My name is Dolorese and I’m from Vancouver Island, British Columbia. This is a big day for me, I’ve just graduated from my Holistic Nutrition & Health Coach Certification training!

My journey to good health started over 37 years ago, when I joined the Canadian Armed Forces and trained as a Medical Technician.  From there I trained as a Dental assistant and had a 25-year career in the dental field.

I was always interested in eating healthy and thought I was doing a good job, but I wasn’t.

By the time I was in my 40’s, I was in very bad shape and my health was deteriorating rapidly.  It was a high-stressed time in my life and I dealt with it by eating.  So I gained weight- 80 pounds in all!

Something in me finally snapped and I realized that if I wanted to be healthy, I was very good at following diets and was always successful, for a while, but eventually, the weight would pile back on, plus a little more! I had to figure out to do it on my own!

I committed the past 7 years of my life doing research on myself:

• Why I couldn’t maintain my weight?
• Why couldn’t find relief to health problems?
• Why I had been experiencing depression for most of my adult life?

My research led me to sites and literature focused on holistic health: weight-loss, physical health & mental health. This enlightened me to a whole new world; where I had been educated in allopathic medicine in the past, I had to learn to change my mindset and think holistically from now on. I needed to re-learn nutrition from a holistic perspective instead of the allopathic way I had been taught.

I knew my limits and realized that I couldn’t make all these changes to myself alone- I needed help!

I got the help from a mental health counsellor where I dealt with depression and anxiety. She helped me realize the importance of a healthy mind, body and spirit for a healthy balanced life.

For education, I chose NutraPhoria School of Holistic Nutrition– because of its strong holistic component mixed with sound science and backed by research; its ease of access- entirely online to give you the flexibility to study anywhere at any time and its recognition for accreditation & credentials through governing bodies. The program taught what piece of the puzzle was missing from my education.