ABOUT ME

Hi there!

I’m Christie – A happy, energetic, sun-loving, fun-chasing girl living on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.

I have always had an interest in food from a very young age - I would pretend I was in cooking shows in mums kitchen with all my ingredients in tiny glass bowls and be talking out loud to my imaginary camera, having a ball. I loved trying to health-ify recipes in cookbooks quite early and to make them as delicious as I could so my traditional-baked-goods-lover little sister would approve, and eat my healthy treats.

During high school I was excited to know that I could study Hospitality as an HSC subject so dived right on in, whilst working as a barista for 8 years in cafes and restaurants, and eventually managing a coffee shop in Sydney before packing my bags for a long stint of travel (eating my way) through Europe.

I returned eager to study and enrolled in both Counselling and Coaching courses at Nature Care College, diving deeper into the love I had for coaching for an additional year, and then realising that it was (still) nutrition that lit me up. So then began what was 4 years study, half in Sydney and half in Cairns, to complete my Advanced Diploma in Nutritional Medicine.

But it wasn’t always a happy and healthy road for me. I had obsessive compulsive tendencies from primary school and on entering high school, and turning vegetarian, it was personal issues that had me over-analysing everything I put in my mouth. I was restricting more and more types of foods, eating smaller portions of those I deemed “safe foods”, and exercising both morning and night everyday. I developed anorexia nervosa in Grade 9 and was in and out of hospitals, psychologist clinics, psychiatrists, counsellors, and more for a few years, feeling very unsure of myself, and extremely self conscious (even at 20kg under the normal and healthy weight for my age). It was during therapy that the anorexia morphed in and out of binge eating and bulimia which had me gain a stack of weight, and plummet very low in the self love department. It wasn’t a happy or healthy time in my life at all.

It wasn’t until my health was stable that I ventured to Europe and felt I could finally start eating a vegan diet, as mum never wanted me to do so previously (stupid decision really… I mean no cheese? No pastries? No proscuitto? I was in Europe for gods sake!). On returning to Australia, I dabbled in raw foods and committed to giving it a go for a month on January 1st. Fast forward 2 1/2 years of eating solely raw vegan foods where I was feeling amazing, leaning up, clearing skin issues, and had energy levels through the roof… that day by day I began feeling worse. My energy was falling. I was gaining weight. The faded acne on my face was rearing it’s ugly head again, 1000 fold. My thoughts were foggy. I was getting cranky. But I had no idea what was going on.

It was my kinesiologist who kept telling me raw foods were great, but cooked foods weren’t the devil, and that it’s not a bad thing to add roasted pumpkin to a salad for example. I also vividly remember him muscle testing me one day and saying my body was at Stage 3 adrenal exhaustion. And chronic fatigue could possibly be just around the corner if I weren’t to make changes to what I was doing and how I was living. Crappola! My step dad and a close friend of mine both had chronic fatigue and the commonality between them was that they did too much (in my opinion). And seeing them go through it… no thank you. I’ll take another road.

However I hadn’t begun my nutrition studies then or I would have done a complete diet and lifestyle overhaul, instead of just buying a bottle of AdrenoTone, finishing the months supply, and assume I’d dodge that bullet.

Unfortunately not.

I ended up having chronic fatigue for about 3 years. At the time I loved working out at the gym a few days every week and it really hit home, after a minor shoulder injury, when I cancelled my membership. For good. I honestly didn’t know when I would be back there again. I had no energy. Getting out of bed was a chore. Making decisions was a chore. Working a couple of days a week at a health food shop was a struggle. I would go to bed at 9pm and wake up at 9 or 10am. 10 hour sleeps were my new normal. As well as afternoon naps - when my ego wouldn’t talk me out of it. I put on weight that wouldn’t shift. I felt bloated and my muscles turned to what felt like jelly. I couldn’t think straight - or at all really. I had no interest in life. I was miserable, unhappy, frustrated, and teary quite often because I didn't know what to do. I’m not quite sure how my boyfriend put up with me.

Little by little I tried to do what I had learned to help, but for a long period of it all I didn’t even know what was wrong with me. I tried taking lots of supplements, taking no supplements, energetic healing, reiki, massage, nutrition, herbs, you name it.

It took me 3 years to start feeling like my energy levels were coming back and the weight was dropping off. And they were a very long 3 years.

I want you to know though, that this doesn’t have to be the way for everyone, and certainly not for you. I am grateful for having gone through what I have as I can now help others who are in the same situation I once was.

My energy isn’t always a 10/10 but coming from a -10/10 to now feeling like a consistent 7/10 I feel fan-freakin-tabulous! I am excited to get out bed instead of dreading it and rolling under the doona for another 3 hours! I have goals and dreams and take enthusiastic consistent action daily, instead of only dreaming about when I would have energy to do the very basic things.

>> You can have this too.

I move my body everyday and I love it! I probably missed that the most so when I had exercised each day for about a month, I couldn’t believe it! And it feels amazing! I remember when I could barely walk around the block, very slowly, without feeling wiped out for days following it.

>> I want to share how I did all this with you.

You may not have chronic fatigue but if you feel like you have little energy, or that you have some extra kilos to lose that appeared from out of nowhere, I want to help you. I know what it feels like to have to really drag your butt out of bed, or to be forever running and exercising and thinking you’re eating the right foods, but nothing shifts. I want to help you when you're feeling exhausted and run down before those become anything more serious.

My wish for you is to have boundless energy and to get excited to wake up each day. I want you to be fuelled by the best foods available and to get proper rest each night to restore you for the following day of adventures. I want to show you that yes, you can lose weight and gain energy! Because I have done it and it feels so. damn. good. And I want to share that and help as many people as I can to feel the same in their life.

Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor, nor am I studying medicine. I am a Nutritionist with an Advanced Diploma in Nutritional Medicine, a Diploma in Transpersonal Life Coaching, and a Certificate in Raw Nutrition. The information on Eat. More. Plants. is based on my personal experience, my research, conversations with health practitioners, and education from accredited colleges. It should not be taken as prescriptive advice. If you're seeking a formal medical diagnosis or prescription, or if you are contemplating any major dietary change, I suggest you speak with a health care provider.