Saturday, August 13, 2016

Why Alexis Nilsen Became A Holistic Nutritionist - Welcome Alexis to the Blog Today!

I’m a Certified Holistic Nutritionist by day and a die-hard foodie by night, and I specialize in the art of healthy eating. But life hasn’t always been this delicious. I will be the first to admit that growing up my diet didn’t always consist of the best choices, I was a super picky eater as a kid (sorry mom) and my faves were: Beefaroni, Kraft Dinner, and pizza buns. After struggling with my health for years I was diagnosed with celiac disease when I was 27 years old. It forced me to clean up my act in the kitchen and address the “I don’t feel good” symptom I experienced on a daily basis. This huge shift meant giving up the foods I loved most, but at this point I was willing to do anything to get my health back on track. So I gave up eating gluten and dairy, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. I searched for years to find an answer to all my unexplained ailments and it blew my mind that this one little protein called gluten could be doing all this damage. It’s funny how life can lead us down different paths, because even though initially I cried during every Oreo commercial, this new found healthy eating lifestyle of mine ignited a passion to want to help others who also struggle with their health in a world full of frozen pizza, pasta in a can and soft drinks galore. I truly believe that no matter what your age or state of health there is always room for improvement and nutrition is one of the most important aspects of this journey. I don’t believe in being defined by labels or trends, and perfection is not what we’re striving for here. I want to empower and educate my clients so that they too can begin to heal and understand the connection between health and the food we eat. Follow me @cowcrumbs

Monday, August 1, 2016

Welcome Alyssa Gowan to the Blog Today!! Why Osteopathy?

I’ve been interested in pursuing a career in health care from a young age. I participated in a number of sports growing up and unfortunately suffered from sports injuries. As a result, I was exposed to various methods of rehabilitation over the years. I found many of these approaches to be interesting and helpful for me, but osteopathy in particular. I first received osteopathic treatment as a high school student for a low back injury for which I’d already tried multiple forms of therapies. I had never heard of osteopathy but when my physiotherapist referred me I thought it was worth investigating. At that time the profession was not very common so I travelled an hour to receive treatment from an osteopathic student. I was admittedly confused by the different approach initially – he wasn’t just treating by back but also areas such as my head, feet, and abdomen. He explained the relationships and how everything is connected in the body, which I found intriguing. I considered different health professions throughout university; however, I kept coming back to osteopathy. I was advised to study another manual therapy before beginning my osteopathic studies in order to gain clinical experience, so after graduating from McMaster with a Kinesiology degree, I went on to complete diplomas in Massage Therapy and Sports Injury Therapy. This has allowed me to work as a Registered Massage Therapist while pursuing my studies at the Canadian College of Osteopathy. I am currently working on my thesis which is the final requirement to becoming an Osteopathic Manual Practitioner. I love that massage therapy and osteopathy allow me to combine my passions for health, sports, helping, and educating my patients! I also love that osteopathy treats the whole person so each treatment is unique to that individual. I enjoy the challenge since each patient is like a puzzle to solve due to the many factors influencing each of us and the complexity of the human body.