NBC-HWC-Certificate-A-3887633-1Download Why should you care if I am a Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach? Isn’t my background as a Registered Nurse and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor enough to provide the kind of care and services that people are looking for these days? Friends tease me all the time: “That’s a lot of letters you have behind your name!” Those are great questions that I think all Health Coaches should be prepared to answer in regards to what they are already offering in terms of credentials and education. Health Coaching as a buzz word is relatively new, emerging in t ..read more

In April 2023, I finished a certification course to prepare me to be a Master Health Coach. Why Master Health Coaching if I’m already a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and a Registered Nurse? Master Health Coaching, in my opinion, is a strong adjunctive field that helps people identify their most precious health goals and find within their own stories and experiences a pathway to not only realize those goals but to create habits that they choose to maintain the lifestyle they create. The Coaches role is to be a navigator and collaborator in a dynamic process that supports the self-determinat ..read more

How Is THAT Working For You? During the past 28 months, I’ve often found myself F2F — or, camera to camera! – – with people who were trying to make sense of what they had heard regarding the pandemic in America. Given the changes taking place over the months as the evolving scientific data rolled in, I could completely understand why those without a science background found themselves unsure and hesitant over what to do, how to protect themselves from illness, and whether the sacrificial actions they took would make any difference. There was so much information, and even more misinformation. B ..read more

A brand New Year has arrived. And it is totally OK to stare at that date on the calendar — January 1 – and not feel particularly moved by it. Maybe you just finished another “dumpster fire” year, filled with cancelled plans, more social distancing than you would have liked, and a struggle just to stay away from one of two pandemic variants. Delta and Omicron have given us more familiarity with the Greek Alphabet than some of us have cared to know. New Year, same you? Or is there a shift in the way you are considering your current thinking around your health and your health maintenance behavior ..read more

Hiking and camping in Mt. Rainier National Park has been on my bucket list, yet figuring out how to feed myself across many days has been a barrier. Read how I problem solved my way through this amazing trip. Photo credit: KR, August 2021. When I first found out I won an early registration lottery to hike the Wonderland Trail in Mt. Rainier National Park this summer, I jumped on the opportunity. The moment the website for claiming group camping registrations opened, it was a quick grab fest, and without much time to hesitate, I clicked and grabbed and clicked and grabbed some more. Twenty minu ..read more

Trekking poles are a good idea for people of all abilities on varied terrain. However, they were essential when I became injured as well as on days when my own invisible illnesses made me too weak to walk on my own. Pictured here: Black Diamond aluminum trekking poles. What happens when it is time to return to work? Not everyone with Autoimmune Disease, allergies, or chronic illness experiences a lengthy period of FMLA or unemployment due to their health issues. However, some of us go through significant life changes, such as new baby, a move to another state, or even a change of employment th ..read more

Making dairy free dark chocolate cake with chocolate ganache (recipe from Artisanal Gluten Free Cooking by Kelli and Peter Bronski) can help with holiday cooking and baking traditions. It’s that time of the year again. Time to share with you my favourite kitchen and wellness things and ideas to consider as we head into 2021. This year, while on the frontlines in the COVID-19 response and the backlines supporting individuals and families as they cope with mental health issues and isolation because of pandemic restrictions in Washington State, I’ve pondered what the best gift of the season looks ..read more

Did you miss me?  I’ve been thinking about YOU. With the website name, My Allergy Advocate, you might be wondering why I didn’t name this website, “My Autoimmune and Allergy Disease Advocate”, especially if I knew that I would be helping people with diagnosed Autoimmune Disease and related conditions. It was actually a consideration in the early days of the start of this website as a project blog. Let me take you on a brief tour of where we’ve been and where we’re going. Why Allergy Instead of Autoimmune? Back in 2013, I was reading an article about Celiac Disease when I became suspicious ..read more

This is my personal story of illness and recovery, and should not be used for the purposes of self-diagnosis nor replace seeking medical attention and treatment. I’m Fine… Until I’m Not While pretty much the entire year has been a whopper for the world, it’s still fair to say that those with food allergies, asthma, autoimmune disease, and chronic illnesses face challenges that can leave us saying, “I know COVID-19 is bad, and I’ve been dealing with all this other stuff for years.” Can you relate? As a nurse and a mental health counselor, I’m not diminishing the dangers of being exposed to COVI ..read more

Eggs, kale, rice, and seaweed in the rehydrating process. Just add hot water, and you have a hot meal that you made yourself.   Sometimes, I still dream about what my life was once like when I could travel and not have to plan how I was going to feed myself away from home. Since the global pandemic reached our shores, millions of people joined me and others like me in the march of buying groceries, cooking at home, and washing endless amounts of dishes! All the while, we’re saying, “Been there, done that,” am I right? Yet with many of our national parks, camping, and local trails open f ..read more