In the latest episode of the Empowerography Podcast, my guest is Adina Conn. My story began as an overweight child and young teenager, where exercise and healthy eating were the furthest thought from my mind, just dealing with the name calling and acceptance of being not fitting in always. In my late teens I decided to take charge of my health and wellness from the inside out, which meant healthier food choices and exercise, and that was a journey of itself. I didn’t have tools and knowledge how to get started, the internet was not around back then, so I bought a book on calories and away I went. Which, by the way is the furthest from educating proper health and nutrition. Sure, I lost weight, but I did not know what to do and how to keep it off when I got there. My life was yo yo for a few years as the weight went up and down, until I discovered exercising as a benefit to being healthy and not just my plate. In this episode we discuss wellness, nutrition, fitness, personal struggle, health issues, bullying, healing and pivoting.

I have been involved in the world of wellness for the past 30 years emerging myself into different areas of health and wellness. Throughout my career, I have managed commercial and corporate fitness facilities where my job included the ability to grow team culture and mentor aspiring new personal trainers and fitness instructors. My story began as an overweight child and young teenager, where exercise and healthy eating were the furthest thought from my mind, just dealing with the name calling and acceptance of being not fitting in always. In my late teens I decided to take charge of my health and wellness from the inside out, which meant healthier food choices and exercise, and that was a journey of itself. I didn’t have tools and knowledge how to get started, the internet was not around back then, so I bought a book on calories and away I went. Which, by the way is the furthest from educating proper health and nutrition. Sure, I lost weight, but I did not know what to do and how to keep it off when I got there. My life was yo yo for a few years as the weight went up and down, until I discovered exercising as a benefit to being healthy and not just my plate. Still, I struggled with being “fit”, I was strong, but my eating habits did not meet my passion and I craved to learn more. So, I changed my careers from fashion design and went into Fitness at George Brown College. Best decision of my life as it was the beginning of my yellow brick road.

Move me forward to 21 years old, I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, which took my wellness journey on a detour and an entire new level of maintain health, physically and mentally. I tried for many years, to fight the disease naturally and holistically, medicated the old fashion Western way and I was part of medical trials. Nothing helped sadly and by my mid 30’s, 3 children later I surrendered to reconstructive surgery, the J-Pouch. This surgery was massive, in fact the first I was in the hospital for almost 2 week and 4 months later, with complications I had the second part. It was a good decision, but I still suffered throughout my late 30’s and 40’s with different kinds of flare ups that were treated medically. Unfortunately by my mid 40’s I was diagnosed as well with Crohn’s and Colitis.

My body was stronger to fight the disease because of EXERCISE and the food I was consuming! The journey of my career was forever evolving, and it went down another path to integrate with my passion of wellness. I went back to school and became a Holistic Nutritionist from the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. The worlds collided, and I was determined to explore deeper how food can heal our mind and body on a much deeper level than for simply ingestion for survival. It is imperative to continue my journey and live life with passion to fuel and heal our bodies with high dense nutrients and exercise. I believe if food and exercise can be the catalyst in healing autoimmune diseases, such as Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. I believe if I took better care of my health at a younger age or even in the early years when I was diagnosed, I could have possibly been in remission a lot sooner with one less IBD under my belt and fewer medications!

I believe personal wellness, is driven from within and the tenacity one drives with has to be fierce in order to achieve greatness. Everyone has their own level of tolerance and power to make change’s but whatever those measures are, set realistic goals and never give up.

Website - https://www.adinaconn.com

IG - https://www.instagram.com/aconn.honeybefit

Adina Conn Episode