MY STORY
HOLA!
My name is Anamaria Delgado. I am originally from Bogotá, Colombia. I grew up in a household where pretty much every meal I consumed was homemade. Furthermore, in my early teens' my father was diagnosed with kidney failure and so lots of adjustments had to be made to our diet. Therefore, my family and I consume a diet lower in fats and salt as well as very little processed foods. Colombia is a beautiful country that has a lot to offer but back then the violence that emerged from the drug cartel, the guerillas and poverty took over. So when I had the opportunity, I left and moved to Northern California when I was 17 years old. Aside from being consumed by adapting, learning English and fitting in, I was mega excited about trying all the food that the US had to offer. Since I grew up eating home cook meals, I was thrilled to eat bagels with a mountain of cream cheese on top, box cereals, chips, all the sweets not to mention hamburgers, french fries and pizza. The variety of every item was endless and everything seem to be oversized. On the same token, The US had lots of different cuisines and a whole different culture on food like coffee shops, diners and so on that I hadn't been exposed to back home. At that time, Colombia did not really offer any variety of restaurant or cuisines from other countries nor did we have the coffee shop culture; aka Starbucks. Needless to say everything was new, exciting, appealing and I want it to eat it all. Of course, I had no regard for eating healthy, exercise or taking care of myself. Furthermore, I was on my own, I was going to school and working non-stop. My whole life revolved around being productive, working, studying, taking care of others. At the time, I was so young that it did not matter. I felt good and I kept going. And then finally by the time I turned 25, I was overweight and I realized I had to eat healthier. I moved to New Zealand and had access to all these amazing fresh produce. I learned how to cook, I exercise and I felt amazing. However, shortly after that I moved back to the states and got divorced. I also started a new job and my life once again revolved around working all the time and the little time I had left was spent to make sure other people's needs were met. My health truly started to deteriorate and my whole world collapse. In addition , I just didn't have the right information nor the tools to know how to eat and exercise properly.
This is why I have created Transform2Sustainability
If all you get from me is to get your attention and awareness to the importance of prioritizing YOU and your health. I am HAPPY!
Aside from my personal experience, I have worked in hospitals for over a decade, as a Medical Spanish Certified Interpreter, my role as an interpreter was to relay the message exactly as if the patient spoke fluent English, therefore I was exposed to pretty much every department in the hospital. As long as the patient was awake, I was there. Regular appoinments, surgeries, procedures, tests, oncology, palliative care; you name it. I can assure you I have seen the deteriorating effects of making your health go into the back burner. It pretty much comes down to LIFE; life happens, we are expected to work full time, take care of the household, the children, family, friends and the list goes on. Our nutrition ends up coming mostly from easy, on the go, inexpensive items; junk food. People gravitate to those food items, high in caffeine, carbs, fats and sugar to feed their low unhealthy energy levels. On the same token, the levels of activity rank from long commutes to being exhausted and barely able to get up from the couch after a long exhausting day. As a result, YOU, your needs, your happiness, your body, your HEALTH become affected. It happens to all of us, myself included, life happens and one day we wake up and feel completely exhausted, overweight, and sick from consuming non-nutritional value foods for years on end.
The good news is that I firmly believe in the body's nature ability to heal itself. However, we need to make an effort to help it. There is really no way around it. We need to STOP neglecting our health. HEALTH = WEALTH.
So my hope is to give you the tools and the information you neeed to help you choose YOU
YOU GOT THIS!
Love,
Anamaria Delgado