From Litigation Attorney to Health Coach – My Call to Action

Last fall I was watching the TEDTalks series “Chew on This”.  The short, 18-minute presentation of chef, Jamie Oliver, had the most unforeseen and dramatic impact on my life.  At the time, I was finishing up my 5^th year of practice as a litigation attorney.  I had graduated from the very prestigious University of California, College of the Law in San Francisco, California and after 5 years of practice, I was very proud of the attorney I had become and of my professional successes and accolades.  And yet, less than one year later, I quit my job as a Senior Associate Attorney to become a Certified Health and Wellness Coach. 

Mr. Oliver’s words, which were nothing more than statistical facts about the dismal state of our country’s health, called me to action to start a Health Coaching practice which focuses on getting people back in the kitchen cooking more healthy meals for themselves and their families and to help inspire a social culture around real food and home-cooked meals.  My vision led my husband and I to create the business name Earthivore.  Earthivore describes people who only eat “real food” (food that grows in or on the earth) and who recognize that their food choices have a significant impact on our earth.

Here are Jamie Oliver’s life-changing words:

“The adults of the last four generations have blessed our children with the destiny of a shorter lifespan than their own parents.  Your child will live a life ten years younger than you because of the landscape of food that we have built around them.”

“I want to show a picture of my friend Brittany.  She’s 16 years old.  She’s got 6 years to live because of the food she’s eaten.  She’s the third generation of Americans that hasn’t grown up in a food environment where they have been taught to cook at home or in school or her mum or her mum’s mum.” 

I literally could not fathom the idea that there are three generations of American families who have never learned how to cook so that all of their meals are pre-made, processed or from restaurants, including fast food restaurants. 

For me, 95% of my meals and snacks are home-cooked, and it was this way even when I was a busy, overly stressed attorney.  Over the years I have created a wide variety of recipes for healthy meals and snacks.  Many of my recipes are focused on accommodating our busy lives, including recipes where I cook meals and snacks in bulk so that I only have to cook once to have food for the entire week, and simple, quick meals that can be prepared in less than 30 minutes.  It is also my personal philosophy that healthy food should taste great. 

Since the moment that I realized that my passion for healthy home-cooked meals is a scarcity in our modern American food culture, I have been on a mission to bring my knowledge and passion to others.  I truly believe that cooking delicious, healthy foods is something that everyone can have for their lives. 

The vision of my health coaching practice is to get people back in the kitchen cooking more healthy meals for themselves and their families and to help inspire a social culture around home-cooked meals.