Nourishing Vitality
Personalized Nutrition Counseling
Nourishing Vitality
Personalized Nutrition Counseling
Hi! I'm Julia.
I am a recovering people pleaser and perfectionist, a former chronic dieter, and an ally for those wanting to feel comfortable in their body and have freedom around food.
I want to see diet culture disintegrate. I challenge conventional health messaging: Thin does not equal health. “Shoulds” and shaming do not help people change. Acceptance, empathy, awareness, education, experimenting, motivating, inspiring, and sharing – these are powerful change agents!
I celebrate the uniqueness of every individual and help them value and care for themselves.
I help people sort through their confusion around nutrition information and eating behaviors to find a way of eating that works for them.
What led me to this work?
I was on a diet, or feeling guilty about what I ate when I was not on a diet, from the age of 8 into my 30s. I felt like I was flawed, my body was wrong and I had to try to “fix” it.
Trying to “fix” my body meant controlling my food, but food was also a source of emotional security and comfort. This led to “feeling crazy around food” much of the time. I was stuck in the diet-binge cycle and I didn’t know a way out.
Until my 30s, I saw food as either pleasure or pain and I was uncomfortable in my body experiencing a general malaise most of the time. Then I started “getting healthy” (cooking whole foods, drinking green smoothies, and hiking regularly). This led to feeling energetic and clear headed.
I was excited about feeling better in my body, but I still wanted to lose weight. I believed what diet culture tells us: That I wasn’t truly healthy until I was thin. I read all kinds of books, watched documentaries, tried multiple programs each one giving me that high of “this must be the answer!” I became more confused and obsessed.
It wasn’t until my wife sat me down and told me she was worried about how focused I was on eating “healthy,” that she was worried I was becoming orthorexic, that I stopped to take a breath.
She was right. The pursuit of “health” and validation in the form of trying to control my body size through restricting my food and exercising wasn’t going well. I was anxious about what I ate and how I looked. I thought about food all the time. I still overate due to challenging emotions and as a result of restricting and this continued to reinforce my negative self-image.
I needed another way.
I wanted a more well-rounded, deeper understanding of nutrition so I could sift through all the information and make choices that made sense for me and help others who also experienced this confusion. I wanted to stop the struggle with my body and find peace and freedom around food and exercise.
I decided to get a master’s degree in nutrition with an integrative and functional approach from Bastyr University in Seattle, WA. Here I was able to go beyond the in-depth science of nutrition and apply it practically through whole foods cooking and an internship at the Bastyr Center for Natural Health.
I also worked on my own relationship with food through participation in programs and following experts on body positivity, Intuitive Eating, and Health At Every Size.
These pursuits changed my life and gave me the tools and experience to help others.
I am passionate about guiding people who have similar struggles, as well as specific health issues, through the process of finding wellness. I am glad you are here. If any of my story resonates with you, I welcome the opportunity to be a conduit in your journey of self-care and wellness. You are worth it!
“Julia is a good listener. I felt like she really heard me and validated my experiences. She helped me challenge my views on food, eating, and body image. I am now more accepting, respectful and loving toward my body just the way it is.”
Ready for a free consultation to explore working with me?
Schedule an Appointment Today!
