Co-Founder

Growing up in a Mexican immigrant household, health/wellness was never the priority. My parents devoted all of their time to ensuring the bills were paid, there was food on the table, and their kids were receiving an education, but they didn’t have the resources or knowledge to teach me and my siblings how to eat well and exercise. I was overweight for most of my life and eventually, obese in college. This affected every aspect of my life, especially my relationship with myself and others. I didn’t like myself and the foods I was eating did NOT make me feel good. I was often seeking comfort in the foods I ate and feeling worse after eating them. Eventually, I made the decision to alter my lifestyle to something that serves me better. I started working out and making small, healthier decisions. It started with just going to the gym twice a week, then three, cutting junk food, running one mile, then three, until getting to the place where I am now. It does not happen overnight. The dedication, consistency, and patience has to be there.

Today, I’m a runner, a marathoner, and I lift regularly 3x per week. I am the healthiest I have ever been and it all started with just taking that first step. Changing my lifestyle helped me love myself and build better relationships with others and food. This is what drives me to help others in the in their wellness journeys so they can live longer, healthier lives.

Co-Founder

Early on in life my health took some twists and turns. In my infancy I was diagnosed with severe asthma. The first half of my life was largely spent in and out of doctor appointments, on medications, regularly needing an inhaler and from time to time being hooked up to breathing machines. I really enjoyed being active but was regularly reminded of my limits. It was like all the other kids at school could just play forever and I would just hit a wall and be done for. That feeling ate me up.

After watching some documentary with my father, I decided to cut red meat and chicken out of my diet. I went pescatarian. That was right before my 13th birthday. Shortly thereafter, I began to notice dramatic changes in my health. The asthmatic kid was gone. For high school I ran track for 3 years, and cross country for one. Just a few years earlier, I couldn’t imagine being able to compete in a sport.

Fast forward to college my health journey once again took twists and turns. After regularly being characterized as the tall skinny kid much of my life I immersed myself into weight training. Packing about 15 pounds of muscle in 2 years people went from doubting I ever went to the gym to asking me for advice on working out. It was quite the bizarre turn of events. The high didn’t last long though.

I suffered multiple injuries over a couple years. The skinny kid wasn’t satisfied and tried getting too big too fast. During a bulk cycle my body gave out. My mobility diminished. The once upon a time track athlete was missing. One back injury and multiple ankle injuries later I got to thinking. After loads of thoughts and research, I opted to change my diet entirely. Since, I largely eat plant based. My body has never felt better.

All in all I realized taking command of your health is really difficult. However, your body is really smart. What you feed the body with both foods and beyond sets yourself up for success or failure. You just got to keep showing up for yourself.