My Story: Why CHI Energy Bites™
As any athlete knows, finding the right fuel to consume at the right time can mean the difference between just getting through the day and conquering the day. At the highest level, it’s the difference between missing or winning an Olympic gold. Knowing what to eat, and when, for what you are trying to accomplish is key to success in both sport and life. Eating snacks that energize and leave you satisfied without complicated ingredients can help you achieve your personal goals. CHI Energy Bites™ were created with exactly these goals in mind.
My Mission
As an athlete, wife, full-time sports and performance nutritionist, professional chef and working mom of three, I know firsthand how much physical and emotional energy it takes to juggle the daily demands of family and work while staying in shape throughout the chapters of life.
From a near-death, head-on car crash with a drunk driver at 18, I have climbed back, picked myself up and built myself back from broken to whole again. This experience gave me a purpose-driven reason to live, to serve and to give back to others to help them find their own purpose in life. Dealing with and healing from physical and emotional trauma was my hardest “run,” but it was certainly not my first or last run!
The comeback required me to dig deep and integrate my strong faith, fitness, emotional strength, and passion for eating a plant-based diet by taking one day at a time toward optimal health. In order to heal myself, I learned about nutrition, psychology and the culinary arts. Along the way, I earned credentials to also professionally and ethically guide and coach others toward optimal health. I also harnessed my fitness toward becoming an elite athlete: Florida Running and Triathlon Magazine honored me as one of “Florida’s Finest,” a top professional triathlete and competitive runner.
As an award-winning certified sports nutritionist, licensed counselor, board-certified culinary medicine specialist and chef, I have also been blessed to enjoy a 40-year athletic career as a professional triathlete and runner. I have competed in more than 35 marathons (PR 2:52), Ironman Lake Placid, hundreds of races from sprint to ultra-distance, and as a member of the 2004 World Long Distance Duathlon Championships for Team USA. I know what it takes to eat like a great athlete.
Beyond my own athletic career, I’ve also worked with thousands of athletes representing more than 20 sports, including multiple Olympic gold, silver, and bronze medalists. I was the team nutritionist for the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Teams. I’ve both coached and created the core nutrition coaching certification curriculum for USA Triathlon, and I’ve been the Chef Nutrition Expert for the Zumba Plate® Program and Strong by Zumba® Challenge. I have written eight books and numerous textbook chapters, served as Nutrition Editor for SoBeFit Magazine, and presented culinary sports and performance presentations worldwide.
As you can see, I have enough experience personally and professionally to know when something is missing in my athlete’s diets. CHI Energy Bites™ are specifically designed to replace what is missing, one bite at a time.
My life mission is to help you find your chi 氣 — the energy and life force that drives you, inspires you and motivates you to be the best you can be in sport, health, and life. In Sanskrit, the word namaste means “I bow to you.” I honor you and your choice to choose healthy snacks for yourself and for your loved ones.
May CHI Energy Bites be just the beginning of the healthiest chapter of your life!