About me...

Hey there! I’m Adria, a Certified, Trauma-Informed Life Coach, and Physical Therapist.

Oh yeah! And a runner that has recovered from disordered eating and a horrible relationship with my body! I struggled for over a decade. And now, I can truly say I have found the way to finally stop this awful cycle once and for all! And, I don’t want you to suffer any longer.

Better Does Exist!

What you should know about me goes so much deeper than my certifications & degree, or my status as a runner.

What allows me to help other females is my raw experience. My experience of seriously hating my body, using food as a way to numb myself, and abusing my love for running as a way to find control. 

And my experience of feeling crazy around food, calories, & tracking. Of severely restricting for years and eventually getting stuck in the horrible cycle of dieting & binging. I know the feeling of something else taking over your mind & body and not being able to stop. And the god-awful thoughts about yourself the next day; the hate, shame, and guilt. I have felt the need to run harder, faster, and longer to make up for the extra calories and to be able to “earn” food for the day.

Ladies, I freaking get it!

The shorter(ish) version of my story is this…

I fell in love with running in 2009. But, somewhere along my journey, I became so into having the runner’s body and low-carb diet to go along with the identity. It became a game of numbers.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but looking back I now know there was a part of me that felt so unsafe & so disconnected from my body. At that time, the only way I knew how to create a sense of safety, love, trust, and connection, was through control and playing that game.

This manifested in control of food, my body,  and abusing my love for running. This went on for years. Then something happened…

I qualified for & ran the Boston Marathon

I finished the race and looked down at my scrawny legs and thought to myself, “how the heck can I treat my body so poorly, yet it continues to perform so well for me?“

You see, at that moment, I thought I had “healed“, simply because something clicked in my brain and I decided that it was “okay” to eat again. But all I had was a realization and a little bit more awareness.

But I had not actually healed the part of me that felt unsafe, unloved, and that was so badly craving control and lacking trust.

So, these unmet needs started to manifest as other habits, from emotional eating, obsessive-compulsive eating, and getting stuck in the cycle of restricting & binging daily.

I was still constantly thinking about food, how my body looked, and how many miles I needed to run to burn the calories. Parties & plans that involved food brought on so much stress. I would restrict all day, barely eat at the party, and end up binging at night. Then I would wake up the next day and the first thoughts in my head were “I hate myself”. How horrible is that, to think that to yourself, repeatedly, day after day?

Although I may have externally appeared to be better nourished, I was still hurting internally.

Until once again, I had another realization

I started to go to CrossFit and saw how strong and capable my body was. Again, I thought to myself, “not only can my body endure miles and miles, but it is also bad-a** enough to complete these grueling.”

This dose of confidence gave me another push in the right direction. I started to realize the cycle I was stuck in & I started to slowly think of food as fuel vs. reward or punishment  I was flooded with an appreciation of what my body could do. More awareness of my situation was pouring in.

But STILL! This was all superficial. None of these realizations were allowing me to fully heal my relationship with food and my body.

It was not until I started working with my own coach that I realized the problem wasn’t the food or my body, but something so much deeper.

This is where I finally realized these years of disordered eating and a poor relationship with food and my body stemmed from the lack of feeling safe and feeling loved. To help feel safe and loved I chose to find something to control in my life; food and running. But this only brought on a false sense of safety and love.

But now I know how to truly meet those needs healthily and sustainably. My experience with a coach dug down deep into feeling which allowed true healing to occur.

I was so amazed by the transformation I went through in just a matter of months. So amazed that I knew I needed to help others as well.

In my training, I not only learned, but I have embodied the teachings. And it is through this embodiment (rather than memorization) and my experience that allows me to help you to truly heal your relationship with food and your body and allow you to once again run freely.

My mission is to help as many female runners as I can fall back in love with themselves and with running. I will help you find food freedom and body acceptance, allowing you to run and live freely once again.

Better does exist!

Adria