Hello! My name is Sarah and welcome to Healthy Level Up!

I am a graphic designer, mom to two little girls, former YouTube gamer and recent grad from the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. Quite the mix huh?

My History With Food

I spent many, many years blaming my problems on a crappy immune system. I had bad skin, crippling hay fever, constant stomach aches, sugar cravings that never ended, and if I came into contact with anyone who had a cold, I was guaranteed to get sick too. I had a cold nearly every month and it sucked. Sadly, it was all because I has no idea that what I ate had an effect on how I felt.

Here’s a sample the kind of meal I would have in a day:

Although my diet could have been much worse, it still wasn’t providing me with all the nutrients I needed and was giving me many more calories than I actually needed. The only real nutrients I was getting came from the occasional morning banana, the few tomatoes I ate with dinner, and on the rare occasion, I would have a Caesar salad instead of chicken strips.

I was consuming a ton of sugar and cheese, so I was gaining weight. I drank a lot of milk, which contributed to my allergies; chicken strips are heavily processed and loaded with chemicals which hurt my immune system; plus I wasn’t getting most of the vitamins and minerals I needed so my body was working overtime to support itself; drastically impacting my immune system and the rate at which I got sick.

At one point my mom took me to see a naturopath who did allergy testing on me. I left his office with a long list of foods I had to avoid for the next two months; things like chocolate, refined sugar, wheat, and dairy. As I followed the elimination diet I started feeling better, having more energy, and losing weight. I actually never went fully back onto my old diet, but slowly started adding some of my old foods back in. Eliminating those foods for even a short amount of time had a huge impact on how I felt, and it made me extremely interested in learning more.

How I Helped To Heal My Body

Then I started reading. I read books like Skinny Bitch, Dr. Joshi’s Holistic Life Plan, and The Raw Food Detox Diet, and started to get the idea I wasn’t just doomed to feel awful for the rest of my life; that what I was eating (and not eating) was causing all my problems. So I kept reading and researching. I changed my diet to incorporate more vegetables; switched out soda and milk for water and herbal tea, ate oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, added more variety to my diet, and searched for yummy snacks that weren’t loaded with chemicals.  I went a whole year without getting a cold. It was amazing.

Since then I’ve kept my diet high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, herbal teas, whole grains, and homemade baked goods. I rarely get a cold, my weight is where it should be, I only notice my allergies when I eat things I shouldn’t, and my skin completely cleared up; which I owe mainly to increasing my water intake.

Now, having earned my R.H.N. designation (Registered Holistic Nutritionist) and being armed with a ton of knowledge about nutrition, I hope to share with you everything I’ve learned in the hopes you’ll learn something that can help your own health.

And now for some fancy credentials: