What People Are Saying…
By working with Michele to transition to a plant-based diet, I dropped my cholesterol from 235 to 175 and brought my blood pressure down to a normal level.
I was treated with the utmost professional respect. Michele is conscientious, helpful, considerate of my needs, and genuinely interested in helping me attain my goals. She listened carefully to my thoughts about lifestyle, cooking preferences, etc.
I have learned a great deal about vegan eating and cooking. She is very knowledgeable about everything vegan and strove to meet me where I am at. I highly recommend her as a coach!
~Jeanne L
I consulted Michele after falling and breaking my wrist. The break required surgery to repair and I wanted to maximize my healing and recovery through positive, healthful behaviors. Michele designed a custom program focusing on bone health and overall wellness. I appreciated her knowledge about nutrition, but also her expertise as a PT.
At 6 weeks post-surgery, my doctor said my healing was ”perfect.” I am grateful for the wisdom and expertise that I received from Michele, but I am even more grateful for the care and concern she showed for me and my recovery. Thank you!
~Jeannie G
Michele is the world's best cheerleader! Her encouragement and recording of my successes helped me to shift into a growth mindset, overcoming my perfectionist tendencies and all-or-nothing patterns. She offered practical advice, tons of recipe recommendations, and good investigative reasoning as we sorted through my physical needs as well as solutions to food cravings!
I originally started working with Michele because I felt like my body was betraying me! In my mid-50's and already feeling so much older; unable to stand up from squatting or kneeling unassisted due to knee pain, seemingly uncontrolled weight gain, and batteries-dead-exhaustion. I was introduced to Michele at just the right time, as I was ready to do something radical to stop this downward decline in my health. After three weeks of adopting a whole-foods, plant-based diet, I was squatting down to get something out of the fridge, and stood back up unassisted. Startled, I realized that my knees didn't hurt. I went up and down a few times to confirm - I could stand up again! The only change in my lifestyle was dietary. I'm able to do stairs without trouble now, I've enjoyed some weight loss, and my energy is more normal - I get "normal" tired, not dead tired. While I still have cravings for old favorite foods, I'm choosing the "hard" of walking away from them, because the results are so obvious and worth the effort.
~SI
I was worried about the effects of getting older. I enjoy working out and felt I would have to give that up as I aged - due to the soreness and stiffness I was starting to experience. In addition, I was worried about Alzheimer's and cancer. When I heard Michele's presentation, I thought, could it really be as easy as changing my diet??? So I booked a free consultation and the rest was easy.
I have noticed many health benefits since working with Michele. I love to walk and run. Prior to working with Michele, I would experience stiffness after a 3-5 mile walk. If I sat for an hour after walking, I found it difficult to stand straight up. I would have to get up slowly. The next morning I would also be very stiff and my lower back would hurt. Since going to a plant-based diet, I no longer experience any of that stiffness. I can now walk 3-5 miles without any stiffness. I feel fantastic and can definitely attribute it to the new plant-based eating.
Working with Michele has been a delight! She has made the transition to plant-based food easy and fun. The recipes and encouragement that Michele provides is what made it easy to stick to it and try new recipes. I am and always have been a VERY picky eater. As such, I thought this would be very difficult and I was just hoping it would be something I could stick to so I would be heathy as I aged, but like I said, Michele made it easy and fun. I couldn't have done it without her by my side!
~ Jo B
Before I switched to a plant based diet, I was sick and wasn’t healthy at all. After working with Michele, I’ve become the healthiest version of myself and have found new foods that help me feel my best and achieve my goals of feeling stronger. I couldn’t have done it without her love and support! All I needed was a starting place and she guided me the rest of the way to obtain the goals I set at the beginning of my plant-based journey.
Michele is my hype-man of food! She supported and loved me through the ups and downs of my plant-based journey and it means the world to me. I couldn’t have done it without her!
~Alaina
To say we found Michele in our darkest hour is a major understatement. My daughter was struggling with anorexia at that time, and the only option offered by her primary care physician was at an intensive outpatient therapy program. This did not feel like a good fit, so we reached out to Michele. She was gracious enough to start working with us immediately while we waited in line for a counselor. Michele was absolutely an answer to a prayer! She did a wonderful job of connecting with my daughter and getting her excited about healthy food choices. We received an enormous amount of education in the sessions we completed together. This was a totally life changing experience. My daughter is now at a healthy BMI and is able to compete again as a Wisconsin state-ranked athlete.
Michele added so much more than education about nutrition. She invited us to engage in setting goals, celebrating wins, and pushing our thoughts further. More than this, she adds a warm, secure place to share concerns and fears and just talk about the struggles of working through your situation. She is so much more than a health coach. We’re forever grateful.
~Sarah
When I started working with Michele, I felt heavy and bloated, got nauseous easily, and would skip breakfast often. I had lots of acne and skin issues, and nothing was working! Since transitioning to eating plant based, I have energy, I feel lighter, my skin looks clearer, and I eat without nauseous after-effects! I also dropped 4 dress sizes, which was an unexpected plus.
