Get to Know the Girl Behind Eat to Beat Anxiety!
Hey everyone! I thought I would do a little get to know me introduction so you can get to know the previously behind the scenes gal who has recently been updating her social media.
My Journey
While growing up my PASSION was healthy eating, there was only one problem, our cupboards at home were stocked with packaged junk foods! This was mainly due to food budgeting and the minimal knowledge my mom had on the impact of these foods on our health and wellness.
Raising 3 kids, my mom was a single parent and just didn’t have a budget to provide fresh meals. There was also a bit of a trend generationally, my mom always grew up on less than nutritional-dense food and it never was a concern to change these habits.
I could not wait to get a job so I could purchase my own foods because I always had an intuition that the way I was feeling had a lot to do with the chemical laden foods I was consuming. For me, a packed snack at school was a fruit cup, or fruit from a tin, hardly ever a fresh piece of fruit! Lunch, a cheesy pizza pocket and dinner always included meat protein and a carb however it was usually frozen corn or peas. As you can imagine, my energy levels were less than good, I struggled academically and was ALWAYS extremely fatigued and tired.
The moment I landed my first job I was so excited to be able to go the grocery store and pick up fresh berries and salmon, things that were just out of the budget growing up. I SLOWLY began switching my diet because I will be very honest I had a MAJOR addiction to the junk foods I was so used to eating. As much as I knew to eat healthy I was confused on how to break the old habits my body was so used to.
I did notice the less junk I ate, the better I was feeling, kind of a no-brainer right? From family and friends I experienced a lot of opposition, people didn’t understand why I cared so much especially at a time when eating healthy was considered kind of weird. At that time there were less health cafes and when I told my counsellor at school I wanted to be a nutritionist she had some judgement behind her voice when she gave me the idea to instead become  a nurse or a dietician.
Beyond the fear of judgement from others I knew that healthy eating was something I was passionate about and something I wanted to share with others.
I began my studies at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition where the groundwork was laid around nutrition. After 2 years I had completed the course but I knew I wanted to learn even more. I always had this sense there was still important information I was missing. I wasn’t too excited about having people change their diets to lose weight, I have always felt that if you focus on the mental components first losing weight will be a great byproduct of this but should not be the first goal. I needed to get clearer about how foods could aid in our emotional health and more comprehensive literature in how it could help dis-ease.
I continued education at the Edison Institute for Nutrition, while learning Reiki, and finally took a herbalism course with Wild Rose College which took me to the next level. I was excited to share my knowledge and the power of healing herbal medicine.
The biggest questions I seem to get is, do you eat vegan, vegetarian, keto, paleo?
So I will be completely honest, I went through a faze where I thought veganism would be something I would enjoy before I began my studies.
As I learned the science behind eating animal protein and amino acids and also just didn’t feel optimal energy levels while being a vegan, I reverted to my current diet 3 years ago. My lifestyle is quite simple and “label-less” but I always like to remind my clients of partaking in “diet variation” because we as humans like patterns and routines and forget that our bodies need nutrient dense foods and a wide array of them. We often miss out on important nutrients because of these patterns.
It is extremely important to remember that no one-diet is for everyone. We all have different allergies, intolerances, nutritional deficiencies (from birth even) varying environmental stressors, seasons, and ancestral roots.
I believe the most underestimated food groups are healthy fats and organ foods. We also quickly forget about the power of herbs, especially when we are dealing with our emotional health. Olive oil, olives, coconut oil, mct oil, activated nuts, bone broth, animal organs, and plant medicine are natures natural healers. I will never recommend a low fat diet, even someone losing weight needs healthy fat in their diet to lose weight!
I believe when you fuel good, and feel good, you will look good. Its a snowball effect but we must begin on the inside with our gut health, all the face creams in the world will do no good if you have a build up of chemicals and sugar on the inside.
Am I completely anti-Doctors? Of course not, in fact there is always a time and place for a doctor or a surgeon but remember the most powerful healer of all is yourself. It all comes down to the thoughts you think, your beliefs, your fuel, life force, and vitality.
While travelling in Greece I felt an even deeper pull to implement and expand my knowledge into adaptogenic herbs. Adaptogenic herbs will adapt to your bodies “specific needs” and allow you to bounce back from life’s stressors much quicker than without. After years of patterns, thoughts, and negative habits we need all the help we can get to achieve a state of balance again.
Back to a little about me, I love to travel but as a family we have decided to settle (for a little while) in Bali Indonesia. Known as the island of the Gods, Bali is a cultural melting pot for natural healing remedies for expats and locals alike. I guess you can say it is a place that I was ultimately secretly yearning for as I ate my fruit cup in 5th grade.
I encourage you to follow me on my journey as I share my adventures and knowledge of the self healing super powers our body has within us. It is time to begin living the best version of ourselves and I look forward to being there with you along the way.
Robyn
Eat to Beat Anxiety
