You may be asking yourself  how did I go from being an athletic trainer to a holistic hormonal health and fertility coach?

The answer is that in 2019 I became part of both these statistics:

• 1 in 4 pregnancies will end in miscarriage

• 1 in 6 adults will struggle with infertility

I never thought I would be affected by either, never mind both of them, but I was. I was diagnosed with "unexplained" infertility in June 2020.  This diagnosis continues to baffle me.  It basically means that your test results are "within normal limits" and the doctors don't have a medical reason why you are not conceiving.  But just because they haven't found a reason why, doesn't mean there isn't one.... just haven't dug deep enough to figure it out.  I was devastated after our 3rd failed IUI, hearing my doctor tell me my test results were "normal" and there was nothing else I could do but IVF.  Mind you, there is nothing wrong with artificial reproductive technology (ART), but that is not how I or any of us, for that matter I don't think, envisioned my path to pregnancy and a baby. I knew something was off with my body despite my test results, but I didn't know what to do about it.

Thankfully, Alisa Vitti's book Women Code was recommended to me, and not to be dramatic, but it changed my life. The information about women's hormonal health and the huge role diet and lifestyle play blew my mind. Here I was a 41-year-old woman (at the time, I'm 45 now) and I didn't know or understand the basics of how my menstrual cycle worked. How can that be possible? I've worked as an allied healthcare professional for 20 years and have a background in sports nutrition.  The answer is...no one talks about it!!!!!!!  And no one at this point had ever asked me about my diet or lifestyle!

At the time, my husband and I had been vegan for 4 years.  I was working out 6 days a week, weight lifting and running 3 days a week and and walking my dogs at least 4-5 miles everyday. I thought I had a very healthy lifestyle.  Reflecting back on it now, I was undernourished, overexercising and working a very stressful job.  My body was always in "fight or flight mode".  On top of that my total cholesterol was 140, due to my vegan diet I wasn't consuming any cholesterol which comes from animal products (plants do not contain cholesterol).  Well come to find out your body needs cholesterol to make its sex hormones.  Let me be very clear, fertility and diets are very individualized and I'm not saying a vegan diet is "bad" for you, (so please do not come at me), I'm saying for me and my circumstances it did not serve me. 

 

So in 2021, I had a done a DUTCH test (a dried urine test to test the metabolites of hormones in your body over a 24 hour period) through a functional medical practitioner I was working with at the time.  It was not surprising that my estradiol(estrogen), progesterone, and testosterone levels were extremely low.  But my cortisol, a stress hormone, was extremely high.  No wonder I wasn't able to conceive, my body had basically shut down my reproductive system because I wasn't giving it the resources it needed to feel safe enough to carry a baby.  It's truly amazing how smart your body is and will conserve energy from one body system to ensure the remaining systems will continue to function. 

Fast forward about a year: reading every book I could get my hands on about the topic, implementing a ton of diet and lifestyle changes to better support my hormones, changing fertility clinics (like I said, there is no shame in ART), and after our 2nd IUI, we were able to get pregnant and had Baby Jo in October of 2022.  Fast forward another 10 months and I was able to conceive naturally in 2023 with my son, Jack, who was born in February of 2024.

I changed careers because I never want anyone to feel as devastated, lost, or alone as I did when I was told, "There was nothing I could do to improve fertility."  While there is no cure for infertility, taking a more holistic approach to supporting your body and balancing your hormones can go a long way in improving your fertility and your overall health. 

 

I strongly believe there is a lack of menstrual health education, there is not enough hormonal health coaches to go around!  It is so important for individuals to have body literacy, to have a positive perspective, and to be empowered by their menstrual cycles.  Understanding that "common" menstrual cycle symptoms such as headaches, cramps, PMS/PMDD, breast tenderness, moodiness/irritability, depression, anxiety, bloating, etc. are just that, common, not normal!  There are many diet and life changes that can be implemented to make it possible for a minimal to pain-free menstrual cycle.  

So....I'm here to normalize menstrual health, help individuals achieve healthier menstrual cycles, and help individuals/couples struggling with infertility navigate their journeys.

​

Thanks for being here, I appreciate your time!