ABOUT ME
Hey there! My name is Tia Anderson, and I'm realizing now what a limited selection there is of photos of me in my household!!! Any other moms out there notice that too?? We're always the ones with the camera somehow! Anyhow, this ultra close-up will have to do... at least for now! Sorry!
I live in Minnesota with the humans I love most in this world - my husband and our 2 girls (ages 14 and almost 13) - as well as our animal friends. Currently, we have 2 cats (Ozzy and Mo), and our sweet, rambunctious 2-year-old miniature Golden Retriever, Lambo. He is SO my best friend these days!
So why am I here? ... I grew up on Oatmeal Cream Pies, Wonder Bread, Doritos, pasta, and Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. I also had a dresser drawer FULL of every kind of candy imaginable. At. All. Times! Aside from all of that being incredibly tasty, food was definitely a comfort to me. Like many families, tasty treats were also encouraged any time a celebration was in order.
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After getting married and having our first baby, a friend sent me a baby food recipe book that discussed healthy foods for babies and toddlers, and it showed me how to make and store my own. I began to open my eyes to the idea of food vs. nourishment. As we all do, I wanted the best for my kids. I wanted them to be happy AND healthy. I was responsible for providing not just food, but nourishment for my daughter's growing body. That felt like a lot of responsibility, but I was up for the challenge. Sundays became my designated baby food making day, and rather than feeling like it was a burden as I assumed it would, I grew to truly enjoy my time in the kitchen preparing so many nourishing foods for my daughter. It made me feel unexpectedly powerful, and it left me wanting to learn and do more. It also left me with a big question...If I had such a strong desire for my child to be healthy, what was I doing for my own health?
Fast forward about a year to my second pregnancy when I was unexpectedly diagnosed with gestational diabetes. When I heard the news, I was so confused and scared. To be completely honest, I was angry too. In my mind, diabetes was either something you were born with, or something people dealt with if they were overweight, which I was not. They must have gotten it all wrong!! I had been paying so much attention to raising my healthy toddler and trying to give her the energy and attention she needed as my belly grew and our 1:1 time with her dwindled, that I forgot to answer that lingering question..."What am I doing for my own health?" Turns out, not enough.
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Pricking my finger 6+ times per day and watching my blood sugar skyrocket after 1/4 cup of those darn cheerios and whole milk I craved so badly was enough to make me crazy. I met with a nutritionist but still felt like everything I ate sent my blood sugar sky high. It was a very frustrating period in my life, and that frustration led me to where I am now.
After leaving my job as a middle school teacher to spend more time at home with my daughters, my downtime was often spent listening to podcasts and reading books about healthy eating, creating a less toxic environment for my family, and being my family's main health advocate. Our oldest child received a medical diagnosis at the age of 7, and at that point I decided podcasts and random books weren't enough for me. I wanted to dive deeper with solid science-based information about how nutrition and lifestyle affect our health. I wanted to be educated in a way that would not only help my own family but others as well.
I earned my Nutritional Therapy Practitioner certificate through the Nutritional Therapy Association in June of 2020, and I'm so excited that I can use the knowledge and expertise I gained through the NTA to guide people like you on their own journey toward their best health.
We all have a story to tell. If the chapter you're living in right now leaves you wanting better for yourself, start making changes today and make your next chapter the best yet!
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Grab some friends or family members and join one of my RESTART® classes today! Now is always the right time to take charge of your own health.