I grew up around A LOT of food. My Italian background puts so much focus on food as it is a huge part of our culture and traditions. Food was always celebrated and so was eating a lot of it. I grew up eating everything. Full-fat, high-carb, double portions with no restrictions or boundaries. To be honest, I had no idea low-fat options were even available until my early adult life. In our house we didn’t eat early dinners, and in fact, focaccia would be in the oven as late 10pm for a late-night snack! It was pretty hard to resist indulging when you’re constantly surrounded by so much deliciousness! More so, it was also pretty ironic to eat this way with your family and then also be expected to be this tiny ballerina.
Push forward to my University years, and I really began to notice other people’s eating habits. Some people skipped breakfast, others ate very light lunches, and some were ultra restrictive. All of a sudden it dawned on me — Am I eating the wrong way? Am I eating too much—–especially for a dancer? It wasn’t until my third year of university in my dance program that we were finally exposed to the subject of nutrition. I began to learn some pretty interesting things. I also started having interest in all these “different” foods, in foods that I never grew up eating and some I had never even heard of. I could not believe some people didn’t have their lattes with cows milk. I thought it was weird that some people ate tofu instead of meat and some people were always counting calories but still eating junk food.
Then came all the rules. “You should eat smaller portions, you shouldn’t eat after 7pm, you shouldn’t over-eat carbs. You should eat only non-fat, you should switch your sugar for sweetners”. Or better yet, you should just follow the latest diet trending at the time. The whole thing became both shocking and ultra confusing! By my final year of University I really became obsessed with what I was eating. I basically decided to eat (what I thought was a super healthy diet) and solely follow that.
Needless to say, I lost a lot of weight and actually felt worse than ever before! Feeling super unhappy and not enjoying food like I once did, I thankfully decided I needed to see a Nutritionist to clarify a few things. She quickly concluded in one session that I was eating far too low-fat and low-carb my active lifestyle and basically eating far too restrictively. Really concerned that I had put my health at risk, I then went back to eating as I was raised. I didn’t really focus on the nutritional value of food, I just focused on making sure I ate a lot in order to get back to my original weight and feel good again. I am fortunate that my active lifestyle and genetics never allowed me to have any real weight issues, however, eating too controlled was obviously not healthy either. I still didn’t fully understand what my physically active self needed nutritionally and since that awful experience, I promised myself that one day I would study the subject further.
From then on, I just began my own research and started reading a lot of books. Around this time I also began courses for my personal training certification and was already teaching a few fitness classes here and there. I also think that getting married at the young age of 24 really sparked this excitement to learn more. I was so happy to get to cook my own meals using all these different foods and spices I was never exposed to growing up. I remember making these vegan raw nut-balls and thinking how strange it was that they actually tasted good uncooked. I wanted to make healthy food taste good and I wanted to make desserts that could still satisfy my sweet tooth, but with much healthier ingredients.
Luckily, the one thing I’ve always had on my side is creativity. Coming up with different dishes came pretty easy to me. I take a lot of pleasure in hosting my friends and entertaining in general and I really do think that has given me the best practise of all when it comes to cooking. I loved and (still do) having my friends and family test out my food inventions to see if they are indeed edible. Needless to say, I was finally able to mix my love for food together with my passion for health and nutrition.
Fast forward to two kids later, more cooking came along and a lot more learning so that I could understand what to feed my little ones. I was finally able to dedicate some time to take those few more nutrition courses and finally receive a Diploma in Holistic Nutrition.
My 34 year old self knows so much more than my 24 year old self. My culture, my dance background, my personal experiences, my children and my fitness career have all inspired me to learn about this very complex subject. Whether you’re looking to have a career in this industry or not, I would highly recommend learning about nutrition to anyone. Understanding how to feed your body properly is essential and beneficial for all. I wish this subject was taught more in depth in schools from a young age and it should be especially mandatory for active individuals and athletes.
I never thought I’d one day be sharing my knowledge, or let alone my recipes with anyone, but I’m so passionate about helping people understand what healthy eating is actually all about and that healthy food is super satisfying too! What I do know for sure is that if you nourish yourself properly, your body will thank you.
