Julia's Story

I always trusted The Lord through anything and everything… except when it came to my issues with food.

I think the first time I realized food affected me negatively was the day I came home from summer camp in high school and had gained 10 pounds in a week. In college, some people gained the “freshman fifteen.” I gained the freshman forty… and thus began my exploration into every diet program I could find and afford. 

Many years of yo-yo dieting followed. I can safely say I gained and lost over 1000 pounds.

In 2015, I was done. I had fought this battle long enough. I was clinically obese and I was exhausted emotionally, physically and spiritually. I felt terrible about myself. I couldn’t tie my shoes without significant effort. No amount of working outworked. I couldn’ fit into any of the clothes in my closet and I wasn’t about to g shopping for bigger clothes at this point. The shame and self-loathing was all consuming.

Even though I prayed about it, I didn’t truly believe God wanted to be involved in “my little food problem.” Did God REALLY care about whether or not I ate the rest of my kids’ chicken nuggets out of the sink? Did He notice the delicious chocolate pick me up after dinner that got me through the dishes? Or the snack in front of the TV? Of course not. He had bigger fish to fry. 

Desperate and depressed I went to my doctor and asked for stomach surgery. She said she wouldn’t approve it. Instead, she suggested I attend a food addiction recovery program.

I was an addict? Not possible. I struggled through denial for a short time, but grew more and more desperate. I realized I was in a very hopeless situation and this program was my only hope.

And so I went kicking and screaming. I will be honest with you, these first few days and weeks were very hard.  I felt alone, scared, ashamed and angry.

The following 2 years in the program helped me tremendously. I have loved Jesus as long as I can remember, but I still I spent the 1st year asking Him if He really cared about my food issues. His answer was a resounding, “Yes. I care, because I love you.” My next question was, “Would He save me from my food issues?”  His answer was a resounding, “Yes. I will, because I love you.” 

And so, with the Lord’s help in the next 2 years, and a community He provided surrounding me, we managed to restore my body to a healthy weight - a weight I maintain to this day by His grace.

With this new found weight loss, I was so happy. Then, almost 2 years to the day after I started down the road of healing and recovery. I got very sick.

It came on quickly. One week I was fine and the next week I felt deathly ill. I was in and out of the ER and doctor’s offices for seven days, but no one knew what was wrong. Sunday morning I felt something explode inside my body and I couldn’t get off the floor. My husband called 911 and I was rushed to the ER.

Healing from surgery of this magnitude was very difficult. Through it all the Lord was with me, reminding me that He does care and He does help in amazing ways only He can and does.

My body will never be the same. However, I am thankful for this journey and these scars because they have brought me here to this moment with you… and to health coaching. I discovered my years of lay counselling in the church, personal experiences, and desire to help others all came together in the field of health coaching. As a result, I entered into a rigorous year-long training program at the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy.

Now, I am a professional health coach, trained in Functional Medicine and Positive Psychology and so thankful.

Afraid to get started?

I get it. If you're like me,  you've tried many times to make the same health change (and failed) and are afraid to try again. In my journey as a health coach, I've learned that there are tools for changing the patterns that stump us - and we can remove strongholds for good. I've been there, I've found what works for me, and together we can find what works for you.  

More About Julia

Julia’s passion has always been to help others. In 2004 Julia created Ta-tas® Brand Clothing and in 2008 created the Save the Ta-tas® Foundation, both organizations providing education and donations for the purpose of funding research to save lives in the area of cancer research. Julia received many awards along the way, including being named one of Action Sport’s most influential women in 2011. Julia ran both organizations until 2018 when she decided to switch gears and become a Functional Medicine Health Coach because her greatest joy comes from helping others one-on-one.