About me
I am an American Board of Family Medicine certified doctor with 13 years’ experience in outpatient family medicine and 9 years’ experience in hospital medicine.
A bit about what led me to lifestyle medicine. My journey started with being an athletic child, playing many sports, and flirting with vegetarianism throughout my teens and 20s. As I reached adulthood however, life became too busy for fitness to be a focus in my life. In medical school, in the middle of a game of tennis, I acutely herniated a disc in my back. Options presented were 6 weeks of physical therapy, pain control and delaying graduation, which would then put me in a difficult position for residency training, versus surgery, where I would be pain free, back to school quickly and able to graduate on time. No brainer. I chose surgery.
At the same time, I did not really know how to cook well, so was consuming what was convenient and available. During medical school, nutrition was not taught in a practical manner, focusing more on vitamin deficiencies rather than the excesses of salt, sugar, fat and calories, and their link to what is killing us prematurely. I was also not surrounded by anyone living a super healthy lifestyle.
Early on in my residency training, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, which wasn’t surprising as I had a family history of heart disease, and lived a high stress, relatively unhealthy life. I “tried” the “lifestyle changes” I was recommending to patients, which were generic, unrealistic and unsuccessful. I was too busy to exercise, I saw no way to stress less as I was working long hours, and sleeping rarely, and my diet seemed similar to others around me, so I agreed that the best course of action was taking medication, and I started an antihypertensive. At the same time, my cholesterol was also noted to be less than ideal, so I took vegetarianism a little more seriously. Thankfully a few years later, I met my husband, who was one of the first doctors I had met who really lived a healthy lifestyle, having been pescatarian since he was a teenager, and who also loved cooking! It’s a testament to him that I was able to lower my cholesterol to normal ranges.
Fast forward many years and in 2016-2017, my husband had the opportunity to work in New Zealand, which we were excited about! It was everything we hoped. We enjoyed 10 months of exploring New Zealand, a different culture, a slower pace of life, and for me, a break from work and invaluable time with my young children. When our time ended, we had already started dreaming of a return.
We returned to Oregon in 2017 and started to prepare for returning to New Zealand, and shortly thereafter, a new gym opened in the town where we lived. I had never been a gym person, but this gym appealed to me, as it was female focused, offered free childcare, had no mirrors, and welcomed people of all ages, shapes, and abilities. I joined to get rid of those few extra pounds that said “I love pizza”, but also hoping to meet new people. The premise was 45 min/day to focus on myself, with someone caring for my pre-school aged children, while I did bodyweight conditioning and weight training in a way that was very approachable. I was hooked from day 1. I enjoyed the group suffering with newfound friends, but was even more excited when a few weeks in I noticed (and others noticed!) the changes in my body. I lost a few of those extra pounds, but also lost visceral fat (the bad kind that sits around your organs), gained muscle, noticed better sleep, more energy, less anxiety, and lower blood pressure. Gamechanger. I left the gym with a new mindset that change is possible, with relatively small efforts on my part.
In 2019, we moved back to New Zealand permanently, in hopes of improving our work-life balance, having guaranteed healthcare, and improving the lifestyle of ourselves and our children. I did not anticipate that continuing my career in medicine would be so challenging, so I pivoted careers just prior to COVID, and pursued advanced certification as a personal trainer. In my own life, I had seen what an impact improving my fitness had on my health and wellbeing, and I wanted to share this with others.
In 2021, I met an American College of Lifestyle Medicine doctor, who introduced me to lifestyle medicine. Similar to fitness, I was hooked from day 1 of my training. This was the nutrition education I needed, taught in a practical, applicable way, with a refresher in behavioral therapy, and a dash of culinary medicine. I was always looking at ways to reduce my blood pressure with diet, as I had seen improvement with physical activity, but was still taking medication. I also had a family member with high cholesterol, and we were exploring ways to improve this with diet, as well as many family friends diagnosed with cancer, so I dove into researching the best ways to survive cancer, as well. What I found is that nutrition is the most important pillar of lifestyle medicine, but it’s also the most political, cultural, and emotional-- therefore most difficult to discuss and change. However, I have always loved a challenge, so here we are. I completed my certification through the International Board of Lifestyle Medicine in 2022.
What I love about lifestyle medicine is that the evidence speaks for itself. I am a science lover, so facts and evidence win every time. That doesn’t mean those facts are easy or practical to apply. Sometimes truth is hard—and change is frequently hard. Illness and wellness are on a spectrum, and everyone has a different starting and current position, and different struggles along the way. I am here to meet you where you are, share what I have studied, and help you define and navigate moving yourself along the spectrum towards wellness.
