Becoming Full: Food, Freedom, and the Space In Between

I can trace my fascination with food and health all the way back to a high school lesson on nutrition.  Since then, I spent a good deal of time obsessing about what I put on my plate, collecting nutrition advice from newspapers and magazines, and fussing over food choices that friends and family made.

As one might expect, I graduated as a nutritionist in 2008 and for a long time, food was science. It was structure.  Carbs, proteins, fats, calories, balanced meals and portion sizes. And it was so natural & easy to think of health as something you achieved through food. Through control. Through getting it just right.

And it did, for a while. In my 20s, it kept me fit and healthy. Everything was working just as it ought to.

But as life grew fuller with different roles and responsibilities in career, motherhood & relationships, something started to shift. The formula that once made sense didn’t seem to work anymore. I found myself wondering:

Wasn't nutrition supposed to be universal? Precise? Reliable?

In a quest to make things right, I went on a wild and frantic ride that included a messy period of being on diet trends, exercise trends and following an unhealthy dose of health & wellness advice delivered algorithmically on social media.

Today, in 2025, here I am—sick, burnt out, heavier than I’ve ever been—physically and mentally—feeling emotionally hollow and disconnected from myself. I find myself at a place where I know something has to shift. Not just the food on my plate—but the way I relate to it. The way I relate to wellness. The way I relate to myself.

This blog, Becoming Full, is that shift in motion. It’s my journal—raw, evolving, unfiltered. A space where I rediscover my relationship with food and explore deeper questions such as:

• What if food wasn’t a problem to solve, but a relationship to heal?

• Is food just something to eat, burn off, and optimize—or is it something more?

• Can I trust my body, even after years of trying to control it?

• What am I really hungry for?

• What does fullness mean beyond the plate—physically, emotionally and spiritually?

• How do I unlearn the guilt & pressure I’ve attached to eating?

• How do I reconnect with the body wisdom I was taught to ignore?

Some days, I may reflect on intuitive eating practices. Some days, I may write about the lingering voice in my head that still whispers old rules. Some days, it might be as simple as what I ate, and how it felt—no filters, no fixes. Just the truth.

I come to this space not as someone who’s studied nutrition, but as someone learning—finally—to trust her body.

After years of trying to follow all the food “rules,” I’m beginning to move toward food "rhythms"—guided by curiosity instead of control, and by body wisdom instead of willpower.

Because maybe health isn’t a checklist.
Maybe it’s fullness, beyond the plate.

As I move through this curiosity, my reflections on food, nutrition, mindfulness, and health will live at the center of this space—shaped not just by what I’ve studied, but by what I’m living and experiencing in day-to-day life.

If you’ve ever felt like the wellness "rules" aren’t working for you anymore, you’re not alone. I hope this space feels like a deep exhale. I hope it reminds you that you were never broken, and that health is not a final destination but a gentle unfolding.

Here’s to becoming full—one mindful, messy, gentle bite at a time.