The Story Behind Way of Life Nutrition

Creating a blog has been on my personal bucket list for quite some time. I have always enjoyed organizing and expressing my thoughts through writing, but I never had a public platform like this where I was able to share it. If you are reading this, I am so happy that you are here.

What will I be writing about on this blog? Nutrition tips, translation of nutrition-based research, fitness tips, personal experiences, stories, recipes, you name it. You will find all of this type of content on this blog.

Ok, so let’s get right to it….How did Way of Life Nutrition come to be?

Let’s start by going back 6 years, to when my RD career began. During the last few months of my post-graduate dietetic internship in Massachusetts, I decided that although I really enjoyed many aspects of clinical nutrition, I really felt called to look into private practice. Despite the warnings from other RD’s expressing concern that private practice is a generally risky path, I had spent a lot of time both working and interning in the inpatient and outpatient hospital setting, and I knew that was not the career direction I wanted to go in.

I took a leap of faith, and cold-emailed a Dietitian (shoutout to Kim & NIM) that was in private practice in New Hampshire (where my at the time boyfriend-now husband was working). I drove up to meet with her when I was at the end of my internship and she offered to help me start my private practice once I passed my exam. This incredibly driven and caring Dietitian worked along with other Dietitians and practitioners in the area and her business offered help with insurance credentialing, billing, marketing, and scheduling. It really couldn’t have been a more perfect fit for what I was looking for. This is when I started my business, Fueled and Fit Nutrition, LLC.

I know I am not alone when I say that most new Dietitians who make it to the other side of schooling/internship/certification exam really haven’t yet built many skills in counseling and certainly don’t have much confidence in their knowledge and ability to help others. In other words, a wealth of knowledge without the skills to effectively help others to use the information. I was so fortunate to be able to shadow and work alongside other Dietitians and practitioners (such as nurse practitioners, licensed mental health counselors, and naturopathic doctors) that were holistic minded with all different areas of specialties. I can’t even put into words how grateful I am that I had this opportunity because I learned SO much, and my eyes were opened to the holistic and functional/integrative approach to wellness.

The description “0 to 100” would describe my first two years in private practice. I was so excited to help as many people as possible, that I worked a lot of hours (often seeing 35+ clients per week), working Saturdays, hosting worksite wellness programs, doing talks on the side, etc. It was great to gain this experience, working with all different populations, and learning how to manage a fast-paced schedule. However, I also realized how important boundaries, and self-care was to being able to continue forward as a practitioner that pours into their clients. Additionally, I was actively growing in my faith, and God revealed to me that work can become an idol. During year 3, when the pandemic hit, I shifted my counseling online. There are certainly pros and cons to online counseling. In my opinion, this way of counseling has been a huge blessing. It has allowed me to reach individuals all over the state of both New Hampshire and Pennsylvania (the two states I am licensed in for insurance billing), as well as allow for more flexibility in my schedule and more time spent with family.

When I started my private practice, my focus was on athletes (hence the name “Fueled and Fit”). I love working with physically active individuals as well as high school, collegiate, adult and masters endurance and strength athletes. That is why I went on to gain the experience needed to take the examination to become a certified specialist in sports nutrition (as well as become a certified personal trainer). During this time frame I partnered with a local college, as well as running groups, triathlon training groups, and conditioning gyms to provide sports nutrition counseling. I also hosted a personal training bootcamp for a small group of local ladies to get my feet wet with training. I really enjoyed all of these experiences - so much so that I was always joining in whenever I was able to at gyms, run groups, and races.

Aside from my love for sports nutrition, I found that another area of counseling that I really enjoy is women’s health, helping women in all ages and stages of life. However, when working with this population, I noticed something. To preface, I believe that the western medicine model of care has its place and in general modern medicine has evolved so much over time with the aim to improve quality of life and even to save lives. However, as a healthcare practitioner that takes a holistic approach to wellness, I realize how many people (especially women) the medical system has failed. So many of my clients have not been given the answers or the care that they need . Whether it be misleading, damaging nutrition advice, or the lack of education/confidence to advocate for themselves - not standing firmly behind the symptoms they are truly feeling or asking for the testing that they believe they need. After observing this time and time again, I realized that I had the ability in my counseling to empower these women to advocate for themselves. To seek answers, ask for referrals, request labs, and push to dig deeper if something doesn’t seem right.

