sea vegetables, fruits, legumes (beans), salmon, fish, and other whole, natural, fresh and seasonal foods. It wasn't until I attended IIN that I discovered the amazing power of raw foods and superfoods and incorporated them as well.

LESSONS BY LIVING
We each have our own bio-individual nutritional and emotional balances, and for me, finding mine was a trial and error journey I had to go through. It wasn't fun, for sure. I was fortunate to have had the intuition, and later the professional education, to catch and heal my eating disorder. I now know that too much of even a healthy food can be damaging, because it crowds out room for other essential foods that need to give us our missing nutrients.

There is an abundance of power in food. The Yin side is that it can heal, as well as ward off and prevent disease. On the Yang side, it can also create havoc and malfunction in a body - quickly realized or over time - if abused, ignored or not used properly.

Joshua Rosenthal says:
Life is a long time. Health is a vehicle, not a destination.

Dr. Ann Wigmore, ND offers my favorite:

THE FOOD YOU EAT
CAN BE EITHER
THE SAFEST AND MOST POWERFUL FORM OF MEDICINE,
OR THE SLOWEST FORM OF POISON.

The Institute for Integrative Nutrition introduced me to all the different dietary theories. As contrasting as each of them are, can you guess the one common factor consistent throughout each one? An abundance of high-quality, organic, whole, natural, fresh and locally grown seasonal foods! We eat to LIVE and no matter how you package an eating style, the nutrients needed to nurture our body will ALWAYS come from our earth ... not a box, or a package, or a drive-through window.

Think of it this way: if a food didn't exist one-thousand years ago and our ancestors didn't grow it or eat it themselves, it's not a natural or whole food. Anything not in its natural state doesn't belong in our bodies because it means someone commercially manufactured it, genetically modified it, chemically processed it, or artificially sweetened it. Or good gosh, maybe a little of all.

So consider, which you would rather have flowing through your blood and pumping your heart: earth-natural or factory-produced?

HELPING OTHERS: PAYING IT FORWARD
I radically improved my overall health and wellness by making positive changes not only in my diet and lifestyle, but most importantly in my approach to nutrition and Life balance. It's easier to live every day what you believe and understand. Our personal and emotional psyche has to lead the way, before healthy habits can begin to form. The more we understand the inherent power that food AND lifestyle habits have in deciding whether we are healthy or on our way to disease, the better we will honor the choices we make for ourselves, everyday.

As a single mother with a 20-plus year corporate job, I intimately know the challenges of finding a working balance of family, career, home, personal, play, life, spirit, exercise and self-care ... all while trying to find the time to cook, shop and eat smart. I also know first-hand the great amount of invested time and personal dedication it takes to become an educated food consumer and creator of your own destiny.

I have been there, I am living it, and because you are reading this, I know I am like you, in always craving to learn more and be my best, healthiest self. I'm your neighbor, your sister, and the woman alongside you at the traffic light. I am a mother, a lover of LIFE and a real person who understands, is educated in holistic health, and walks the talk every single day. Healthy shopping, nurturing self-care, exploring resources and networking with other like-minded, healthy, kindred spirits ... these are all part of my every day.

Completely, I am inspired and passionate about supporting and educating others on the power! of smart healthy living. I attended IIN to heal myself but in the end graduated with professional certification as a Holistic Health Counselor. I always believed that nothing is ever random, every journey has its purpose: I can now help others from personal experience and professional training.

I give support and coaching to those who are on their own personal journey of wanting to feel better, have more energy, and create smarter, long-lasting habits for a better chance at a long healthy life.

I empower people to change their lives from the inside out through nutrition, self-care and primary foods.

I encourage them to mindfully choose a lifestyle each day and to abandonly love themselves up with self-care.

I excite people about the power that food has in creating positive health, and most importantly, the power WE have to choose the foods that are put into our bodies every day, and the positive quality that we should choose to put into our thoughts. WE make these choices. Everyday WE re-choose what to put into our bodies and minds: everyday, it's OUR decision. As Buddha said, Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.

I would be honored to support, coach, empower, encourage and get you excited on your journey.

FULL CIRCLE KARMA
Debbie Ford was a guest teacher at my very first Integrative Nutrition class. After class, amidst 1,200 students exiting the theatre, I had the wonderful and fateful opportunity to meet and share my transformation story with her. Through my tears, I was able to personally thank her for the aha! spiritual seeds and unshakable faith that she planted in my being. Faith in myself and faith in Fate, and Divine Intervention, and the simple belief that the Universe has a plan for each of us. I had brought my well-worn and highlighted Spiritual Divorce book to class that day and inside she inscribed a note to me:

Dear Rosa, I love you.
Thank you for stepping into your greatest self.
Debbie Ford.

Without a doubt, I knew I had come full circle.

Schedule a Free Consultation
Send Quick Email