Part 2 Discussion : How Holistic Chick was born

I've decided to launch a 10-part discussion feature on Nutrition...specifically the state of nutrition nowadays.  I hope that sharing the very basis of what I've learned from years working in the field might make it easier for some of you to start taking the right steps towards getting healthy!  If you missed my week-1 introduction post, click here. 

I realize that I can't really tell you the story how Holistic Chick was born without telling you a little bit about myself and how my life brought me to where I am today in terms of my health & lifestyle.  Part 2 of my discussion series focuses on just that:

I grew up in a small town in Eastern Canada and as a child, I was a ridiculously fussy eater.  My mom worked full-time, so this lead to my developing a bad diet pretty much as soon as I was able to cook for myself.  Canned foods, mac and cheese and minute noodles became a specialty of mine.  This pattern only worsened as I moved on to University with an abundance of take-out delivery options in the big(-er) city.  Me and the roomies were ordering fast food a couple times a week at least, whenever we didn't feel like cooking our minute-foods >.<


Truth be told, my health problems had begun to surface when I was in my teens - in a way that even a teenaged me could notice, but in retrospect there were earlier signs.  I had some food intolerances and at around 16, I developed debilitating migraines.  Which in turn led to an increased 'need' for over-the-counter headache medication.  By the time I was in University, I had prescription strength migraine meds and was suffering from a 2-3 day migraine every week.  For anyone who's experienced even one single real migraine in there lives, I don't have to tell you that my quality of life was greatly affected by it all.  My attention in classes would be affected and same goes for when I was working.  Sometimes I would have to miss classes or shifts altogether...

I don't believe that my diet was the only reason for the anxiety I was also dealing with at the time; but I am sure it wasn't making it any better either o_O

Anyways, it was only at the end of my studies in Psyc, when I assisted a chance seminar on psycho-analysis, that a speaker drew the link between healing your psyche and healing your body that everything began to change.
 By then I was already starting to realize that my health was really poor - especially at the age I was!  Not to mention the weight I'd gained from a combination of poor diet + prescription meds which was now well over 40 lbs.  I knew some things needed to be changed but man... changing the way you've been living for years and years is hard.  It seemed impossible, really it did.

And then I started working at a local health food store.  They were willing to train and educate us on natural nutrition & holistic healing.  We were encouraged to look things up extensively for our clients.  And by helping others get healthy, I was able to start learning how to make myself healthy.  At first I found ways to manage my migraines and my anxiety.  Then I worked on my food and environmental sensitivities and I tell you, within the course of one year, my quality of life was transformed.

I became so passionate about the healing power of eating right and using natural supplements and herbs to take care of myself, that I was made responsible for sharing knowledge with out clients through social media: newsletters, blog posts, informational write-ups and whatnot.

Then I moved on to training with a life-long mentor and Naturotherapist, where I was able to get to the root of my health issues and that's where the real changes began happening.  My health completely turned around.  I was no longer managing my symptoms, I was eliminating them!  The change in my quality of life and well-being is as clear as the eye can see!  Within a year, I'd received my own ''n.d.'' certification for Naturopathic Consultations and from that point on, I went off on my own little mission to get everyone healthy!
As for how I got into blogging green?  Well once I was no longer doing the social media thing for my employers, I found that I missed it.  I still had that need to share health tips with others by writing about what I've learned and passing it on.  And since I was already launching a book review blog, I decided to launch my own health one too...and BAM! Holistic Chick was born.

Today, I can proudly say that I did a complete 180° from where I was in my early 20's.  My health has improved exponentially, my stress levels are way down and I've lost all the weight I'd put on!  I consider myself living proof that  ''the food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison.''