FROM A NUTRITION COACH
As a nutrition coach, I have the privilege of building relationships with my clients while helping them work toward their unique goals — whether that’s improving their health, achieving a specific body composition, or just feeling more confident in their everyday food choices. Throughout our time together, we not only focus on practical nutrition strategies but also on transforming our relationship with food and the habits that shape our lives. I’m excited to share more about my own journey as a human and a coach — how I came to be an online nutrition coach, the lessons I’ve learned along the way, and an incredible recent transformation I’ve seen in a client. It’s all part of my ongoing mission to connect with you and provide the tools, support, and inspiration you need to make lasting changes in your nutrition and mindset.
HOW I BECAME A NUTRITION COACH
If you would have asked a younger version of me if I would be a coach in the wellness industry, I might have pictured coaching fitness classes, but would not have pictured being a nutrition coach, let alone have the privilege of owning a business around it! I began working in the fitness industry at the front desk of a cycling studio in the early 2010s. This morphed into being mic’ed up on the podium teaching spinning classes at an incredible local spin studio, Ascend Cycle, in Del Ray, VA for nearly five years, and then transitioned to coaching in the strength training industry at Madabolic in Pittsburgh, PA from 2022 to the present. I studied elementary education and education leadership as undergraduate and graduate degrees, and my “full-time” job was at an elementary school – I loved the interactions I had with clients working toward their goals at the gym, and always viewed it as my “part-time” gig.
I truly think that teaching can be a form of coaching, and became more convinced of it when I transitioned roles from a classroom teacher to an elementary school administrator. So, I like to believe that I’ve been in the role of coaching for over 15 years now; but there was always a little voice in my head that the roles I played in the wellness community weren’t a “real” job. They were my “fun” job, my side-hustle, and just an “extra.”
A culmination of experiences brought nutrition education into my life, and in early 2023, I left my then-job in the ed tech industry. I planned to “test out” nutrition coaching while searching for my next adventure in the education space, and thanks to a dozen or so clients who trusted me in my new venture to help them make progress toward their goals, by the end of the year, Front Porch Nutrition and small-business-ownership was born, and I dove in head-first!
My experience (personal and with others), education and certifications (nutrition and not!), and passion put me in the unique position to offer nutrition coaching that focuses on both the education aspect of nutrition, along with coaching behavior change with direction and empathy.
WHAT DO I LOVE MOST ABOUT IT?
There are so, so many things that I love about getting to work with clients, but what I love most about being a nutrition coach is how it blends my love and enthusiasm for well-being with my background as an educator. There’s something incredibly rewarding about helping people not just reach their nutrition goals, but truly transform the way they see food and their overall health. I love when the “light bulb” moments happen (I find this just as rewarding with adults who feel the “click” of being able to maintain their social life and reach their goals as I do (did) the feeling of hearing a first grader sound out a word they’ve never come across in text before) — the moments when a client suddenly understands something new, or when they realize just how much control they have over their own health. It's those moments of growth and the journey toward a healthier, more empowered self that make coaching so fulfilling for me. Seeing my clients not only change their habits but also shift their perspectives is what makes this work so meaningful. And the relationships we work to build are top-notch. To me, coaching is all-in, and getting to live in parallel with people who are doing life-changing things is an incredible thing.
MY OWN PERSONAL NUTRITION JOURNEY
My nutrition journey has been full of trial and error, shaped by experimentation and personal growth. After college, I dabbled with being a vegetarian for a few years, trying to embrace a lifestyle I thought would align with my health goals. Along the way, I also ventured into the world of fad diets — living off Special K for weeks in college, doing a few rounds of Whole30, flirting with Paleo, and sporadically trying other popular trends. I was always searching for the "perfect" approach to eating, but it took me a while to realize that a one-size-fits-all approach didn’t exist. While I’m not proud of cutting out entire food groups, this time period was filled with more vegetables than others, and I'm very grateful for that takeaway.
When it came to training, I’ve always been passionate about movement. I’ve run dozens of half marathons and three full marathons, spent years deep in the yoga world, and was a cycle enthusiast for a long time. For the past decade, I’ve focused on lifting weights, which has become a central part of my fitness routine.
If you were to ask me if I’ve struggled with eating in the past, I’d say that, comparatively, I had some healthy examples and a nurturing environment around me growing up. But despite that, there were still challenges I faced — like being without a period for about six months in my early 20s, which I just attributed to "normal" marathon training and what ended up being a thyroid cancer diagnosis at age 24. It hasn’t been until very recently that I can confidently say that my cancer was not causing a lack of a menstrual cycle; looking back, I can see that I was completely underfueled, not truly understanding what it meant to properly find a balance of supporting my output with my input.
Resonate with any of this? Or maybe none of this? All of our nutrition journeys are individual, which is why the approach that works for you also deserves to be personalized. Learn more about what that experience could look like for you, or apply here!
