About Me

Lets start form the beginning, I mean the very beginning, the part you probably don't care about but I feel is necessary to describe my deep connection to food.   

My great grandparents hailed from Belgium, a country that prides itself in rich chocolate, beer, french fries and delicious bowls of mussels.  My grandmother's maiden name even relates to food! Defourneaux, pronounced "Day-four-NO", loosely translates to "of the furnace".  My father swears by the delectable creations that came from his grandmother and mothers kitchen, including a Hershey bar sandwich on white bread with butter.  Good for the heart soul.  On a trip to Europe, my father did a little but of digging, and found out that our Belgian ancestors were actually butter smugglers!  So really the buttered chocolate sandwich was just a way of honoring our heritage-right?  

Fast forward a few generations and you get me, the youngest of three children and the only girl.   Growing up we didn't have nice cars or go on lots of fancy vacations, but we were certainly privileged.  You could always find an $18/pound container of lump crab meat in the fridge in case dad feels like tossing together some crab cakes.  Tailgating for our local pro soccer team meant veil burgers on brioche rolls with morel mushrooms, you know usual family stuff.  

And so my love of food was born, but along with it came a buttery, chocolaty, sweet tooth, and a love of red meat and cheese.  So thanks great grandparents, for the hips.  

Like most health bloggers, my journey to wellness started off as a weight loss journey.  After going from a slender high school swimmer to an overweight collegiate swimmer, I stumbled upon the good feelings that can accompany a drop on the scale.  My weight loss journey began, and I found myself spiraling down a dangerous path.  Negative self talk quickly evolved into a disordered self image, and I somehow sidestepped what could have been a full blown eating disorder.  I saved myself by becoming a vegetarian.  Declaring to be meat free meant paying attention to the nutrients I was feeding my body and not just low calorie, processed, "diet" foods.  I began to love my time in the kitchen, and am slowly learning to love myself as well.  

I earned my Bachelors of Science in Exercise Science and gained insight about the importance of exercise on the state of disease in this country.  I am currently continuing my education as a Masters Student in Health and Exercise Science and plan on earning a PhD and maybe even an RD to continue my intellectual wellness.   Exercise is a prescription for health, and can help control diseases like obesity, type II diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, depression, and many many more.  I have devoted my life to the study of exercise, and hope to make an impact on the disease state in this country.


So here I am- 30 pounds lighter, ready to share my passion for healthy food, and love of exercise with the rest of the world!