I loved working with Michele! She always made our meetings fun and productive. By focusing on wins and strategies, she empowered me to take initiative on my food journey.
~Alyssa
I am floored by the results of doing something as simple as changing what I eat! I was able to drop my cholesterol 55 points, so I'm now in the normal range, in just over 2 months. My sleep is much better, my joints feel better, and the plantar fasciitis (which I had been experiencing for the last several years) is completely gone! I lost 14 pounds in just 2 1/2 months, and I really feel years younger.
Michele was so incredibly helpful! She encouraged me when things got tough. I’m a busy mom of four, and taking time and energy for myself can sometimes be a challenge. There was a point about 6 weeks into this experience where due to some personal circumstances, I was really tired and overwhelmed and feeling defeated. Having a coach to come alongside me during that time was invaluable! Michele reminded me of past successes, helped me to problem solve about some of the difficulties I was facing, and kept me going on the journey. I'm thankful that I had this experience, because the ups and downs have helped me to really decide that this is the way I want to live from here on out!
~Amy
I had been stuck at the same weight for over a year! Up a bit and down a bit, but the scale never changed more than 2 pounds. My daughter's wedding was about one year away and I wanted to try something "different" to shake things up for my body. So I decided to work with Michele and go plant-based. I lost weight, 20 pounds, in time for the wedding. And at the wedding, I felt great in my new dress!
I had always been an active person, but basically had stopped exercising because the extra weight I had been carrying around really bothered my joints. I began to exercise again, not only because of the weight loss but also because of my now-pain-free joints. Cutting dairy out of my diet, I immediately noticed a big difference in my knee pain and my swollen feet--that I hadn't even known were swollen!
I enjoyed trying new recipes with Michele--showing me pictures, sharing a family story to go along with it, or even making food together on a zoom meeting--I loved that so I could ask her questions as needed! I don't even crave cheese or meat anymore, and I surely don't feel sad or deprived eating this way.
I enjoyed working with Michele because I know she comes from a medical background, plus she has been eating plant-based for over 10 years herself. Because Michele has been eating plant-based for so long, I really trusted her.
Michele wanted me to have a positive experience, so she kept things simple. Michele is also very easy-going. I would agree with Michele's statement that she "meets you where you are at"--because life is not a straight line and she helped me be flexible or forgiving to myself along the way.
I loved getting the session summaries from Michele. They are a nice reference to reflect on to see how far I have come, plus they are packed with some info that I just didn't retain at the time. I am grateful that I can go back and look at those anytime!
About 10 months later, I left confident enough to graduate from Michele's services. That's the other part: confidence and self improvement! Michele's one-on-one approach, because we all are different in our journey of life--she helped me navigate my new food discovery while juggling my life!
Our sessions included talking about self-care and the importance of that act. As a mom, I was neglecting myself; in fact, I had become comfortable with it. Michele helped to re-prioritize myself as important!
~MV
Michele was gentle, knowledgeable, supportive, and right beside me as we navigated through my fears and reluctance about cooking. We did zoom cooking sessions. She stuck with me and helped me get to the point where we were actually laughing and chatting as we cooked “together”.
With her guidance, I learned to navigate eating vegan at restaurants and at home. Doing that allows me to live in deeper alignment with my values. Health improvements included a surprising 20 pound weight loss in the year we worked together. Surprising because we weren't focusing on weight loss or actually tracking my weight. We were focusing on eating plant-based. The weight loss happened organically as a result.
In addition, my A1C and blood sugar moved into and stayed in the normal range, blood pressure stabilized, achy joints and acid reflux disappeared, and no more migraines. Pretty amazing results since I am 70 years young!
Michele made the easy parts FUN and the hard parts bearable. She consistently cheered me on, even adjusting her natural exuberance to meet me where I was, when I had trouble taking in her compliments and embracing all the good changes I was making. I so appreciated that gentle kindness she showed me.
In our sessions, my WINS came first so we focused on the positive before tackling my concerns and obstacles. She has so much experience and so many tools, insights, resources at her fingertips! She always helped me find my way through my fears and concerns.
Her session summaries were invaluable. They documented our sessions accurately and gave me a reference I can use anytime. If between sessions I had questions, she was available to answer them via email. Michele was ALWAYS on time for our sessions.
Michele always made me feel special and valued. She affirmed over and over, by her words and actions, that I was worth the work and the changes. To sum it up, signing up for her free initial consult and then working with her the next 12 months is one of the very BEST things I have done for myself! Even though I knew it was time for me to go solo, I miss my sessions with Michele and seeing her smiling at me courtesy of Zoom. I know even now after our time together is over, she's got my back and is cheering me on.
Really, Michele, how do I thank you? You gave me the tools and support and love to transform my life. I'm so grateful and happy our paths crossed!
~Bea
