Meet Nikkuu

Registered Holistic Nutritionist

My journey with food began like many others – a seemingly harmless diet, with the intent of shedding a few pounds to get back into some of my favourite clothes. For years, I struggled with the “calories in-calories out” notion, bouncing back and forth between excessive exercise and calorie counting, followed by an

equally unsatisfactory period of weight gain and defeat. While I did find some success in my efforts, I could never find anything I could stick to long term. And the longer this cycle continued, the more my health was affected, until finally I realized that perhaps it was time for a change.

It wasn’t long after, that that moment of change arrived. It came in the form of being loaned a book on alternative healing methods. While absorbing myself in its pages, I began to see food in a whole new light. It struck me that up until then, I had paid no attention to the quality of my food, and was making decisions strictly based on quantity alone. I felt an exhilaration I hadn’t felt in ages, and immediately began following some of the suggestions. With each change I made, I saw a marked improvement, and from then on, everything I read had to do with food and how I could use it to improve my health. The more I learned, the more I experimented - constantly seeking that perfect solution that would address all my problems. I bounced from one healing diet to the next, accompanied by an equal array of practitioners. In an attempt to get the best of all worlds, I combined elements from each approach, finding myself with an increasingly limited intake of select “healthy” foods, and an ever-growing “to do” list of suggested lifestyle practices.

Instead of navigating a world of yo-yo dieting and short-lived gym memberships, I was now negotiating times of obsessively healthy eating with those of reckless abandon, where none of my rules applied. With each perceived failure, a more refined regimen arose, every time assuring myself: “This is finally it. This is the solution, and if I can just keep this up long enough, everything will get better”. What I didn’t tell myself was that I had developed a problem that ran much deeper than any physical symptom.

It wasn’t until I was completing my studies that I very clearly began to see how my passion for food was actually a part of my problem, and that no diet, no matter how perfect, could even come close to a whole solution. There‘s no doubt that it’s an important component. However, on this most recent part of my journey, I’ve explored the possibility that perhaps there’s more to it than the grams of protein we consume, or the recommended daily intake of vitamins, minerals and the like. In fact, I’ve proven to myself that the solution is indeed an all-encompassing one; evaluating not only our relationships with food, and those we share with others, but most importantly demands that we heal the one we have with ourselves. It is my belief that the key to lasting change involves every part of us, and that if we’re willing to invest, we’ll see the rewards are equal in measure.

I don't presume to have all the answers, but what I do know is how important it is to have someone who has come through it already extend a helping hand to help you walk down the same path. My teachers have been many, and I'd like to share their lessons with you.