Even though I can remember thinking I needed to go on a diet as early as the 2nd grade and trying numerous fad methods all throughout elementary school, high school and college, my story and journey to health started in earnest more than 25 years ago.

Meat Helper in a Crappy Kitchen
As a chubby housewife in the early 90’s, while living in a crappy tiny apartment in Santa Monica I slogged through meal after meal trying to live up to the 50’s housewife standards.

With nothing more than a box of ‘meat helper’ in my teenie tiny crappy kitchen (and an angry husband) I was determined to be the best wifey and mom.

Not a fresh vegetable in sight, I was pretty sure I could figure it all out…and look pretty doing it too. It was a struggle to say the least……and then add 2 premature children (along with the angry husband) into the mix and I was a ragged mess.

My preemie home from the hospital and I was one stressed out mama
I knew my story and my health had to change.

Practice make perfect
I kept at it and kept cooking….and however fleeting it was I did have some mild success at the family dinner table. BUT my waistline and back side continued to grow…and in my story the roller coaster of “dieting” began in earnest.

Yo-Yo Dieting
I’ve been on every “diet” known to modern civilization. You name it I’ve tried it, except the one where you inject pregnant horse urine….couldn’t go there

Cooking classes, knife skills classes, numerous garbage-can-worthy meals, learning to love dishwashing (kinda), and binge watched every Martha Stewart/Rachel Ray/Sandra Lee episode….that was my story and life at the time.

Cooking in that crappy kitchen even when no one would eat my food. What came along with that was weight gain and weight loss of the same 20-30lbs on and off and on again.

In the span of a year I went from heavy to super thin. This was not the first time yo yo-ed, And it certainly was not the last time.
HOWEVER…..what this sparked in me was a quest to figure out why I followed all doctors orders to eat less and exercise more, but I just could not stick to “the plan”.

The Loop in My Head
The loop in my head was if you want to be thin and fit you MUST count your calories, starve yourself, beat yourself up in the gym…and I just couldn’t do that to myself anymore.

The American public has never been fatter and clearly I was not the only one struggling with this problem. There had to be a better way. In my story I knew I had to be healthy for myself, but mostly for my girls.

Nutrition School
I went on to earn a Certification in Holistic Health and Nutrition Counseling. I continued with my thirst for the answers to the “what’s healthy”equation. Over the next few years my story included being vegan, trying macrobiotics, counting calories, taking handfuls of supplements.

But….
All the nutrition school and classes could not tell ME what to eat. The eat less, exercise more DID NOT WORK FOR ME!

The Stress
My story took a few more turns. Motherhood, parenting, adulting, divorce, a move across country and getting a job for the first time in 16 years….I was like a ragdoll.

All the while under unbelievable amounts of stress from EVERY angle……which ultimately led to having part of my colon removed from all the stress of it all. (This is another story for another time).

Kellie from The Kellie Kitchen. Having colon removed and very sick in the hospital.
The Kellie Kitchen was born.

It was 2017 and my story was about to take another turn. This time I was wiser and happier, but still not feeling 100%. Chronic yeast infections and bladder infections plagued me.

In researching how I could naturally help myself I stumbled upon a book called The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung. I certainly was not obese at the time, but I was chronically ill….and I wanted to feel well again.

That book was such a fast read. Light bulb after light bulb went off in my head as I turned the pages. My time in nutrition school and countless years in the kitchen had prepared me for what I needed to do.

Rethinking Healthy
I had to totally re-think and re-learn what was healthy FOR ME. So here I am today with a lot less of my colon, in desperate need of a manicure, with nay an angry husband in sight, and healthier and happier than ever. My story is not over…I’ve just begun.

At 5’9′ and 135 lbs able to do ANYTHING physically. And looking young and vibrant while doing it. My story all starts with REAL food, less stress and lots of gratitude.

My story so far has been quite an experience and a long road, but I had to start somewhere….and you will learn too.