Monica

My story

My journey was never only about losing weight. It was about finding my way back to myself.

For more than 40 years I believed I understood healthy living. I exercised, ate reasonably well, and ran 10 marathons. Staying active was part of who I was. But life changes us, sometimes slowly and sometimes all at once.

While raising three children, I became my mother’s primary caregiver as she battled leukemia and colon cancer, and at the same time my marriage was ending. When my mother passed and my marriage ended, the grief and stress became more than I knew how to carry. Grief became depression, food became comfort, and alcohol became a way to cope. Cravings, late night eating, weight gain, and exhaustion became part of my everyday life, and I did not recognize the woman I was becoming.

Seven years ago I moved to Colorado looking for a new beginning. The mountains became my sanctuary and the trails gave me somewhere to place my grief. I started hiking Colorado’s peaks, including several 14ers, and with every trail I felt another piece of myself return. Then I lost my father to cancer as well. Losing both of my parents deepened my desire to understand health, prevention, and what may be happening beneath the symptoms we so often overlook.

I tried exercising harder, eating less, and cutting out the foods I loved, but nothing created lasting change. I still felt like I was fighting my own body and losing. Then I learned about insulin resistance and metabolic health, and for the first time my struggles made sense. I was not lazy, I was not weak, and I was not broken. My body was asking for a different kind of support.

Four and a half years ago a friend introduced me to a simple, food based metabolic health protocol. I combined it with intermittent fasting and habits I could actually keep. I stopped counting calories, stepped away from restrictive dieting, and stopped punishing my body. What happened next changed far more than the number on the scale. I lost 25 pounds and more than four dress sizes, my A1C reached 4.7, the cravings and food noise quieted, and my energy, digestion, mood, and inflammation improved. With appropriate medical guidance, I no longer rely on some of the medications I once did. For the first time in years, I felt like myself again.

Today, at 66, I am still running, hiking, swimming, and embracing the Colorado mountains that helped heal my heart. Colorado also brought an unexpected blessing, because it is where I met my husband, John. Everything I have lived through, the loss, the caregiving, the starting over, and the healing, inspired me to become a Certified Metabolic Health Coach.

If you are a woman navigating midlife and menopause, please hear this: your body is not failing you. It may simply be asking for a new approach. It is not too late. You are not broken. You have not failed. And you do not have to figure everything out alone.

I may be a good fit for you if

• Your hormones or metabolism seem to have changed the rules.
• Perimenopause or menopause has shifted your weight, energy, sleep, or cravings.
• You are dealing with PCOS or PMOS, or a monthly cycle that feels harder to manage.
• Emotional eating or food noise has left you feeling disconnected from yourself.
• You want support that feels human, not another lecture or rigid plan.

You will hear me say this a lot: people stay for people. I want you to feel known here. The science gives us direction, and the relationship helps you keep walking it. Heart first, science always.

These are moments from my own journey. Everyone’s path looks different, and results vary.

What I lead with

Warm, encouraging, and personal. Story and feeling first, then the science in plain language. These are the corners of health I know best.

A few of the women whose stories mirror the work we do together. See Real Stories.

Not sure which of us is the right fit?

John leads with calm, straight talk, the science, and his own turnaround from addiction and obesity. If that sounds more like what you need, start with him. You can always switch.