My Journey
If you're here it's because you want to know a little bit more about me and why I do what I do.
Well, in the words of St. Zelie Martin:
“I want to become a saint; it will not be easy at all. I have a lot of wood to chop, and it is as hard as stone. I should have started sooner, while it was not so difficult; but, in any case, better late than never.”
As I mentioned before, I'm a Certified Holistic Nutritionist, Health Coach, and Personal Trainer, with seven years of experience in the industry. I'm also currently going through Avila Institute's School for Spiritual Formation, and on the path to becoming a Spiritual Director for women.
Instead of using this page to talk about my experience and credentials, I'd rather take you on a little journey to better understand how God led me to leaving behind everything I thought I wanted, for something so much better. So let's start at the beginning...
I grew up in a big Catholic family and I'm the third of seven kids! The faith was a central part of my upbringing, but like many, I never really had a relationship with the Lord and I definitely did not know His free, and perfect love for me. I bring this up because I see it as the most common thread in all women who struggle to see themselves as Beloved daughters of Christ: The need to earn love.
My health journey started at a young age as I always struggled with chronic illness, digestive issues, and anxiety. Basically I never felt quite right and that feeling only intensified as I got into high school, and decided to pursue a career in professional ballet. What happens when you take a young girl who's already anxious and feels the need to earn love, then put her in a high stress atmosphere centered around perfection? A downward spiral.
The lie of the enemy that says you're only worthy if "x" crept in, and led to an eating disorder that I battled with throughout all of high school and into my early 20's. My identity at the time was wrapped in the idea of being the "perfect ballerina", and I would do whatever it took to accomplish that. And in my case, whatever it took was completely neglecting the gift of my body and letting it crumble.
From there I developed a cascade of symptoms and health issues that took over my life. My digestive system shut down making it painful to eat, adrenal fatigue, hormonal imbalances (completely lost my cycle for two years), skin issues, brain fog, disordered eating, and a very long list of food sensitivities. Not to mention the list of injuries I accumulated that eventually ended my dance career. So my health was failing, and I also felt that I had lost my purpose in life because I was so far from being rooted in Christ at the time.
I had pretty much given up in my mind and hit complete rock bottom in my life, personally, physically, and spiritually. I wasn't living the faith I proclaimed to be a part of besides going to Church on Sundays, but truthfully I had felt God speaking to my heart for quite some time calling me back to Him. Eventually I found my way out of the health struggles and chronic pain I was in as God led me into the field of health and fitness, and it became my greatest passion and desire to help others do the same. My faith then? Let's just say the mustard seed started growing, but I was not ready to turn to Him knowing how unworthy I felt of His love.
Little did I know that He wasn't going to take no as an answer. I started to connect dots in my life and in my healing journey, of how the more I started to root my life in Him and the faith, the healthier my body became. Vice versa, when I would drift from Him and turn back to living in ways I knew did not align with His teachings, the health issues would return. I couldn't ignore what I knew was happening, and I desperately wanted to share these things with the clients I was working with. I found that the nutrition, exercise, and supplements were only touching the tip of the iceberg, and if I truly wanted to change people's lives, I had to go deeper.
Thus started a seven year journey of surrendering my healing over to Christ, and letting Him guide my every decision. It was a lot of unbecoming the noise that the world had planted in my head, and allowing His love to fill those places instead. Slowly it was as if every lie I ever believed became quiet background noise, or disappeared all together, and for the first time I could hear the truth. After years and years of looking in the mirror and hating what I saw, as God emptied me of myself, I finally could see Him in my reflection. And this is why I do what I do today.
When I decided to Go all in on Christ, He sent me on a path of preaching what really is the Gospel message to all women: His great love for us. He put the desire so strongly on my heart to live out His greatest commandments to love Him above all else, and to love others as I would love myself. But in order to do that, we have to actually love ourselves, meaning learning to take care of the gift that our body is and truly seeing it as the gift it is. So that is my mission here ladies, to help you strip away the lies and all that is not of Christ in your life, in order to fully step into your God given identity and become the saint this world needs you to be.
Welcome along to the journey, it is good that you are here!
What clients are saying...
"I was afraid to think about macros and food after having an eating disorder for years, but through my work with Grace to acknowledge these fears and work through them, I quickly realized my body wasn’t getting enough of the right nutrients. Adjusting my consumption of proteins, fats, and carbs has quite literally shaped me into a healthier human. And I don’t count calories or macros or eat under 2,000 calories to make this happen.
What’s most remarkable about working with Grace is the way she incorporates emotional, mental, and spiritual health into her coaching philosophy. I didn’t realize how much my career and lack of prayer life were wreaking havoc on my body’s nervous system and playing into my constipation, mood, and energy levels. Grace held space for me to unpack those messy areas of my life, and I have left every coaching session feeling lighter than when I logged on.
So yes, this program can help transform you physiologically. But it also equips you with the tools you need to transform your mind and dismiss limiting beliefs so you can become a more authentic version of yourself that you love waking up as."
- Emily Morgan
