My Story
My name is Charmaine I am the Owner & Founder of Natural Charmz LLC. I am a Certified Nutrition Coach and Holistic Lifestyle Advocate with over a decade of experience in training coaching and tutoring. I am passionate about motivating people, leading habit change, designing learning experiences and helping people cultivate their strengths to achieve their goals.
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Teenage Years
As the daughter of a martial arts instructor, eating a nutritious diet was important. I quickly learned the importance of food and beverages for energy and mental clarity. I was always acutely aware of how food made me feel.
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How it Started
I was living a fast paced life as a new mother and an undergraduate social butterfly, whilst working a full time corporate position, running a side hustle, and hosting a weekly radio show. The problem was, once a month like clockwork for 7-10 days before my cycle, I would experience terrible mood swings, coupled with crippling cramps, extreme mind fog and fatigue.At that time, I took full advantage of the fact that my partner was a Jamaican restaurant owner. I rarely made time to prepare healthy balanced meals. My diet then consisted mainly of oxtails and white rice and carrot ginger juice full of sugar.
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What Happened?
It got to a point where the PMS episodes became debilitating. I finally burned out completely and it was bad. I was close to losing my job, failing my degree and my relationships were suffering.Eventually I got sick and tired of it.I knew I needed help, so started to research natural healing solutions, and found much evidence to support the idea that the types of food you eat, can directly affect your mood and energy level. I decided to seek out a local holistic nutritionist that specialized in women’s health and went to a consultation.
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A Personal Journey
Not only was I seeking natural remedies for my PMS, but I wanted more general knowledge on holistic nutrition and some practical tools to help me sustain a healthier lifestyle.The nutritionist was my savior! I was given a 2-week interchangeable meal plan to repeat, it was mostly herbal teas, plant based whole foods and super seeds, some that I had never heard of until then. I started making daily superfood shakes and continued with the whole food’s meal plan. I was absolutely amazed by the improvements, over a 12 week span.I became really obsessed, with maca root, marjoram, chasteberry, hemp seeds, chia seeds and flax seeds to name a few and I’d talk about them and my experience with anyone who’d listen.This was the real beginning of my personal holistic health and wellness journey. 4 years went by and in that time, I studied spirituality and mental illnesses. In 2014 with my new lease of holistic thinking, spirituality, and mental strength, I decided I wanted to enrich my lifestyle and I moved to Sunny South Florida.I envisioned living in a house where fresh fruit trees grew in the garden and being a short drive away from a beach, where I could do yoga as the sun rises. My intentions were to grow into the well-rounded creative super star that I was destined to be!
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Life Happens...
Welp! Life happened, literally. My Son was born almost exactly 12 months after I arrived in 2015. The next 3 years went by like a tornado high, highs and low, lows. I was single with 2 children, I had no real friends in Florida, and a limited support network.I did not anticipate the challenges of moving to a new country as an adult with children. I ended up throwing myself into supersonic work mode and stayed focused on raising my children, success in my career and saving money to buy a home for us.Putting my personal needs last, though I stayed training lightly, I fell into old habits of eating, my sleep was poor, my mind was foggy and I was just not taking care of myself. Soon enough I experienced another burnout, this time bigger and more volatile than the last. I fell into a depression.One morning I dragged myself out of bed, took myself to urgent care, spent $100 just to be seen and demanded they give me antidepressants, they did. I just didn't have time to feel the way I did and I wanted a quick fix. But when I got home, I google researched the pros and cons and talked myself out of taking them.I hated taking any kind of pills, plus deep down of course I knew there were natural healing methods to cope and get better. I decided to confide in a friend of mine who was 1 year into her vegan journey, she spoke highly of how different her cycles were. I was immediately inspired, the next day, I started a detox, I decided to try out the vegan life and seek out some mindful activities and practices.
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C'MON! Let's Go!
Once again, I began making super seed smoothies for the children and I, I took up cycling on Sundays. I made time to be still, meditate, and I practiced a positive mindset as much as I could.After a year of Veganism, I was feeling better than ever. So much so that I wanted to share the joys and benefits.I decided to study for a certificate in nutrition coaching.
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She's a Nutrition Coach!
I began seeking out wellness meet up groups, holistic health practitioners, fitness junkies, yoga fanatics. I was looking for a tribe that lived the lifestyle I wanted to keep up.Without realizing it at the time, I had carved out a plan of action and routine for myself that was implementing the pillars of Holistic Health and Wellness and again I saw my life transform.I believe the real key to living a holistic healthy lifestyle is firstly knowing it does not happen overnight, it’s a journey. Next is understanding the relationship between your brain and gut health. As stated in recent research, “…communication between the brain and gut allows the brain to be influenced by the gut function and vice versa” (Eshraghi, A 2021).There is an abundance of new research to support this idea which led me to believe it to be imperative to develop good nutrition habits, not only to balance out your hormones but to also aid proper digestion through consciously feeding yourself.This change of lifestyle is how I was able to naturally heal from debilitating cycles of mental and physical stress and improve my quality of life.
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Connect with Me
If you want to feel better all round, my programs will empower you to consciously feed your mind body and spirit. You will develop healthy holistic habits to heal naturally and live your best life.Fill out your details below, allow me to help you improve your Natural Charmz!
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