ABOUT

Striving for perfection is an elusive, unhappy and hollow pursuit.  I have spent most of my life trying to attain perfection - insert here - “perfect” -  daughter, wife, mother, employee, student.  I believed that if I was perfect nothing bad would ever happen.  As we all know, that is not how life works.  I have learned that life is full of the sweet and the sour.  Without the sour, we would never know how sweet life can be.  It took 45 years and many successes, numerous failures, devastating heart break, surprising and overwhelming love, joy, illness and health for me to let go of that idea of perfection and embrace the beauty of a true and free life.  Free Life Kitchen represents exactly that - I abandoned the mantle of perfection and set myself free from that burden.  In the process, I healed in every possible way and it started with digging deep - emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  From this, Free Life Kitchen was born.

I was one of the few women in a male dominated and highly stressful profession.  In the midst of a painful divorce, I also found myself suddenly a single mother to my two amazing boys.  I was also earning my MBA from a prestigious business school.  And, I was a mess. I suffered from extreme anxiety, depression and in only one year I gained fifty pounds.  Never having weighed more than 107 pounds my entire life, you can imagine that for a stereotypical type A personality and extreme perfectionist this was shocking, overwhelming, and disheartening.  I suffered severe fatigue and GI issues, random rashes, infections and overall poor health.  I spent 18 months and countless hours with a variety of doctors and specialists (and a fair amount of money) looking for answers.  Finally, I went to a doctor of functional medicine and through a massive number of tests and extensive data gathering, we discovered I had a variety of issues – a wide spectrum of food allergies (four pages worth!), severe inflammation, off the chart cortisol levels and shockingly, an autoimmune system gone haywire.  This doctor changed my life.  Our bodies are like a network system. If one part of that network fails, it impacts the entire system.  This logical explanation worked for me because it just made sense and more importantly, it gave me hope.  If I treat my body as a network and monitor what I “input” into this system, then certainly I can have better control of the performance of the entire network.  I felt suddenly free.  Free from the unknown and lack of control.  Free to heal myself.

Now the real work began.  As I mentioned, I’m a pretty good student.  I relish a good research project.  I treated my condition as exactly that – a project I needed to tackle and first step was information gathering.  My first goal was to get the severe inflammation under control as I believed (and still believe) that this was the primary contributing factor to many of my ailments.  Everything from the depression and anxiety to the prolonged viruses, skin rashes and stomach issues.  I needed to control the variables – evaluate what I put into my body (“system”) and track the effects. As fate would have it, I reconnected with an old friend at this same time.  She so very kindly shared with me her own journey to health and inspired me to tackle this.  I studied my long list of food allergies.  I researched options for food programs that have helped other people recover from illness – Paleo, Keto, Whole30, Vegan, FODMAP.  I cross referenced all these diets and came up with subsisting on water and air alone! Obviously not a viable solution, I began with the simple process of elimination. I removed gluten, grains, dairy, fats and oils, sugar / sweeteners of any kind (natural and processed), high starch vegetables, high sugar fruits and alcohol.  After three months not only did I have more energy, the inflammation began to subside and for the first time in my life, I felt genuinely happy, truly optimistic and anxiety free.  I then tackled other factors.  I weaned off prescription medications for anxiety, depression, thyroid issues and inflammation.  I began taking vitamins and supplements.  Of course, all under the supervision of both traditional doctors/specialists and my doctor of functional medicine. Cut to the chase – three years later – fifty pounds lighter and symptom free, I am in full remission.  I also left my unfulfilling and frankly, unrewarding career.  I found love again and married my best friend of ten years.  I became stepmother to the three sweetest, most wonderful children.  I became a better, more present, engaged and aware mother, sister, aunt and friend.  I am the happiest, healthiest best version of myself.  Not perfect, that’s no longer the goal.

Always a foodie and avid baker and cook, I have taught myself how to incorporate healthy food alternatives without sacrificing the flavor, taste and pure joy and fun of food. I realized so much of our lives revolve around food and celebration (this hits home even more so when I couldn’t share in the foods at celebrations, lunches, dinners, parties, etc.) I didn’t want to sacrifice those special celebrations and sharing of meals with the people I love.  I experimented with substituting many recipes with healthier alternatives.  I shared with friends and family.  With their unwavering support, kindness and feedback I decided to share more broadly.  I hope you enjoy and that in some way, what I share helps you experience the joy, good health and freedom I have found!

Questions?