My health was at an all-time low and I was at my heaviest. When you weigh 205 pounds at just 5 feet 3 inches tall, everything aches. That’s a lot of weight to carry around.

Ever since I was a child, I was always so heartbroken to hear stories of animal cruelty; yet, I thought that a plant-based diet was extreme, unsustainable and just not for me. 

I mean, the prospect of eating salads for the rest of my life was plain ugly. 

How could I ever do that to myself?

I’ve struggled with my weight since I was a child and I’ve been on more diets than you can shake a stick at. 

But nothing ever stuck. 

I’d lose some weight, then pack it right back on. Sometimes, there’d be some bonus pounds too. My health continued to suffer. 

I developed Hypothyroidism, which only made it that much harder to get healthy. I felt exhausted all the time, even though I was sleeping 16 hours a day, and I lived with this constant brain fog. 

The meds just made it worse.

So, there I was, struggling with my body image and pretty much hating the way I looked. My body felt old beyond its years and I was the one hiding behind others when pictures were being taken. 

Since I had tried everything under the sun, I figured I’d go vegetarian. It was pretty much the only thing I hadn’t done, and I thought it would tie in nicely with my personal values. 

Now, don’t think everything changed overnight, like the sun rising over the horizon with a choir singing in the background.

It was the exact opposite. 

Oh, I did lose some weight and I got an ego boost knowing that I was doing something for the animals. 

The fact is that I was pretty much eating just as much junk as a vegetarian as I had been before. 

It was just different junk.

The problem was that I had NO CLUE what I was doing. I had no idea how to make veggie dishes that were tasty, so I was eating a lot of processed foods, mock meats, and store-bought meals from the freezer section.

I was eating the same things over and over again. Plus, I was eating tiny portions because… let’s just say that I was less than inspired by what I was eating.

Somehow, I’d been convinced that I needed to be a professional chef to make plant-based foods tasty. Boy, was I wrong! 

I don’t even want to think about the nutrients I wasn’t getting. I had no concept of how to balance a plant-based meal, so I was probably missing out on a lot of vital nutrients. 

That was the turning point for me. 

I realized something was wrong somewhere, but I didn’t know what. 

I decided to do something about it, though it took two years of struggles and frustrations for me to finally put my foot down. 

I enrolled in a Holistic Nutrition program. I had finally accepted that if I wanted to get healthy, I needed to educate myself. 

I needed to learn how to eat a proper whole food plant-based diet instead of eating anything and everything, as long as it was plant-based. 

It’s one of the best decisions I ever made. 

Eighteen months after I started the course, I became a Certified Holistic Nutritionist and I haven’t looked back. 

I changed my way of eating completely. Now, I eat delicious plant-based foods that I love. 

My portions are abundant, so I feel sated after every meal and I never feel deprived. 

More importantly, I feel amazing! My self-esteem skyrocketed and I don’t feel the need to hide anymore. 

I’m full of energy and enjoy life to the fullest. Even my adult acne cleared up!

I did all that without eating salads day in and day out – I’m not a fan of raw veggies or salads. 

I also did it without spending hours upon hours in the kitchen. 

I developed strategies and techniques to speed up the process. So much so that I think I spend less time in the kitchen now than I used to when I was eating an animal-based diet.

Most religions and beliefs in the world, even those who aren’t Christians, believe that our body is a temple. I’m finally treating mine like the temple it is. 

For the past five years, I’ve been ghostwriting health-related content for various international companies and online magazines. I’ve finally worked up the courage to share my knowledge under my own name. Now, I can let my inner nutrition nerd out to play.

I want to help women of faith, just like me, become healthier and happier. I want to help you avoid the struggles I faced and make adopting a whole food plant-based lifestyle easy, delicious, and fun!

That’s also why I’m focused on building a community of like-minded ladies. 

When I was first transitioning, I wished I could find a community like that. A place where I could feel safe and find the support I needed. 

Instead, all I found were communities where I was judged and criticized. There was no compassion to be found anywhere.

Everyone expected me to be perfect, which is not only impossible but unsustainable over the long-term.

I know how important it is to have a community to support you as you go through the same journey together.

I might also have a little bit of a selfish motivation in creating this community. I was raised Catholic and I’m now a Christian, and I really want to be surrounded by more Christians, online and offline.

As I’ve said, perfection is impossible. I still have moments when the devil instills self-doubt. It took time to recognize that God created me in His image (Genesis 1:27) and that if I’m that special, then I need to embrace my God-given talents and gifts, including my body.

The more time I spend in His Word and reading the Bible, the more peace and contentment I feel. My faith centers me.

It also helps me persevere in those moments when I’m feeling down. Prayer reminds me He’s there and that I should hand Him the burden.

I remind myself how far I’ve come. That I now eat food that’s so delicious, people want the recipes, even though they don’t follow the same lifestyle.

That I’m much healthier and full of energy.

That I have a responsibility to care for my body as the God-given gift it is.

Bella xo

a little bit about me

• Saved by grace, though faith

• In a love affair with anything to do with Harry Potter 

• Embarrassingly obsessed with my dog, Mr. Marley

• Can often be found roaring with laughter while watching the greatest TV show ever – Friends, duh!

• Recovering couch potato & former die-hard veggie-hater

• Likes to be out and about, enjoying the beauty of nature

• Fixated on constantly expanding my knowledge and understanding of everything

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