My Journey to Health (Coaching)

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

Since I can remember my life has always revolved around food, travel and family. Growing up, my father was in the United States Air Force and my sisters and I were what is affectionately called “Military Brats.” Our childhood was defined by Air Force bases and moving homes and schools every few years became the norm. On two separate tours, we were stationed in the UK and my sisters and I embraced and absolutely fell in love with the British culture, food and of course our British accents.

My fondest memories in the UK were of picking blackberries, buying a bag of sweets in our local coroner shop and eating jam doughnuts and Monster Munch in school. We discovered and took glorious swigs of Ribena and of course fell in love with fish and chips covered in vinegar and ketchup – I’m an American after all!

At home, our family life revolved around food; especially home cooking. Every Sunday, my sisters and I were roped into helping my Mom prepare the roast-du-jour with all of the trimmings. Food was fun, fresh and its preparation was always accompanied by laughter and dishwashing!  To this day, I can still remember eating homemade bread rolls straight out of the oven slathered with butter…. yum! Even though sweets were not banned they were typically relegated to the weekend as a treat.

After 8 wonderful years in the UK, we moved back to the U.S and lived with my Grandparents in New York State. We were devastated! It was here that I was introduced to the typical American diet staples. My official wheel house of foods consisted of fried eggs, bacon, white toast, concentrated orange juice, bologna sandwiches, peanut butter & jam sandwiches, cheese slices wrapped in plastic, lots of meat and cake and ice-cream. This coupled with a very inactive summer led me to rapidly gain weight. Although, I would later find balance, that introduction would later leave its mark in the form of stretch marks on my teenage thighs!

The rest of high school proved to be relatively uneventful food-wise barring my junior year of high school where I spent a year abroad studying in the former-USSR and was introduced to blini…but that is definitely a story for another day!

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!

Fast forward a few years and you will find me in my mid-20’s. I was waiting in my doctor’s office for the results of a routine blood test. My doctor said to me “Tanya, your cholesterol levels are very high. You have the cholesterol of an overweight 60-year-old man." (Insert screeching tire sound).

Okay, I once had a love affair with croissants and camembert during a few oh-so decadent years in university. But come on, I was in Paris and, that was years ago! How had this happened? I took this diagnosis as a sign that I was going to imminently have a heart attack. I decided right there on the spot to kick meat to the curb and become pescatarian. My doctor, bless her, talked me off the ledge and helped guide me through several dietary and lifestyle changes to help lower my cholesterol.

I should note that she was very much an atypical American doctor - in fact she was originally from Belgium. Instead of prescribing statins (drugs that can lower cholesterol levels) she focussed on my diet. My doctor had me avoid meat and other animal products, increase my fibre intake and get plenty of exercise as a first course of treatment. I almost forgot to mention that she also recommended a small glass of red wine daily. I absolutely loved her!

I am not sure if any of you remember the non-meat scene around 20 years ago? The quality of vegetarian and vegan options, above and beyond fruit and vegetables, was absolutely horrendous! So, much so I thought vegan cheese was created by the devil himself. Despite the lack-lustre fare, I successfully muddled my way through the next few years and managed to reduce my cholesterol levels down considerably through diet changes alone…huzzah!

It was during this time that I started to pay closer attention to my food choices and how they impacted my body. However, at the same time …uncomfortable silence…, I think I failed to mention that I was a smoker and enjoyed a healthy social life in NYC during the era of the Cosmo. Carrie Bradshaw from Sex In The City was my idol! While I was willing to change my food choices, I was a lot less willing to change these powerfully addictive habits. I’ll write more about how I quit smoking and redefined my relationship with alcohol in another post.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Years later I decided to move to Los Angeles -  the land of the fit and healthy.  Before arriving, I was determined to pull up my big girl panties and leave as many bad habits behind me. In sum, I decided to quit smoking. There were many packs of chewing gum, stress eating involving Häagen-Dazs ice cream and hot yoga sessions involved. Yet, when I finally landed in L.A. I was cigarette free!

Upon arriving, I promptly joined the Golds Gym located in West Hollywood. It ended up being one of the best decisions of my life. Not only did It provide me with a fun and supportive environment where I could focus on my overall health & fitness but it was also where I met my future husband. Yup, that happened!

In L.A., I tried almost every style of exercise programme known to man. This included step aerobics, spinning, high impact aerobics and hot yoga. You name it, I was doing it. I was also eating what I considered “healthy foods.” This consisted of salads and copious amounts of egg whites. Carbohydrates were not considered evil, however, they were not my friend either! While feeling physically healthier after quitting smoking, I still felt disconnected from my body and ultimately what healthy looked like for me. No amount of classes and pumping iron could change that.

