I am from a small town in Wisconsin -yes I love cheese, my hometown had many farms surrounding it, and I say "Dontch-ya know" often- I got my Bachelor of Science in Public Health, with a Nutrition Minor ( Community Health Education Specialist Certified, CHES) at the University of Madison-La Crosse.

A big eye opener for me was when I filled a Health Education internship in Sweden, at Linnaeus University where I taught Health Education. I was taught the Swedish word "lagom" which is the way the Swedish people think and live. It is best defined as not too much, not too little. They didn't exercise too much, but not too little. They didn't eat too much, but not too little. Although vastly different from the United States culture, it made "habit and behavior change" much clearer to me. I realized it was so much more than simply changing the behavior itself, but had so much more to do with culture, beliefs, repeated thoughts, environment, and emotions. 

Like any new graduate I was excited to get into the world and make a difference! I picked up a corporate job in Arizona and so this WI girl went off to the desert. 

I was a Wellness Consultant where I managed and provided wellness programming for health insurance pools. It was mind blowing to me because the 10,000 insured members, for the most part, KNEW what they should be doing to be healthy (ie. An apple is healthier than a candy bar), but time and time again they were STILL NOT DOING IT (ie choosing the candy bar). Corporate Wellness Programs were throwing wellness initiatives against a wall hoping that they would stick. Their solution was knowledge and they saw NO PROGRESS. 

I strongly believe that people KNOW what to do. In the fitness world, people KNOW how to walk, jog, or run...I mean, most people have been doing it since they were about 1 year old! It is as simple as putting one foot in front of the other as long as you want and as fast as you want. We also KNOW the health benefits. We KNOW how to tie their sneakers. Yet for many of us, we are still not doing it....

I became fascinated with habit and behavior change, and obsessed with helping people IMPLEMENT NEW HEALTH ROUTINES. Knowing means nothing if there is no action. 

After being buried in books about behavior change, habits, and sustainable change and spending years coaching people through it... I can't wait to share with you the hope that there is a way for life long change. The ANSWER is simple, the IMPLEMENTATION is not...but, that is what you have me for. 

I am here to....

• Lay out a road map to get to where it is you want to go
• Hold your hand and take you to the next level, one step at a time
• While you are in the chaos of life, I have an eagle eye view of what your working on and can offer ideas that you may have a hard time seeing from the inside
• Help you navigate through barriers and things that limit your success
• and keep you accountable to your plan

If you're tired of starting over, keep stepping in the direction you want to go-it may be through streams and over mountains-but you will get there by trusting the process and NOT sitting on your bum. Let's take it one step at a time, and before you know it you will be running a marathon (literally).