During this summer, I realized how out of balance my life was. I loved my job, but my days were full; I was commuting 3 hours round-trip from New York City to Long Island, teaching five classes and directing 2-3 hour rehearsals everyday. I was drained and exhausted; I had gained 20 pounds and I couldn’t sustain a romantic relationship. I also couldn’t quite figure it out. I wasn’t staying up ‘till all hours of the night and I was pretty much eating what I usually ate: pasta dishes, salads, soups, sandwiches and only occasionally things like chips and cookies. I kept thinking to myself, “What is going on here? I feel so out of touch with my body! I’m miserable. There has to be a way to have enough energy to take care of myself and my personal life.” I knew I couldn’t change my workday (a teacher’s day is regimented by ringing bells and changing classes!), but I realized the one thing I could do was change the approach to my health.

It dawned on me that as a drama teacher I would work with students on identifying their character’s motive and what it would take to achieve that desired goal. Well, my personal motive was to increase my energy. Then it hit me, “Food is Fuel.” I became my first nutrition cllient. I read every book on nutrition and varying diets that I came across. I experimented with what I ate, when I ate, how I ate – you name it!

Wouldn’t you know, by the end of that summer – 8 weeks – I had lost 20 pounds! Just as important, my energy was soaring – I was getting up when my alarm went off, not dragging my head off the pillow, and flowing through my days without that mid-afternoon drag, slump, and can-I-please-take-a-nap feeling that seemed to hit everyday.

I then began looking at the rest of my life (exercise, career, relationships) the way I had learned to look at my food: what will best support me. I no longer felt that my situation was a total mystery. Instead, I knew it was a matter of making conscious food and lifestyle choices. I then hit on the epiphany that maintaining good health is not only about diet, but involves the whole person: food, work, family and even the time of year.

At that point, I decided to find a way to share my discoveries and, while I was still working as a full-time teacher, enrolled at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition where I received serious, intense training in Holistic Health Counseling from some of the top practitioners in the field of nutrition. I took evening and weekend courses, cooking classes and additional workshops at New York University. I began seeing clients in 2002 as well as giving health talks and group workshops. Guess what? I maintained my weight and energy though all of it (and have a long-term, loving partnership with my boyfriend, Stephen!).

I have since made a commitment to dedicate the rest of my professional life to helping other busy-life individuals determine their own “health formula”. Every person is different; every life is different and therefore there is not one diet that suits everyone.

Since then I have worked with a wide array of clients, been a speaker at various events, facilitated numerous health groups, and have created the Nutrition and Life Transformation Program™; a series of crucial steps every person needs in order to discover their own optimum health.