My passion for living a healthy, abundant life and empowering others, started at a young age. Throughout my life, I have tenaciously pursued my vision of creating a healthier world and helping others create their best healthy and happy life. I have been driven to learn and experience the best practices of nutrition, exercise, psychology, spirituality, and behavior change from both eastern and western medicine and cultures. 

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I became a vegan when I was 12 years old, living in Omaha, NE with 5 brothers and sister where meat was a staple of our diet. However, when I learned that my favorite pig which I watched grow up at our friend’s farm was now on the dinner table, all changed in my world. I began my personal pursuit to never eat  animals, ditch dairy and learn how to eat in a whole new way. Soon I started feeling better, my digestive issues resolved, and my teenage acne disappeared. I recall noticing how I had abundant energy and started my passion of running and biking which later led to races and marathons. I began to connect the dots of how food affected both my physical and emotional health and well-being. 

 

In college I continued my pursuit of understanding health and behavior change with my first degree in Human Development & Family Studies; then followed my passion for nutrition with a degree in Nutrition & Dietetics with graduate work in Exercise Physiology/Sports Medicine. I have professional training and hold certifications as a Registered Dietitian, Health Coach, Personal Trainer, Trainer and Coach for EBT: Emotional Brain Training, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Thought Field Therapy, and chef certifications from the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone and Rouxbe Plant-Based Chef Training.

 

​I have a comprehensive background of over 30 years of experience in health and wellness ranging from nutrition counseling and health coaching to developing, implementing and facilitating programs in lifestyle medicine. I have extensive training in integrated health and behavior change methods that promote sustainable lifestyle changes. I have been a contributing writer for the Ornish Living Magazine, Huffington Post, Men's Fitness, Muscle Fitness, Women's World and national best-selling books in health and wellness. One of my passions is empowering and teaching people to cook healthy, such as my cooking classes on 9News LiveSteam, Cooking with Faith, with my daughter. 

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​I have been blessed to have worked with top leaders in the area of lifestyle medicine and behavior change such as Dr. Dean Ornish who has cultivated the field of lifestyle medicine. Dr. Ornish was the first to show the reversal of heart disease with positive lifestyle changes such as a low-fat, plant-based diet, exercise, stress management and group support. In 2005, Dr. Ornish and his colleagues published research showing that intensive lifestyle changes may slow the progression of early-stage prostate cancer and increase telomere length which promotes longevity.  I am grateful to have been a part of the clinical team publishing the most recent ground breaking research in 2024,  Effects of Intensive Changes on the Progression of Mild Cognitive Impairment or Early Dementia due to Alzheimer's Disease: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial, showing that comprehensive lifestyle changes may significantly improve cognition and function in patients with MCI or early dementia due to Alzheimer's Disease. I started working with Dr. Ornish in 1993 and later became the Senior Dietitian & Trainer and Clinical Manager for Ornish Lifestyle Medicine at Sharecare and currently the Nutrition Director at the Preventive Medicine Research Institute and Ornish Lifestyle Medicine (OLM).  I have worked and trained with others such as Jon Kabat Zin, Laurel Mellin, the founder of Emotional Brain Training (EBT) and many more inspiring leaders and game changers.

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It is my mission to share all my experience, knowledge, skills and passion with you to support you in living your healthiest and happiest life and to shine a brighter light into this world helping others and the planet!