Melissa Russell

I am a certified Functional Medicine Health Coach, with a Master’s Degree in Food and Nutrition Sciences and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, and a certified yoga instructor. Prior to becoming a health coach, I worked for several years with a Functional Medicine physician as an office assistant, and subsequently worked in clinical research start-up (helping research institutes get ready to conduct research in a safe, ethical way).Throughout my personal and professional life, I have witnessed how seemingly tiny daily choices can totally change your life. In my personal health journey, I worked with my healthcare team and discovered removing a few key inflammatory foods and incorporating more mindfulness and yoga into my life did wonders not only for my digestive system, but also for my energy and anxiety levels! Professionally, I have researched the impact nutrition can have on both physical and psychiatric conditions. Through my time working in Functional Medicine, I have also been able to witness these changes happening in other peoples’ lives, seeing how several small, tangible steps we can add up over time to let people experience a more vibrant life, physically and beyond.But let’s be honest, making changes to your lifestyle can be difficult! Our habits towards health behaviors like eating and exercising are deeply ingrained and have a lot of emotion and expectation associated with them. I know it can be overwhelming to have a confusing, vague, task, or to have a million changes you are trying to make but aren’t sure what to prioritize. I know it is so easy to become frustrated, discouraged, and give up – whether that is after 3 weeks or 3 months. I feel passionate about helping people break these goals into focused, manageable steps. It is my hope that others can use these tiny steps to achieve these major changes in a sustainable way, but also that they learn to treat themselves with love and compassion along the way.