My journey towards a healthy lifestyle began with my family.  My parents took the time to prepare healthy meals made with fresh ingredients. These early experiences created in me a love for cooking and eating healthy foods.  

Because I was always attracted to the science of food, I graduated with a degree in food science and human nutrition from the University of Florida in Gainesville.  My degree afforded me great experiences, and the more I learned about food the more passionate I became about understanding the entire food chain. As part of my education, I earned a specialization in food packaging.  During this phase of my education I learned about food preservation, and discovered how foods are altered and taken from its natural form to a “man-made food”.  

After college, I worked with a few companies where I learned about the process to preserve foods by injecting them with hormones, chemicals, and other preservatives to enhance their texture, flavor and increase their shelf life. 

My life evolved and I married my college sweetheart. As we built our married life, we moved too many times across the country and internationally.  We had four beautiful children and we decided to prioritize our children’s education and nutrition.  But life took a sharp turn in 2007 after I had my fourth child.  At nine months of age, my baby boy was diagnosed with Kawasaki syndrome "an acute multisystem inflammatory disease of blood vessels (vasculitis) that most commonly affects infants and young children. ... Although the cause of the disease is unknown, it is widely thought to be due to infection or an abnormal immune response to infection".

It was after this challenging time in our lives that I decided to take my nutrition and food knowledge to the next level.  I vowed to learn everything needed to help my baby and heal my family.  During this learning process, I attended numerous seminars, and health conferences on holistic nutrition.  In 2013 I decided to get a specialization in Holistic Nutrition.  For the past decade, I have immersed myself in learning what to feed my family. 

While my original motivation to start this journey was my son’s health, what has kept me committed and passionate to continue this path is the fact that cancer runs on both sides of our family. While my children are still young, they are old enough to understand that food is key in caring and healing our bodies. I make it a point to educate them about everything we eat and while sometimes it can be a challenge, especially with the little ones it has become our way of living. 

The research I have done over the years about foods and its impact in our bodies has convinced me that a whole-food diet, minimally processed is one of the key ingredients to a long, healthy life.  This is not a diet, it’s a gradual change that we can only adapt by being consistent and giving our bodies a chance to a new way of eating.  

Our goal should not be fast weight loss, it should be long term health.  Give yourself a chance to learn about superfoods, how to replace processed foods with better ingredients and I promise you will see the change.  None of the diets that have ever existed are sustainable. The only “diet” that will last a lifetime is one with new, healthy habits that  you incorporate in your life.  Start by learning about foods, ingredients, and its impact on your body. Remember, this is a legacy you are leaving behind to your children and grandchildren.  Only you can break the cycle, start with this generation.