About Melissa
I grew up always loving food. My family would sit down at the dinner table every night and have a wonderful meal together -discussing our day and enjoying our time together. I was always pretty active as a kid and never thought about my weight. I also never thought twice about fitting into certain clothes or what I ate.
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As the years went on, I was introduced to fat burners, waist trainers, food restrictions, meal plans, and everything else under the sun. Like many of us, I was soon consumed with making myself smaller. Taking up less space was a good thing. I battled for years with body image (and still do to this day at times) but I found my calling for what I wanted to do with my life when I got to college and the rest is history.
I found out there was an entire career devoted to food and helping people - and I was sold :) When I started college, I wanted to major in photography (way opposite, right?). I didn’t even know you could major in nutrition.
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I'm a Georgia girl at heart and completed my Bachelor's degree in Nutrition and Food Science at Georgia Southern University in little old Statesboro, GA. I didn't take any breaks and knew I wanted to continue my education so after 5 years in undergrad, I immediately jumped into my Master's degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Sports Nutrition. Getting my Master's taught me the value of supporting everything you say with solid data and not speculation. I think that's a huge gap in the nutrition and fitness industry today. Many people try new things and if it works for them, they convince others it can work for them as well, without any solid evidence to back it up - only their own subjective opinion.
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The beauty of what I do as a dietitian is that all the information I provide is evidence-based. Meaning there has been research to support the data. Of course, I have my opinion on things but when it comes to nutrition nothing is ever PROVEN.
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SO, after my Master's degree, I got accepted into a dietetic internship which was ANOTHER year of school. Yes, dietitians go to school for a looonngggg time but that's what sets us apart from your average fitspo or "nutritionist". Years of education and training on how the body functions, metabolism, food service, and community nutrition.
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One year later I completed my internship and life got crazy! I got married, moved to Texas, and started adulting :) My first job out of school was at a Life Time fitness center. Before I moved to Texas I had never heard of Life Time. For any of you that have been it is like the mecca of gyms....it's more like a resort LOL. When I got out of school my main area of interest was sports nutrition and I thought this would be a great stepping stone for me! Working at Life Time exposed me to my first experience with nutrition coaching. It was nothing like what I learned in school. I had to manage my own business and coach people on how to live a healthy, balanced lifestyle. I wasn't a coach?!? But I loved it! Eventually, I decided to leave Life Time to pursue my own coaching business.
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I currently work part-time as a clinical dietitian in a hospital, but I also coach clients online because my love for nutrition coaching never left me! I thoroughly enjoy the process of watching my clients grow into confident and empowered versions of themselves which they didn't know they could be. It's so liberating being in charge of your health and it's my goal to help YOU find a healthy balance with nutrition and living your life!