Wellness for Women
I’m a Functional Nutritionist specializing in helping women overcome their most challenging hormone, cycle, and period problems using a root cause approach.
I am passionate about women’s wellness, nutrition, clean beauty, and advocating to end the stigma associated with menstrual and mental health issues.
Living with a chronic illness is not easy. It takes a toll on your physical, mental, and emotional health. I went on a twenty-eight-year journey to get to where I am today. There were a lot of ups and downs along the way. It certainly wasn’t a linear path.
It began with a panic attack. I remember that moment like it was yesterday. I was fourteen. I was babysitting for a neighbor’s two young children when suddenly it felt like I couldn’t breathe, the walls were closing in, and I had the sensation of being outside of my body. It was absolutely terrifying.
Our family doctor diagnosed me with generalized anxiety disorder and gave me some advice for managing stress.
I dealt with fluctuating symptoms throughout my teens and into early adulthood. Most noticeably was the recurring debilitating anxiety, physical pain, digestive issues, migraines, and low self-confidence. I started to realize though that my symptoms weren’t always there. For a little over half of each month I would feel good… I was able to work, go to school, hang out with friends… I was driven, fun-loving, adventurous, goal-oriented… and then suddenly, without any warning, I wanted to disappear. I would feel timid, overwhelmed, hopeless, hateful… I had moments of wishing I would die. And, the worst part is, I had no idea WHY. It made no sense. I thought I must be crazy.
It wasn’t until I was nearly thirty, after trying several different forms of anti-depressants, anti-anxiety medications, and birth control without success that I was diagnosed with premenstrual dysphoric disorder, PMDD.
That moment never really stood out to me, mostly because I didn’t know what that meant at the time and the solutions for managing the symptoms were the same as what I had already tried. Every practitioner that I went to over the next several years said the same thing. They explained PMDD as a more severe form of PMS and the only way to treat it was to take an anti-depressant and go on birth control.
To say I felt defeated would be a HUGE understatement. I continued to struggle A LOT as I headed into my thirties. I tried ALL OF THE THINGS. Different medications, supplements, herbal remedies, therapy, yoga, meditation… Sometimes I would feel like I was making progress one month, only to have my symptoms flare back up the next month.
There have been some traumatic events in my life that have caused my PMDD to intensify, as well. Studies have shown that women with a history of trauma are at an increased risk for developing PMDD. For me, it has involved childhood family mental health crises, the loss of my dad in a tragic accident in 2010, the suicide of my aunt in 2018, and my cousin’s ongoing struggles with addiction that led to her untimely death in 2020.
When I became pregnant with my daughter at thirty-two, all of my symptoms disappeared. This was the first time I had felt relief since I was a teen. After giving birth, I began to experience postpartum anxiety. By the time she turned two, my PMDD was back and worse than ever.
I decided to go back to school and become a nutritionist. During this time, I became very sick and was also diagnosed with IBS and fibrocystic breasts.
Something needed to change and soon. Through my education, research, and putting everything I was learning into practice I was able to start healing.
It wasn’t an overnight process. It took a whole lot of trial and error. I slowly went from dealing with low back and pelvic pain that had me in tears and at times needing help to walk, bathe, and get dressed, ongoing chronic fatigue, migraines that landed me in the emergency room, extreme anxiety that made it hard to eat, bouts of depression, intense mood swings, trouble sleeping, digestive issues, and brain fog to becoming a version of myself that I didn’t even know was possible.
I am proof that transformation is possible. I have been in the trenches, wanting to give up, certain that things would never get better. Despite how long and difficult my journey has been, I feel grateful.
Grateful, because it led me to exactly where I believe I was meant to be and to what I was meant to be doing. My struggles were lessons that I can now share with other women and make a difference in their lives. Women who are also struggling and looking for answers. Women around the world who may be feeling like I once did… alone, confused, exhausted… looking for a miracle.
If you are one of these women, a woman like me, I see you. I feel what you are going through. You are not alone. I built this business because women need safe communities, better solutions, support, advocacy, and someone who has been there and found their way through the darkness to health and happiness.
I would be honored to be a part of your transformative journey.
Love and light,
Lora
• Aveda Institute Portland
• PCC Institute for Health Professionals
• National Association of Nutrition Professionals
• Holistic Nutrition Credentialing Board
• Institute for Menstrual Health
• Certified Holistic Aesthetician
• Certified Functional Nutritionist
• Board Certified Holistic Nutritionist
• Certified Women’s Hormone Health Practitioner
• Certified Metabolic Balance® Coach
• Certified Finally Free™ Intuitive Eating Coach
• Functional Lab Testing
• DUTCH Advanced Hormone Testing
• Biochemical Individualism & Body Typing
• Professional-Grade Supplements
• Cognitive Behavioral Coaching
• Ayurveda, Herbalism, TCM
• Enzyme Therapy
I love affirmations, crystals, yoga, dance parties in the living room, matcha lattes, green juices, and warm summer nights.
I’m an enneagram 1, personality type INFJ, and star sign virgo.
Hawaii, the redwoods, and bookstores are my happy places.
Prior to becoming a nutritionist, I was an aesthetician + makeup artist.
My work was featured on the set of Grimm, in Portland Bridal Magazine, at the Portland Ballet & Aveda® Portland Fashion + Beauty Events.
I worked in restaurants for 18 years too!
I am married to an aviation nerd from Maryland and mama to an opinionated, creative, and imaginative daughter.
We have two crazy kitties that chose us, named Sofie and Decker.
We live in the scenic Columbia River Gorge area of Oregon.
Identify what is really causing your hormone, cycle, and period problems.
Even if you have already tried everything without success and are on the verge of giving up.
Get on the path to overcoming your worst symptoms with a clear, attainable, plan customized just for you.
Download my FREE guide to find out my tried-and-true process for improving your most frustrating symptoms. Hormone-friendly recipes included!
Watch my FREE workshop to discover the main root causes of disruptive cycle issues and how you can begin to address them effectively and naturally.