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Here’s A little about how I got to where I am today…

It all began when I was really little. I was brought up in two very health conscious families that instilled health and wellness in me. From running 10 miles a day, to eating extremely well, to even owning a chain of successful fitness clubs, my family takes the cake for health consciousness (no pun intended :))!

Whenever I would have friends over (either at my Mom’s or Dad’s) they would look in our cupboards and ask ‘where’s the ‘Lucky Charms’ and ‘Fruit Roll-Ups’? And to which I would respond…”What? All of you don’t eat like me??!” Needless to say, we were always labeled the healthy house? Why? Was it because we actually had real food in our fridge? I was always shocked when I went into my friends’ houses and saw processed food coming out of boxes instead of fresh grains, vegetables and fruit.

My Mom was the catalyst in me developing a passion for healthy living and healthy food. She has always loved creating delicious food, especially baking. I remember when I was really little sitting at our dining room table doing homework on the weekends, and my Mom would be baking and cooking all day long. I loved it because I was her guinea pig! 🙂 I got to try all of the fantastic food coming out of the kitchen. I would sit in the kitchen watching her toss around cake pans, whisks and ingredients she used in her cookies and cakes; it was quite entertaining at times. Once I got old enough, she began asking me to add the flour and roll the dough. Those were great times, and I learned a lot. Needless to say her love for creating and baking delicious healthy goodies was soon engrained in me. Back then, little did I know, that my passion for health and wellness would transpire into us owning and working together every day at Kindfood and Kelly’s Bake Shoppe.

In the early summer of 2011 I had a big wake up call with my health. I became very ill for just over two months. It got to the point that I wasn’t able to ingest any food or liquid at all..  I became extremely dehydrated and my Mom rushed me to the emergency room where I was hooked up to an I.V for ten hours. The doctors at the hospital found nothing “medically” wrong with me and when they looked at my bloodwork they said I was very healthy. Ok that’s great, but what’s my body trying to tell me?

This stirred something up inside of me. I realized that even though I thought I was “healthy”…was I really? I ate a completely plant based diet, (or at least I thought I ate a variety of food), what was happening to me? During this time I began to change my diet and turn to other options that could be causing my illness. Was it wheat? Was is stress (yes…I’m guilty)? Was it a food allergy? These were all possible culprits. I did a tremendous amount of research and found that my when I stopped eating wheat I felt better, and when I ate it I felt bloated, nausea, and overall just very uncomfortable. I cut wheat out of my diet, and began taking probiotics and digestive enzymes (from Natural Choice Products) to help heal my insides and protect them from future damage.  I also began to meditate on a regular basis (8 Minute Meditation), and it really helped to ground me for the day, and relieve the stress of working very long hours. I’m truly grateful for this experience (even though I truly wouldn’t wish it on any one in the world…yes…it was that painful), as it allowed me to open up my eyes and realize what my body needs to function properly.

Today, I’m a health nut passionate about gluten free and plant based  cooking and baking. I am the co-owner (with my amazing Mother Kelly Childs) of Kindfood (now called Lettuce Love Cafe) and Kelly’s Bake Shoppe, two gluten free and vegan businesses, which began in Burlington, Canada.  I have become quite passionate about the quality of the ingredients we use in our baked goods, our restaurant products, and my personal life, and I am always sourcing out the best ingredients (even if that means it’s 10 times the price as their conventional counterpart). What’s important to me is that not only our ingredients taste great and are the best quality we can find, I also feel good that we don’t take any short cuts.

I am so grateful for this opportunity to share with you my passion for health and making a difference in people’s lives. Come along for this amazing journey with me!

xo

Erinn.