In both general wellness and medical nutrition therapy counseling I am always asking the question, “why”, behind symptoms and diagnoses rather than solely “how do we treat”, as well as helping my clients advocate for their needs. I believe that food can be powerfully used for healing, and lifestyle changes can significantly improve quality of life and overall health as well as prevent chronic disease.

Another observation I made over my time working as an RD is that in the field of nutrition there are many individuals that consider themselves “nutrition experts”. Most individuals seeking guidance for wellness do not know who to look for and who to trust. "Stay tuned for a blog post on this topic. Due to this sad truth, in many cases, people will seek out Dietitians as a last resort following working with these other individuals in diet programs, apps, one on one consults with health coaches, trainers, etc. Now don’t get me wrong, there are great non-RD wellness professionals out there. However, in my experience many practice outside their scope and it oftentimes leads to clients realizing they are unable to sustain the changes they made with the tools they were given.

In many cases working with a “nutrition professional” other than an RD causes more harm than good. Consequently, there are often many steps that need to be taken before implementing your average “nutrition advice” in these situations. Some of these clients have damage to their metabolic health, adrenal fatigue, hormone imbalances, damage to their gut microbiome, nutrient deficiencies, and disordered eating behaviors from long-term undereating and/or over-exercising under the guidance of a “professional” or "wellness program”. Working with this population challenges me (in a good way), and the result from working with these individuals is so positively impactful to both of our lives. I am so grateful to do what I do.

Ok, so fast-forward to last year…

When my husband and I found out that we were expecting the arrival of our son in summer of 2022, God aligned everything perfectly for us to move back to our hometown. I always looked forward to becoming a Mom and I was so excited to put the prenatal nutrition and fitness knowledge that I had into play during my pregnancy. I understand that there are other factors that can play into how things go during pregnancy and delivery. However, I wholeheartedly believe that how I took care of myself played a big role in having a really smooth pregnancy, great labor experience without any interventions, and the ability to heal/recover really well. I know that isn’t every new Mom’s experience and now that I have experienced that both fragile and transformational season, I have so much empathy for and feel such a desire to help all the Mama’s that are currently in the thick of it.

I believe that there is so much power in knowledge and support. Athough some things are out of our control, there are many things that can be done to best stack the cards in our favor for a healthy pregnancy/delivery and postpartum period. This was when I realized my new passion for helping pregnant/postpartum Mamas. It was then that I decided I wanted a fresh start with my business.

I really wanted my private practice name and my brand to be more inclusive to these populations of women, as well as a reflection of my approach to nutrition. I prayed about it, thought way too much about it, and then I realized that God had placed the answer right in front of me. The amazing midwife that delivered our son owns the business, Way of Life Midwifery. Additionally, each time I was writing down key words I wanted included in the name based on my approach to nutrition, “way of life” repeatedly came up. Then lastly, when brainstorming names my Dad suggested the name Way of Life Nutrition, and I instantly knew that was the name.

Whether I am working with athletes, peri/post-menopausal women, or pregnant/postpartum mothers, I believe that nourishing your body and finding balance with nutrition and movement should be a “way of life”. It isn’t a quick fix. It isn’t something that should be complicated or hard. When we change the mindset from “temporary change” to “this is my lifestyle” it makes ALL the difference.

So there you have it, my friends. The highlights of the origin of WOLN. Note that “highlight” is the key word there. Within this story there were certainly many bumps along the road that I didn’t go into detail about. Being in private practice requires a lot of adaptability and flexibility. Change is not something that comes easy to me, so this is something I have had to and continue to work at.

I truly am looking forward to this next chapter and I am so grateful that I can still reach those back in New Hampshire as well as bring my knowledge and experiences to help the people in my hometown and across my home state of Pennsylvania.

Thank you for reading my story. If you have considered starting a business or pursuing something that you are passionate about, take this as your sign to take the steps to do it. I am so glad that I did.