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Hello!
I am so happy you are here! I started Nurture & Nourish Nutrition to bring my 10+ years of nutrition experience to caregivers and their families looking for practical guidance & tools tailored to fit your specific situation. From infants to adults, I work with everyone in the family to make health goals achievable, food more fun & reduce your health-related stress.
What to expect when we work together...
Mindful Movement
that isn't earned
Move in ways that feels good. Movement isn't for earning the ability to eat, or a tool to torture yourself. It’s a tool to manage stress, improve energy, and maintain strength. If it’s inflexible you're not likely to fit it in regularly. What kinds of exercise fit this season of life? What feels good in your body? What is sustainable?
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These are the pieces we will explore in developing your goals, to ensure that they are achievable & honor your body.
Food Is Just One Piece
& Not A One-Stop Cure
Controversial I know, but it’s dangerous to believe that food has the power to solve all of our health problems. Food is only one piece of our overall health. Health behaviors contribute to 30% of our health outcomes. There’s an additional 70% that we have little to no control over (explore this more by clicking here). This doesn’t mean that we won’t evaluate ways to improve, but we approach it with the understanding that part of our overall health, may require us to work on acceptance and optimization.
All Foods Can & Should Fit -
and your plan will reflect that
Feeling out of control with food is a result of, and worsened by, restrictive eating habits. It is common in the health & wellness sphere to cut out or restrict certain things like carbs, sugars, etc. I take a non-diet approach to improving health because the research is clear that no single diet can produce long-term benefits. In fact, â…” of people who engage in dieting, regain more weight than they lost. Your plan will find space for all foods, as you learn what works for your body.
I practice from a weight-inclusive and body-neutral perspective. My philosophy is NOT centered around restriction and deprivation; rather, my goal is to hone in on health behaviors and support balance and joy with food and movement. Healthy additions naturally lead to reductions in undesirable behaviors.
Understanding BMI
Like a number on the scale, it fails to give us the full picture of your health. It often leads people to undermine their muscle mass with restrictive dieting leaving them in a worse metabolic state. Learn more about the history of BMI here.
Calories In ≠ Calories Out
A false belief that we have more control over our weight than we really do. This has been debunked, but the message is still prolific in the health and wellness sphere. Check out the videos below to learn more.
Challenging Calorie Counting
Meticulously counting calories disconnects us from our hunger and fullness cues and takes the pleasure out of eating foods you enjoy. There are better and more rewarding ways to gauge your choices.
Your health and worth can not be summed up by a number on the scale. The body is an incredible machine made up of synergistic parts (bone, muscle, fat, nervous system, etc). Healing your relationship to self through: food without rules, movement that brings you joy, rest, and connection with others.
Who am I?
I’m a Tucson native and first-generation college graduate. I’m a mother of two and wife of a first responder. First responder and military families are near and dear to my heart, as my family and I have walked through some of the challenges that come with dedicating your life to the service of others.
Over the last decade, I’ve been gathering nutrition and health knowledge to bring my patients reasonable and actionable guidance that will have a lasting impact on their health and the health of their family.
My philosophy is rooted in the belief that my role is to facilitate, not dictate, skill-building and promote behavior change in accordance with my client’s beliefs and desires for change. I believe in a patient-centered approach, utilizing the individual’s life experiences and knowledge to promote self-efficacy and encourage motivation. ​​
My nutrition career started with the University of Arizona Garden Kitchen program, a dynamic program; offering physical activity, gardening, and cooking classes for low-income Tucsonans. It was with this program and team that I learned the foundation of cooking and exploring flavors from cultures across the world.
After my dietetic internship with Carondelet Hospital Network (now Dignity Health), I joined the Pascua Yaqui Tribe Diabetes Prevention Program. Here I taught a variety of nutrition classes and led community events, such as Desert Foods for Better Blood Sugar along with community leaders. I learned to meet the nutritional needs of all ages, from birth to elders as a part of various programs provided to the Pascua Yaqui Tribe.
From there I went to work for Canyon Ranch and El Rio Community Health as a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES) supporting behavior change and the medical management of diabetes to improve long-term outcomes for patients.
In the last several years, I became a mother, learned to breastfeed, and became an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). Breastfeeding can be a wonderful gift to both mom and baby, but it’s not effortless and can take a trained professional to help achieve your goals. I know with both of my children IBCLC’s were a big part of why we were successful.
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