About Us

My wellness journey started at a young age, both my parents engaged in working out, however their meals  many times consisted of pork, fish, chicken and red meat. We would have both turkey and ham during the holidays.

Growing up my mother would never allow us to eat white bread or drink Kool-Aid daily. When I would go grocery shopping with my mother, I would beg her to allow us to get a pack or two of Kool-Aid. My mother would seldomly break down and allows us to get one pack only. My dad was naturally built and both my younger brother and I took more from his muscular physique. I would lift weights with both my brothers and dad and at times engage in playing sports out in the back yard with people from the area. Many times I would go with my mom to the European Health Spa and when at home, mother my and I would engaged in stretching exercies. Although growing up in family that possessed great athleticism,  I never understood why mother was diagnosed with diabetes in her early thirties. My mother never seemed to get better only worst. I think after she stopped working out other illnesses began to attacked her body. I believe one of the reason for my being relentlessness in working out was to avoid what my mother endured, the ritual of shooting herself or having us get the viles to shoot her in the stomach daily with insulin, it was painful to watch.

TEENAGE YEARS

I was such an athlete in sports that I tried out for Volley Ball my freshmen year of high school and made Varsity.  I also  played Volley ball for a community league as well.  I was great in gymnastics but that wasn’t my thing only during gym class. I then tried out for cheerleading my sophmore year and made the squad. I later tried out for Cheerleading in college and made the squad as well, so you see I worked out all my life not calling it a lifestyle then, but it was!

YOUNG ADULT YEARS

My early twenties I joined several gyms and I was hooked! I was always conscious of the food I ate and during those times, so I thought based on my upbringing. It wasn't until I  started to read books on health and nutrition from a hositic perpective that I realized I was not eating as heathy as I thought at all! Inretrospect, I remember my mother engaging in herbs and teas but the majority of our food intake I realized wasn't great according to the holistic reading materials that I engaged in reading. At age twenty five, I found out I had fibrocystic breast and found out caffeine was the major cause, so I stopped drinking anything with caffiene in it. I then fould out I had a uterus filled with fibriod tumors and during that time they were the sizes of a nickel so the doctor did not suggest they be removed. As time went on, those fibroids tumors grew and grew making it hard, I believe for me to conceive children. My uterus was filled with fibroid tumors and my menstrauls cycles were heavy and painful. I began to read more about Fibroid tumors and found out that red meat was a major contributor as well as diary. Pork I read wasn't good at all! I was never a huge pork eater but loved pork chops, I had to let everything go that I beleived contributed to the growth of my fibriods wishing they would shrink.

My mother passed in 2004 at age 69 with complications with her heart because she later was diagnosed with congested heart failure. During this time my dad 10 years my mothers senior still engaged in tennis and bowling but  he ended up with hypertension. My dad was a sweets eater,  later in his eighties he had breast cancer and diabetes. I became even more relentless with working out and really eating heathy and could not be swayed! No more  fried anything and with all my meals I drank water with lemons, I even engaged often in the body builder's nutritional regimen of 6 small meals a day. I later became vegan for a year. I continued to engaged in a healthy lifestyle to avoid what my parents endured but guess what? Genetics got the best of me I had bouts with my sugar levels recently 2020 but  was given the chance to work hard to drop more weight that was gained after a car accident to bring down my numbers. I was graced with not being labeled as a diabetic for a while, because my health otherwise was great. One  doctor agreed to let me get my weight down before I was considered diabetic.WORK PLACE STRESS, being a mental health and drug and alcohol therapist always helping people, can be very stressful!  The stress of my job was creating my cortisol levels to increaase, weight wasn't coming off and my glucose levels had skyrocketed. When the stress began to affect ny health, this was a huge blow and not only did I go hard with healthier eating options, I started juicing and the removal all sweets. I started to get certified in group fitness, teaching bootcamp and my creation of rhythmic movement. I got certified in yoga after going to a class to work on  mental calmness and stress reduction. I engaged in spin classes and even got certified as a Barre instructor. At my place of employment I ran groups for inmates struggling with drug abuse and criminal behaviors. I realized this job was taking a toll on my health, my stress levels would go up and then  my sugar would be elevated! The key for those with any health concerns is to keep working out, watching what you eat and engaged in some type of calming destressing exercise such as mindfulness, yoga, meditation, dance, music, all calming tools that are holistic and therapeutic. Also seek counseling services. I share my story to say that it is never too later to get on the path or back on a path to a healthier you!

PROFESSIONAL LIFE

Throughout my lifespan, I found that I enjoyed helping people deal with life challenges either through just being a listening ear or someone that provided sound advice. I decided to start working more towards offering my time in social service settings. I realized through having a nitche at helping people that I go back to college to enhance my skillset by obtaining Master's degree in Professional Counseling. I worked in this arena for over 20 years as a Mental Health Therapist, Drug & Alcohol Specialist, Health & Wellness Instructor and over all mentor on how to combat challenges in one's life by engaging in a lifestyle of total wellness and well-being, Mind.Body.Spirit.