This isn’t the story of a superhero or the triumphant ending of a great tale, but rather one woman’s ongoing journey to health and wholeness. Growing up, I was certain of only one thing: I did not want to be sick. Yet, my family’s health history and habits seemed to set me on a path toward illness. My father developed diabetes in his late thirties, and I watched as the disease slowly took a toll on his body. His heart, eyes, and legs suffered, his arteries became calcified, and despite the best efforts of conventional medicine, he eventually passed away from kidney failure.

Seeing my father’s struggle left a lasting impression on me. From a young age, I knew I had to find a different way—a way to avoid the same fate. My own struggles with weight began at just nine years old, and by my mid-twenties, I found myself weighing 258 pounds, unable to even tie my shoelaces. In that moment, I realized I had to make a choice: continue down the path of obesity and illness or seek out a new path to health and wellness. I chose the latter, determined to break free from the patterns that had plagued my family for generations.