Cartoons are storytelling in its most vivid, emotional form. They’re colorful, exaggerated, full of clear heroes, villains, problems, and victories. Starting keto, for me, was like leaving a blackline, fuzzy drawing of my life and suddenly experiencing a world in full, living color. No fuzzy lines, no fog, no confusion.

There were, like in any story, problems and a clear victory dawning, but were there villians? I don’t think of bipolar disorder as a villain, although I once did. Now, I think of it more as a strong sparring partner, the kind Marcus Aurelius talks about in Meditations—a formidable opponent that has made me a better person, more compassionate, and emotionally stronger. The first time I saw the world in clear relief, however, was more about gingerly testing out the new freedom my brain was affording me, not about mapping out a personal philosophy. That would come later.

                  I found keto serendipitously. I have waged a life-long battle (or at least since the age of 25) with my weight. I have tried every diet under the sun. I tried keto years ago without much success. Something I never tried before was keto + fasting. The drugs I was/am taking to treat bipolar were mostly effective–except for some breakthrough symptoms. They most definitely saved my life, but they made it hard to lose weight. The members of the fasting community that I joined mostly practiced keto, so I went along with the crowd. Within a few months, I had lost 20 pounds, and all of my breakthrough bipolar symptoms dissolved. I saw the world in relief. I achieved mental clarity. Mental clarity, for me, meant that I could see that my delusions were delusions, that they never really happened. It also meant that the edges of my relationships with family and friends were more defined and freer of anxiety and fear. I could now make decisions and/or relate to other people with a clear mind and without prejudice.

                  My first question was “Why?” Why does this work? Why did no one ever tell me about it? How can a diet support and even put symptoms of bipolar in remission? The more I dug into the keto phenomenon, the more I understood that I wanted to help other people find a measure of relief using the ketogenic diet. Could I be a writer and a health coach? I’ve been a children’s book writer since 2013, published since 2021. Could there be a connection between storytelling and my life as a health coach? The simple answer is a resounding, “Yes!”. Being a health coach, first, is about reframing a victim story into a hero’s story. Instead of “I’m broken” or “I’ll always struggle”, the story is “I’m capable of change” and “I can do hard things”.  Life is also like a plot twist. We who suffer from mental illness experienced a plot twist in our teens or twenties when, after living a “normal” life, we had our first symptoms of mental illness– a very unexpected plot twist. Who says we can’t have another plot twist toward health and vitality. I experienced this positive change of course when I discovered food impacts my mood, confidence, and how I see the world. And I can control what I eat.

            I am at the beginning of my journey as a health coach. I bring to the table my own experience suffering from bipolar symptoms for 20+ years, my own experience recovering from those symptoms using food + movement + sunlight for the past 2 ½ years. I bring deep compassion, an open heart, and a listening ear. Health coaching is not only a job, it is my own unfolding journey.