How Healing My Body Became My New Career

Most of you know me as a chef. Maybe you’ve seen my cookbooks, or you remember when I was doing TV and cooking for celebrities. But there’s a whole chapter of my life you probably missed.

And honestly? It’s the chapter that changed everything.

The Disappearing Act

I used to cook for celebrities. I did TV. I wrote cookbooks. And then I kind of… disappeared.

Here’s why: I was a mess. Like, falling-apart mess.

Exhausted all the time. Gut issues that wouldn’t quit. Thyroid stuff nobody could figure out. Brain fog so thick I could barely string a sentence together. And doctors kept telling me I was “fine.” My test results were “normal.”

But I knew something was very wrong. I was clearly NOT fine.

So I went down the rabbit hole. Not because I wanted to become a health expert—but because I was desperate to figure out what was actually happening in my own body.

What I Was Actually Dealing With

Over the years, I’ve dealt with a LOT. And I don’t say that for sympathy—I say it because if you’re going through something similar, I want you to know you’re not alone. And that there IS a way through.

Emotional eating. This one was deep. I was a chef, for crying out loud—my whole life revolved around food. But somewhere along the way, food became less about nourishment and more about numbing. I worked through this with meditation, yoga, and a lot of mindset work. It wasn’t quick. It wasn’t linear. But I got to the other side.

Hypothyroidism. I still have this—it’s not “cured.” But here’s the thing: it’s now properly managed through a hormone expert who actually knows what they’re doing. Not just a standard prescription thrown at me and a “good luck.” There’s a massive difference between having a condition and having it properly treated.

Prediabetes. Twice. Yeah, you read that right. The first time was in my 40s, and it completely blindsided me. I was eating what I thought was clean. Working out. Doing all the “right” things. Turns out I was gluten intolerant and had no idea. My body was in a constant state of inflammation. Once I figured that out and completely overhauled my diet, things started to shift. That’s actually when I started writing for keto and Atkins companies—my own healing journey led me straight into the food-as-medicine world.

The second time was in perimenopause, when my hormones went haywire and my blood sugar followed. Different root cause, different solution. More on that another time.

A gut issue that haunted me for over 10 years. This one started in my 20s. Doctor after doctor labeled it “IBS” and basically shrugged. For a decade I just accepted that this was my life—the bloating, the discomfort, the unpredictability. Turns out it was H. pylori, an undiagnosed gluten intolerance, and a bunch of genetic factors that no one had ever thought to test for. Once we actually figured out what was going on? Life-changing.

I Didn’t Do This Alone

I want to be really clear about something: I didn’t figure any of this out by myself.

I found incredible practitioners—functional medicine doctors, hormone specialists, integrative psychiatrists, longevity experts—who actually looked at the ROOT CAUSE instead of just handing me another prescription or telling me my labs were “normal.”

Finding the right people changed everything. And I mean everything.

These were practitioners who ran the tests that conventional medicine doesn’t run. Who connected dots that nobody else was connecting. Who treated me as a whole person instead of a collection of symptoms to manage.

Where I Am Now

Eventually, I left the chef world entirely.

Not because I stopped loving food—I still do, deeply. But because this health journey showed me where I was actually meant to be. I became a full-time copywriter in the functional medicine and longevity space. I’ve co-authored books with doctors. I write for clinics and health organizations every single day. I work alongside practitioners who are doing the kind of medicine that literally saved my life.

And here’s the beautiful irony: my love for food never went away. It just evolved. Now I understand food as medicine in a way I never could have before. The chef brain and the health writer brain? They work together now.

Why I’m Sharing This

I’m not a doctor. I want to be really clear about that.

But I’ve spent years learning from some of the best people in this space—not just as a patient, but as someone who works alongside them every day. I’ve written about functional nutrition, hormone health, gut issues, nervous system healing, and the deep connection between what we eat and how we feel.

And I think there’s something valuable in sharing what I’ve learned. Not as medical advice, but as someone who’s been in the trenches and found her way out.

Because here’s what I believe: Information doesn’t heal. Integration does.

Protocols don’t change lives. Practices do.

You can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you can’t translate it into something you can actually live—day in, day out—it doesn’t mean much.

That’s what I’m here to help with.

So If You’re New Here…

Welcome. I’m glad you found me.

And if you’ve been following me since the chef days—thank you for sticking around. This next chapter is going to be different. More personal. More real. More of what I’ve actually been living behind the scenes all these years.

I’ve got a lot to share.

xo,

Jen

Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor or medical professional. Everything I share is from my personal experience and should not be taken as medical advice. Always consult with qualified healthcare practitioners for your individual health needs.