My Journey with Food, Mood, and Gut Health

When it comes to health, I believe in looking at the body as an interconnected whole; not just isolated symptoms or separate systems. As a holistic nutritionist, I see the gut as central to this connection, influencing everything from our energy and mood to our hormones and immune function.

Food is incredibly powerful, but it's just one piece of the puzzle. True wellness also involves sleep, stress, movement, our environment, relationships, and even our thoughts. It’s all connected; and when we support the whole, we create space for lasting change.

Let me take you back for a moment

Growing up, I was that sensitive, curious, barefoot ranch kid who loved being outside; catching frogs, collecting wildflowers, building fairy houses in the dirt. I was shy with new people until I felt safe, but deeply imaginative and full of energy when I was in my element.

That started to shift in middle school when I moved to a new town. I had a very difficult time with the transition. My nervous system became completely dysregulated, and that began to shape how I experienced the world. I didn’t have the language for it then, but I was living in a constant state of fight-or-flight.

I started dealing with extreme social anxiety, though I couldn’t explain what I was feeling at the time. I would black out during conversations, shake uncontrollably, sweat through my clothes, and feel completely disconnected and panicked in situations that weren’t actually dangerous; but felt that way in my body. 

This became my baseline. 

At the same time, I developed a very complicated relationship with food. It became a way to feel safe, to cope, to control something when everything else felt chaotic. What started as subtle patterns turned into a cycle of restriction, bingeing, and purging in many many forms that lasted close to a decade. All the while, my gut was silently suffering.

The brain fog felt like part of me. It kept me in bed, sometimes for days, weeks or months. It wiped out my focus and scattered my thoughts. I moved through life with my feet stuck in concrete blocks. I tried to run away from all of it—traveling all over the world—trying to escape my own mind hopping from country to country - and often feeling like I barely experienced it. I’d isolate myself in hostel beds or tucked into the back of my camper, caught in a heavy fog, unable to shake the weight of what I was feeling. Eventually, chronic fatigue started setting in

That little bubbly, barefoot girl I once was felt like a distant memory. This all started to feel like my new normal. I thought this was just who I was.

But through it all, my body never gave up on me. No matter how badly I mistreated it. It kept showing up. And It kept sending signals—whispers that I needed rest, nourishment, and support. Signals like bloating, skin issues, racing thoughts, tension in my chest, dizziness, and  fatigue that no amount of sleep could fix. It was always trying to get my attention.

And it asked, and asked… until it started telling.

After a summer of putting myself through extreme stress -like backpacking 40km in one day with 40 pounds on my back, running on only an apple and a piece of jerky, telling myself that’s all i needed - and hitting a deep low- I developed shingles and shattered a vertebra snowboarding within weeks of each other.

Three days before breaking my back, I remember catching my gaze in the mirror and feeling an overwhelming sense that something was about to shift. It felt like an alternate version of me was staring back, saying: Hey. You're about to go through something. It's going to be so hard; but it's the right path. I've got you. I'm going to hold your hand through this process. 

That moment stayed with me. It grounded me through my entire recovery. Every time I tried to count calories, purge, skip meals, or punish myself with exercise, that voice came up and guided me. And it still grounds me today. That broken vertebra; and the shingles that flared up just weeks before, weren’t random misfortunes. They were my body’s way of saying,

"Slow down. It's time to heal."

These events forced me to sit with myself and finally admit: I was not okay. I hadn’t been okay in years. Something needed to change; drastically.

The next couple of years became about healing; starting with my relationship with food. I had a lot of time to reflect, to sit with myself, and it was during this time that I finally made the connection between my anxiety and my eating disorder. I started to understand how tightly woven they actually were.

Even though I was making progress with food, I still felt like I didn’t have the energy, the power, or—if I’m being honest—the desire to face what I knew was the root of so much: the anxiety and everything that led up to its development

Then I went to school for nutrition. My passion was deeply rooted in helping others build a healthier relationship with food; but in the process, I started uncovering something I hadn’t expected. I learned about the gut. And I realized just how deeply my gut health had been impacting my mind and nervous system all along.

The more I reflected, the more I saw it clearly; how gut imbalances had quietly shaped so many parts of my life. My mental health struggles, my weight, my confidence, my education, my social life, my closest relationships. Even yes the eating disorder and anxiety. The things I had been trying to heal were tangled up in a deeper gut-nervous system connection I didn’t yet understand.

It wasn’t until I started making intentional changes to support my gut that I realized how much power I really had over my own well-being. For the first time in years, the fog started to lift. My nervous system became more resilient. And finally I felt like I could access the self-growth and healing that used to feel completely out of reach. I had the energy to get out of bed and the motivation to do the deep therapeutic work to heal my inner child.

For years, my nervous system had been stuck in fight-or-flight. Constant overdrive. And my gut was paying the price. 

What no one told me was just how connected it all was; how my anxiety, digestive issues, brain fog, and burnout were all speaking the same language.

This wasn’t just about food. It was about how my body was responding to the world around me.

So let’s break this down.

When we talk about healing, we often expect big, dramatic moments. But for me, and for many of my clients,  healing started in the small, quiet ones; moments of listening. Paying attention to what my body had been trying to say for years. And the more I listened, the louder it got.

If you’ve ever felt like your mood, anxiety, or brain fog were out of your control; that you’ve tried everything but still feel stuck, there might be more to the story. You might need to zoom out. And your gut just might be the missing piece.

When we experience bloating, fatigue, mood swings, skin flare-ups, bowel changes, or brain fog; those symptoms are often signals. They’re how the body speaks when something deeper is going on, especially within our digestive and nervous systems.

Your gut and brain are intimately connected through the vagus nerve. What affects one, affects the other. Our gut hosts our enteric nervous system, which holds around 500 million neurons, constantly communicating with our brain. If you’ve ever gotten butterflies in your stomach before a big moment - or felt that queasy pit when you’re stressed - you’ve literally felt your “second brain” in action. Those fluttering nerves are your enteric nervous system sending signals up through the vagus, reminding your brain that something’s happening down below.   

When your gut is out of balance, it can send distress signals to the brain; fueling anxiety, low mood, and stress. And the reverse is true too: chronic stress can disrupt gut function, creating a feedback loop that feels hard to break.

But there's good news! That loop can be broken. I’m living proof :)

We can support the gut. We can soothe the nervous system. We can find balance. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it takes care, attention, and consistency.

My journey has ignited a deep passion to help others build a strong, sustainable nutritional foundation; one that empowers you to live fully and freely, without sacrificing your relationship with food.

Finding that balance can be hard. Whether you're a teen trying to sift through the noise of social media and peer pressure, a parent or caregiver striving to set a healthy example for your family, someone trying to get away from the chains of diet culture, or someone simply looking to reignite your spark and feel like yourself again;

I'm here for you.

This isn’t about restriction or perfection. It’s about learning to nourish your body and mind in a way that supports the life you want to live.

Start your journey with a FREE, no commitment meet & greet here

Until next time :)

~ Melissa