Today, we’d like to introduce you to Karen Baca. Karen was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Paula Sturm.
Hi Karen, we’re so thrilled to have you sharing your story with us today. Maybe we can kick things off by having you introduce yourself to our readers? We’d love to have you go into your story and how you got to where you are today.
I moved to San diego 5 year ago and had a 6-month-old baby during the move. At the time I was severely depress with my weight and the post-partum. My whole life I’ve always worked out and loved wellness, but after having my third child losing weight wasn’t easy, it was the nail in the coffin for me and eating enough, or no eating at all seem so challenging. After getting back to a workout class and seeing very little results, I decided to contact a nutritionist thinking that losing weight was the only thing I needed. I found thankfully Paula on social media and immediately began to work with her. I remember when I met her, the only thing coming out of my mouth was how to lose weight and that was all I wanted. Paula started baby steps with me of course and her main concern and approach was to get to the root of the problem and once that was addressed we can then move on to other things that will soon lead to not only weight loss but a much healthier life style, After a few blood work, and other testing such as Genoma testing and Dutch testing, she gave me the right supplements I needed. She also began to teach me and bring awareness of what healthy clean eating is. I learned how to incorporate certain vegetables to my meals, how much lean meat to eat and the benefits of eliminating gluten, dairy and wheat from diet. Once I made and added changes to my life, it was a game changer. Inflammation went down, energy went up, depression decrease and so on and so forth. I always tell her she’s the “nutritionist whisper” I always call her for advice when my kids are sick and what supplements my kids need as well as nutrition.
Let’s talk about your work and career – what else should we know?
I’m a property manager, I manage commercial and residential buildings that my husband and I own. My job can be stressful the majority of time because I’m dealing with tenants, issues related to the buildings or homes, additionally, my husband and I work together so that alone can be somewhat challenging. However, just like it has its stressful moments, it also is great because, I set my own schedule which allow for me to have more time to work on my health and family. It’s also gives me the flexibility to have some down time at the end of the month and I usually work stress-free during that time, I also have more availability to travel with my middle son who is a competitive golfer and requires tons of time. What I would like readers to know is that even if your job requires a ton or very little of you, never forget that you come first, because if you are in a great state of mind mentally and physically you will then give more to your family, friends and career. Sometimes we lose yourself in our work or other things and we forget about our wellness, we forget about what we love and how to take care of yourself, which then leads to resentment, poor health, depression, you name it.
As you know, we’re big fans of Paula Sturm and Radically Nourished we know you’ve worked with them quite a bit as well. We’d love to hear about your experience working with Paula Sturm.
Paula has been a little angel sent from up above, she’s completely changed my relationship with food. Ask her any questions you need answers to and she has them all. She’s like my encyclopedia, anytime I need information and answers, boom, she has every single one. Paula has a wealth of knowledge in her field, she’s also an amazing listener which I find important because this change is about team work, trust and empathy. As I mentioned before, when I came to Paula, I was falling apart, I didn’t know how much more I could take and seeing her was hope, life and happiness again that she has brought. I’ve lost the weight I’ve wanted; we have addressed issues such as H pylori, parasites, hormonal in balance, leaky gut and some energy healing for my anxiety as well as breathing and meditation techniques. It’s been about 3 to 4 years that I’ve been working with her and even though we have address and healed some of my vitamin deficiency, hormonal and gut issues, I love how she always has a plan for what it needed next. She also on top of switching my supplements around, gives me information on things to buy and how to look at the ingredients and how to tell what a good brand is versus a bad. I’m more confident and at ease to know that I have her and we will continue to work closely with her.
