About

Hey! I’m so glad you’re here!

I’m Caroline– a wife, mama, and happy resident of the Sunshine State.

One thing to know about me is I get really excited about good food. By good food, I mean real food. Food that nourishes your body AND your taste buds. Some of my favorite foods are dates, avocados, runny eggs, and 75% dark chocolate. 🙂

Another thing to know about me is that I’m down-to-earth. There’s no need to try to maintain aesthetics around me. I really appreciate when people are willing to present themselves honestly. I love going barefoot in shorts and a t-shirt. Honestly, I don’t care if I get sweaty. I love working hard, playing hard, and living fully.

To balance that all out though, I also value self-care and taking time to wind down and be still and introspective. It’s important, and we all need it in order to be well as whole people. Nourishment isn’t just about our bodies or eating healthy food. It’s also about taking care of our minds and our souls.

My Story

I’ve been interested in health and wellness pretty much my whole life. I studied Exercise Science in college (and loved every second of it!) with plans to continue on to chiropractic school after graduation. I was very driven to excel in the field of health science, and I genuinely wanted to help people discover their best health. I felt like I had such momentum in my pursuits and that nothing would stop me…

…Until something did.

During my senior year of college, I felt I was at my peak academic performance. I was conducting undergraduate research in my field and excelling in my classes all while juggling my new role as a wife (which I loved by the way). But I became so achievement-oriented that I was willing to push myself beyond my limits to ensure my professors (or my peers) never saw me struggle or fail at something. I had believed the lie that you won’t “reach your full potential” unless you pursue a big career in something. Underneath it all, I think I really just wanted people’s approval and affirmation. My perceived need for their affirmation became so strong that I was willing to sacrifice the things that actually mattered…and my health started to pay for it.

A few months before graduation, I developed gastroparesis, lost my cycle, and couldn’t sleep through the night without waking up at 3 am to panic attacks and extreme hunger. My weight dropped to 85 lbs. My body thought I was in danger, and it was shutting down any of its systems that it didn’t consider vital for survival. Turns out, all of this was due to chronic stress.

That was a huge wake-up call for me, and it forced me to re-evaluate my core values as a person. I had to accept that if I continued living this way, I would be sacrificing my vitality, my quality of relationships, and possibly even my ability to have kids all for…what?…doing what other people wanted me to do so I could have their affirmation? Umm… not worth it!!

The only solution to getting my health and life back was to make a radical shift in my lifestyle and my priorities. I had to get honest with myself and let go of the lie that my achievements are directly tied to my value as a person. I had to be willing to embrace rest and stop enslaving myself to perfectionism. I had to identify the true meaning of “reaching your full potential”…just to let you in on a secret, it has nothing to do with the amount of work you do 😉

And that’s how this blog, Nourish Yourself, was started. It’s my way of sharing with you the things that I am learning on my journey of creating a life and a home that nourishes my family and I from the inside out.

Here on the blog, you’ll find lots of delicious, real-food recipes straight from my kitchen as well as wellness tips and down-to-earth living inspo. I believe that we have been created to experience a vibrant and meaningful life, and my goal is to inspire you to take hold of that every day.