The high-level 4-1-1 on Jenn
Although 100% surefooted in my decision to found Embodhied, racking up the life experience to truly and deeply heal body image, disordered eating and digestive discomfort wasn’t so easy. As we continue to get to know each other we’ll have a chance to share histories in more depth. To get us started, here’s a bit about me.
What's in [Y]Our Future?
Let's start at the end and work our way backwards. Feel free to peer into your crystal ball to find commonalities of how mind-body nutrition could change your life:
Fast-track living and stress (real or perceived) can cripple metabolism and digestion
Newsflash: Stress = toxic beliefs about 'bad' foods, punishing exercise, conditional love of my body & self-sabotaging thoughts.Perfectionism is the #1 dream-killer and master silencer of all my-awesomeness.
When 'I get my body' and my 'body gets me', I thrive.
Coffee isn’t an entree and snickity-snacking in no way constitutes a meal. Macro-nutrient balance and meal timing are easy ways to avoid energy drain, mood shifts and unwanted eating frenzies of the late night variety.
No one notices those extra 5 lbs, and who says they’re extra anyway? I definitely can’t find them in old pictures.
Whether that favorite dress from 10 years ago or 'infamous' story of how someone did me wrong, eventually it's time to let go. Without losing a pound, it makes me lighter and nimble.
Looking into myself is an awe-inspiring practice, even when it's not all rainbows and roses.
There's no shame in my story. People who care (even strangers) surprise me every day. Sharing is an opportunity for me to heal, others to know they're not alone, and a gift for us all to lean in.
Most importantly, and this is big-time for our relationship moving forward, for 40 years I felt like no one was there for me when I needed them most. That's why Embodhied is so personally important to me, I want to make sure you always feel that you have a 'someone'. I’ve stopped seeing my life as an unfair experience that happened to me. Not to say I don’t feel sad or hurt over certain memories, after all I am human. However, the Embodhied difference nudged that pain out of the spotlight with gratitude and empowerment for my life's lessons.
Warning: I'm a bit snarky and quirky wrapped in a whole lotta love
If writing this part were like drafting a dating profile, it might go something like this:
Know that YOU are my #1 priority and your wishes are my goals. And yes, that means chiming in as the voice of reason when needed (GURRRRL, what were you thinking?).
Part honey-bunny, part maverick, with lots of brainiac between these ears, I keep it real, honest and creative to unstick you at exactly the right time.
People tell me my super powers are to create an invisible cocoon of safety, pause time, hear what's left unsaid in shared silences and transform chaos into feel-good solutions.
There's no room for judgement here. Life fascinates me. I've tasted my share of 'what?!?!' as a globetrotter and English teacher in the 'rice bowl' of Thailand.
My Nan says I'm pure of heart because dogs and babies love me. (OK, teetering on shameless, but who could argue with Nan?).
Our Time together
Although 'Eating Psychology Coach' sounds fancy schmancy, it's not about a Freudian experience or therapy. Whether we connect via blog, group sessions or 1:1 deep dives it's about building relationships with yourself, me, and other women using coaching techniques, psychophysiological know-how and a bunch of introspective exploration using unfroo-froo practice exercises.
After decades delivering top-notch transformative programs to ginormous companies like CBS , I fully understand the value of results-oriented solutions. My job is to always find simple solutions personalized to you for long-term success. Your journey may be direct, windy or require you to climb to new heights. We'll walk the road hand-in-hand exploring, experimenting, tweaking, redirecting, and removing obstacles. As your guide, mentor and sanity check – I'll celebrate and cheer you on every step of the way, and promise to never let you fall.
I hope you'll feel at home here at Embodhied. If there's ever a question, suggestion or comment on your mind please do reach out. I'd love to hear from you.
In case you just can’t wait to know more…
Perfect Princess, that's what my dad called me. And that's what I was, perfect on the outside with all of me hiding on the inside. That simple, fun-loving nickname was the heaviest weight to bear. Straddling four families in two different states, I can’t remember a time when digestive upset or being labeled as sensitive weren’t part of my childhood identity. Although obvious now why my tummy was always in a knot, it took me 40 years to realize undigested life experience was eating away at me, zapping my energy.
The mind-body nutrition connection to life became increasingly evident in my late-teens. I learned a very torturous lesson - in hunger wars, there is no peace. Life felt like sand sifting through my fingertips. I was losing control, and it was freaking me out. Disordered eating was my SOS to regain control using the only thing I felt I could - food and exercise. Eating an average of 600-800 calories a day with 5+ hours intensive exercise, little sleep and sky-rocketing stress levels my mind and body officially declared war on each other. As my body shrunk in size, so did my spirit. In retrospect, I learned firsthand that my eating habits could be as unnatural as any processed or synthetic food. Like oxygen, food is a nourishing ingredient to keep us alive. Similar to the besties of chronic dieters (pounds, calories, and grams) my calculated relationships isolated me from the real-life support I needed most.
Because our eating habits evolve with life, the pendulum of change swung in a new direction for me as a young adult. Instead of restricting food, I flicked my middle-finger at the world and imbibed on anything and everything that caused me pain. I was seething with anger and using food as my accomplice. Punishing myself, stuffing down hurt and amping-up hatred for all things, everything… including me. Like many women carrying unwanted weight, I fought my body's brilliant strategy to materialize 20lbs of festering pain by joining a gym. Demotivated and confused by those stubborn pounds I felt like a failure. See, the weight wasn't the problem. It wasn’t until I hit restart on adulthood with a move, new job and reconnecting to friends that the weight started to naturally disappear.
It wasn’t long after my body hit stride that I was unexpectedly thrown off course again. Like a fighter in a boxing match, life hit me with a 1-2 punch. That’s right, two rounds of parasites to be exact. No, I promise I don’t eat from sewers or garbage cans. The parasites first made their way into my belly in Miami and several years later in Thailand. They ate me bare. Standing at about 5'8" and weighing 117 lbs, I was lauded for my 'accomplishment', told I looked fab and asked for my secret. All too common messages playing with my head as if my suffering was 'worth it'. The medical community was just as contradictory. If only I had been a gambling woman, I would have won big-time on all ways they would fail me. After countless tests and bazillions of dollars I was left with frustration, let down and hopeless desperation.
Tattered and worn out, my body continued to relentlessly call my attention to life with symptoms of digestive distress throughout my thirties. After a series of belly aches and other 'mysterious' digestive pangs I called timeout. I was tired of being poked, prodded, scanned, ‘appointmented’ and medicated. It was time to put on my Wonder Woman cape and heal myself.
My invisible jet and Lasso of Truth were replaced with lessons of Dynamic Eating Psychology. It's crystal clear why my relationship with food and nutrition were never limited to what I put in my mouth and did with my body. I learned how to decode my healthstyle and life’s knocks into transformational lessons. It led me to my voice, my grounding and the Embodhied beauty in me. I've got your cape right here. Are you ready?
Street Cred
Transformational Coach Certification, Health Coach Institute
Certified Wellness Coach, Institute for the Psychology of Eating
Organizational Change Management Leader (aka transformational guru, moved 1,000’s of people through change)
Bachelors, Behavioral Neuroscience, with honors
