The long and the short of it....... My Story

Growing up, my relationship with food seemed very normal to me. As a kid, I experienced a variety of cultures, from very traditional American to Mediterranean. I was the kid who loved spinach, drank my milk and would beg my mom to make me liver and onions. It was for sure suspicious that a ten year old loved these typically balked at delicacies. Having this open and willing palate was a sign that food was going to be more than just stuff I ate. As my appreciation for food developed, so did my obsession for cooking. In my early 20s, I worked as an assistant for a personal chef and when she retired I took over her clients and created my own business catering for families and small events. I collected every foodie magazine I could get my paws on.  I would experiment with recipes, putting my own flair into the dishes and of course photographing my masterpieces.  It all came very naturally to me.

At the same time, I was also working on my fitness career. I never imagined that the two would intersect because back then it wasn't a thing, balancing eating well for the purpose of creating  physical, and, mental wellness. The two were separate, not nearly as much emphasis was placed on your body needing nutrients to perform in athletic situations. Today, it's all about both which happily gives me an opportunity to teach the benefits of living a healthy balanced lifestyle.  Since the explosion of the web and social media, there's an abundance of information. There's new trends, fads, warnings, no wonder people are afraid of carbs and are throwing out all their bread.

This brings me to why I have created The Food Athlete. Eating isn't complicated, it's clean and simple. The challenging part is designing and  maintaining sustainable behaviors, and that's when you will call on me. My role is to help you navigate through this magical world of nourishment.  

My street cred in the health profession spans over many decades. It's my experience coupled with my dedication and knowledge that makes me the teacher, strategist, instructor, person, that I am today.

My qualifications to name a few:  I began my fitness career classically trained in Pilates through The Physical Mind Institute. Certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. I am also a member and participant of the National Physique Committee  and have placed four times in bodybuilding competitions. This was really the ah-ha moment for me in my journey.  I realized that the food I ate not only fueled my body, but it affected my mood. Preparing for shows meant depleting and re-feeding my system over and over, on a strict regime. It seems borderline yo-yo, however, in a scientific way and very specific to my training it's what was necessary for me to successfully compete. Bodybuilding ignited a passion for studying more about food, specifically how our eating habits transform our body. The next natural step for me was to have a better understanding of why what and how we eat. As a result, I earned a nutrition certification in Optimal Health, Wellness, and Sports from Loyola Marymount University (an ACSM approved certification.)

How I live and my mantra: Fuel your body every day with a rainbow of fresh whole foods, not only because you want to fit into your perfect pair of jeans, but because this is the only body you get, there are no do-overs.  But let's face it, we all want to feel amazing as the end goal so if we eat and the result is we feel amazing, and than that result is we look amazing, what's the hold up? EAT FOOD because you LOVE your BODY.