DID SOMEONE SAY PORK BELLY?

In 2015, I married my Aussie heart-throb and we moved to London leaving the City of Angels and the sunshine behind. The United Kingdom presented a new set of health challenges; namely pork belly. Seriously, that stuff was my kryptonite and even with my history of high cholesterol I could not resist that crackling yummy salty goodness! Oh the memories.

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that some time had passed before I realised I had not been to a doctor in years and finally bit the bullet and went in for my yearly screening. Yet again my cholesterol levels were through the roof! My doctor was thoroughly in shock with my results. She referred me immediately to a lipid clinic for further tests and consultation. Having been through this before I knew that dietary changes would make a big difference to my cholesterol levels. Therefore, I reverted back to my plant-based pescatarian approach. Surprise, surprise, my cholesterol levels once again dropped down into a healthier range.

The times certainly had to change which meant I had to make my diet a priority! I embraced all things fresh, organic and locally sourced and I absolutely loved it. Making it oh-so-easy was the new influx of vegetarian and vegan alternatives that where now plentiful and some of which were ridiculously ah-mazing!

“AND ONCE WHEN I WAS IN BAND CAMP…”

I found I could not stop waxing poetic about the new foods I was trying. For example, instead of meat and dairy I would experiment with  spices and herbs. I would also add flavours to add brightness to my recipes and meals. Yup, I was that person and my poor friends and family had to endure what I am sure seemed like hours while I went on and on about my newest creation. My love for cooking, eating healthy well-prepared food and enjoying new culinary experiences made me really happy. I didn’t understand or really question why at the time all I knew is that this is what made me come alive.

I had my diet back on track yet I was still pushing really hard with high-intensity cardio and the thought that I needed to go to the gym to burn off any excess calories I had consumed. It was a conversation I had with my mum over zoom where she very candidly voiced her concern that I did not look healthy. I thought I was in the best shape of my life. I could fit in to my skinny jeans, yet with all of the hours I spent in the gym each and every week was taking a toll on me (and my knees). It was with this comment, coupled with a sense of burn-out that I decided not just look into but really understand this part of my life, especially now that I was now well into my 40s.

YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT?

It was at this time that the COVID-19 pandemic struck and crippled the world. I took inspiration from my husband and decided to focus on my health and wellness while we were forced to stay at home. One day, at the beginning of the lockdown I decided to call my friend Carina Boehmlaender, @Carina_Boho. She also happens to be a nutritionist, yoga teacher and plant-based chef. I told Carina about my desire to look at my life holistically to learn and understand more about my body, fitness and wellness. Her immediate question was whether I had ever thought of going back to school and studying to become a Health Coach?  At my lack of response – I was trying not to laugh - she informed me what a Health Coach was and what they did (see my last blog on What (the Heck) is a Health Coach??). She even went further to recommend that I look into the College of Naturopathic Medicine (CNM).

Chuckling to myself I thought, “Go back to school, what was she crazy?” That was the absolute last thing I thought I would ever do. I think I might have said that out loud, however, as we kept talking all of a sudden it started to make more sense. It was as if everything realigned in my brain and I had the ground-breaking thought that every experience in my life had led me to this conversation. Talk about the proverbial lightbulb moment! Me? A Health Coach? After saying this out loud I felt like I found the missing piece to the Tanya puzzle. Everything finally fell into place.

I immediately took her advice and researched CNM along with other Health Coach programs and knew she was absolutely right; this was 100% for me. Not only would I learn more about my body, how it worked and how to feed it, I would now have the tools and understanding of how to take care of it. The icing on top would be at the end of the program I would be able to help others by sharing this knowledge through this and my life experiences. This was the understanding, life balance and purpose that I had been searching for. Mind blown!

HAPPILY, EVER AFTER

A few months later, after thorough research, I decided to enrol with CNM. Their approach, accreditations and professional network were by far superior to any other programme I had researched. Not only are they the #1 training provider for natural therapies in the UK but the College is also accredited in some countries overseas. Thank you again Carina!

Fast forward to today, I am in the final stages of my diploma and will soon graduate. I am extraordinarily thankful and eternally grateful for the journey that I have undertaken. From the high-strutting New Yorker, the aerobicized Californian, the pork belly munching foreigner to finally the Covid-19 lockdown Londoner. Every experience and globe-trotting adventure has led me to my true calling of becoming Your Health Maven.

Thank you for reading and until we connect again soon.

-Tanya (Your Health Maven)