“Within 4 months, my blood counts were 25% improved, back to where they were 5 years before! Every year I’m feeling better and I have the knowledge and skills to manage these situations now without the fear of more treatments and nasty side effects. That’s the definition of empowerment!”
Meet Allison!
Hi there! I’m excited to get to know you.
I’m going to let you in on a secret: I’m incredibly competitive — both physically and mentally — and I am obsessed with being strong and healthy. I never met a sport I didn’t like to play or a challenge I shied away from. As a child, you could see me in ballet, baton-twirling, gymnastics, softball (winning the Texas state-championships!), figure-skating, high jump, hurdles, tennis, golf, volleyball, basketball, cheerleading, 5K, 10K and marathon running. Phew, do you feel bad for my parents?
I want to share my personal wellness journey with you…
Despite my mental stamina and focus, my childhood included cases of pneumonia, frequent nose bleeds, asthma, severe allergies, frequent infections, chronic fatigue and of course several bone/joint injuries. I set out to pursue a career in medicine after appendicitis at age 16. My pre-med college classes in physiology and immunology were amazing. However, I learned that I would never be happy in the business of sickness because I am most passionate about health promotion and prevention. So I headed to Berkeley, Calif., to get my Master’s Degree in Public Health Nutrition.
Along the way I interned at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (say that three times fast!). A media project there convinced me that journalism was my next move. I moved to Los Angeles and worked in TV, radio, print and digital media for almost 20 years for Comcast, UCLA and Yahoo, ending my corporate career as the Director of Yahoo’s Health and Women’s Lifestyle sites. At that time very few people knew I was going through a major health crisis.
In 2010, I was diagnosed with reproductive cancer. Some very smart people at UCLA spared my fertility — I was warned it would come back in 3 years. Did you hear that starting gun, because the race was on to have a baby before the cancer returns! Fertility treatments revealed a blood autoimmune disease that made pregnancy extremely risky and simply cutting my finger a 24-hour recovery process. Two kids and four years later, the cancer returned. It was caught early, thankfully, but the autoimmune disease was creating so much stress in my life.
After all of this, I honestly lost faith in my body. The next few years were lived in survival mode. I felt awful: I’d been walking around with a chronic asthma attack for months, my digestive system was a mess, my platelet counts were dangerously low from that autoimmune disease. When I was told I was going to need long-term steroids, I’d had enough! Research led me to an anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle. Within 4 months, my blood counts were 25% improved, back to where they were 5 years before! Every year I’m feeling better and I have the knowledge and skills to manage these situations now without the fear of more treatments and troublesome side effects. That’s the definition of empowerment!
Although I do health for a living, I’m human just like you. After letting my good habits slide during the Covid lockdown, I recently lost 20 pounds, started running races again, and am training for my first triathlon next year! In fact, I created a new program called the Atomic Reset (www.AtomicReset.me) to help you get your groove back, too. (Set up a consultation to learn more!)
Our bodies have the most amazing ability to rebound, restore, and fight if we give them the tools to succeed. After living this anti-inflammatory lifestyle for several years, my autoimmune disease is in remission, I’m cancer free and — most importantly — I get to kiss two sweet babies (who are no longer babies) every night. What else did I learn through this experience? That intention I set to work in “well care,” not “sick care,” has come full circle in a way I couldn’t have imagined. I took the scenic route to get here, but I’m beyond excited to be part of this new Functional Medicine and Functional Nutrition world. I can’t wait to show you how much more you can get out of life. Let’s start a conversation and see if it’s a good fit for you, too.