Hello and thank you so much for being here!
I'm Beth-Anne but most people call me BA ! I have always had a passion for health and wellness but over the years my idea of those things have really changed.
Throughout my teenage and young adult life I was very unhealthy. I started getting migraines when I was 10, I was ALWAYS sick and I was a chronic yo-yo dieter. I longed to lose weight, to look "thin" and thought that changing the outside would magically fix everything on the inside. I tried various low carb diets, tried not eating (which always led to binging junk "foodstuffs"), diet supplements, wraps etc etc.
My weight loss journey, the one that actually "stuck," started in 2012. Following my X-ring ceremony (if you don't know what this is, it's a bigger deal than actually graduating from university!) I saw a photo of myself and I COULD. NOT. BELIEVE. IT. It's one thing to know you have a weight issue, but to see it in a photo brought on a whole different realization. This was at my peak of my weight--5'2", 165 pounds and I was UNHEALTHY. This was probably also the peak of my depression and anxiety. I was in my third year of Nursing, spending countless hours at the library, sitting ALL the time and I was still consuming a ton of foodstuffs (this is what I call processed, junk type foods with little to no nutritional value). After seeing that photo I made some positive changes but I was very much of a disordered eating mindset. This was the first time I had ever entered a gym consistently without giving up but I would only do cardio or HIIT type workouts to lose weight. The importance for me had always been on the number on the scale, being skinny and being desirable. I started losing weight and within 9 months I had lost 40 pounds. To be completely transparent, this was not done in a healthy way or one that I would recommend. At one point, I was standing at 117 pounds and I was SKINNY. I was proud. This is what I always thought I wanted. I was happy but slowly, I started to realize skinny didn't necessarily mean healthy. I was still sick, still depressed and still had migraines, almost daily.
In 2013, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. I loved the patient interaction, learning about their illnesses, experiences and what shaped them. Shortly after finishing my degree, I felt very disconnected from nursing. I felt a strong pull to do something different but had no idea what. I knew I wanted to work with people and I knew it was something in the health and wellness sector. After a few years of taking classes, seriously contemplating medical school and all the soul searching, I uncovered my passions.
In those few years after graduation my life did a 180. I learned about myself, my limiting beliefs. I manifested and meditated. I discovered I love fitness in lifting weights. I learned what looking after my mental and physical health really meant. I changed my diet and I found a LOVE for food. Real, healthy, FOOD! Most importantly, I learned how to have a healthy relationship with food. I was able to do this by making small, sustainable changes, forming healthy habits and being consistent. I'm not constantly getting sick, my migraines have diminished in frequency and I am truly the most fulfilled version of myself I've ever known.
Through the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition, I have been able to mix my loves of education and connection with my love for food, health and fitness. In May of 2020, I completed my program as a Certified Holistic Nutritional Consultant.
Just as important as putting healthy beneficial things INTO our bodies, it's important to look at what we put on our bodies. Our skin is our largest organ and absorbs a large portion of what we put on it! I work with a vegan and cruelty free health and wellness company. Their mantra is "pure, safe and beneficial" and I stand with them and the ingredients they use.
Looking forward, I am releasing a cookbook soon ! AND I plan to complete a personal training course so that I can confidently and more accurately speak to the fitness aspect of health as well!
BASICALLY whatever your health + wellness needs are, I got you !
