Kay Wilson CHHC, AADP
My life changed one morning, when in 1987 I was at work and about to go into a meeting. My assistant interrupted saying that I had a phone call, and that it was my little sister. I asked her to tell my sister that I’ll call her back; however, my assistant looked at me and said “no, you need to talk to her, she’s very upset”. Inconvenienced, I answered the phone and I could hardly understand what my sister was trying to say but made out “its dad”. My dad had been having some heart issues so her comment certainly grabbed my attention. I perked up and said “what hospital is he in” and she took a minute and then said “Weed-Corley”. It took me a few seconds to process those two words when I came to a stunning realization that Weed-Corley was not a hospital, but a funeral home. My father had died of a massive heart attack at the age of 57.
That event sparked an interest which, over the years, turned into a passion and obsession for living healthy and my first phase of making changes. Still being a young person, I worked out consistantly and had a good metabolism so I could still eat whatever I wanted with little or no affect. However, when I turned 35 years old, I realized that my metabolism was slowing and I finally began acknowledge that I was aging. I couldn’t eat like I did at 25, my body didn’t look like it did at 25, and I didn’t have the energy that I had at 25, and that was a real shocker. I found myself making moderate changes each year but the weight still slowly crept on, energy levels dropped and I got very frustrated. I believe I tried just about every fad diet out there, and of course, I would lose weight initially but, because you can't sustain on a diet forever, I would gain back the weight I lost, plus some. I was in complete denial, like most people. A few years later, no matter what I did to eat healthy (or what I thought was healthy), I still couldn't keep the weight from slowly creeping on, and then, on top of that, I was diagnosed with a skin disorder. My Dermatologist prescribed $100 per month medication for my skin disorder (that didn't have much of an affect), and my western medical doctor told me that he expected me to gain about 3 lbs a year and that was perfectly normal!!!
After a lot of research and discovering a healthy way of living medication free, I realized that I needed to take control of my own health. I needed to grow up, get serious about eating responsibly and living a healthy lifestyle for myself and my family. I made the decision to control what I could control, and I learned the holistic way of life. I have no desire to live forever, but I do want to be as healthy as possible for as long as I've got so I can continue to be a productive citizen.
Realizing that I was the only one that could effectively take control of my own health, I started researching new ways of cooking by taking cooking classes, and learning how foods affect and heal the body. Knowing everyone is different and no one diet works for everyone, I experimented with different dietary theories to find what was right for me. After just a few short weeks I lost weight, my figure changed, and my skin disorder disappeared. For the next 16 years, this became a real passion for me and I felt the need to share my knowledge with others. I gave up a 20 year successful real estate career and went back to school to reinvent myself.
My poor husband, who had to jump on the band wagon whether he wanted to or not or cook for himself, did so with gusto. He was so motivated that he decided he wanted to treat his chronic high blood pressure holistically. He had been on medication for high blood pressure since he was 18 years old; however, every medication he took it would make him sick. He was hosptalized several times with pneumonia and his heart rate was very low. Through a lot of research and experimentation he has been medication free for 10 years as a result of healthy eating, supplements and alternative treatments. Today we have a very active life feelinb better than we ever have.
I received my training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, where I was trained in more than one hundred dietary theories and studied a variety of practical lifestyle coaching methods. Drawing on this knowledge, I will help you create a completely personalized “roadmap to health” that suits your unique body, lifestyle, preferences, and goals.
Are you curious about how health coaching can help you? Let’s talk. Go to the Contact page and schedule a free initial consultation with me today.
Want to learn more about my training and my unique approach to health coaching? I am an Ambassador for IIN and would love to talk to you about it. Please call me at 512-665-0164 or e-mail me at kay.wellness@ymail.com
