Kimber and I are both yogis, moms of young babes, wives of mid-MO camo wearing men, and have a love for delicious, healthy food. We believe wholeheartedly in the healing power of a healthy diet and positive thinking and have witnessed how transforming these two things can be. Here is a little background on how us two hummus, dark chocolate loving gals got to be co-owners of Nourish Cafe & Market.
Kimber is a Northern California girl who, like many of us, grew up eating fast food and loads of candy. She was what at the time she considered healthy through sports, but soon after high school hit her rock bottom.
At the age of 18, Kimber had turned to drugs to cope with some personal hardships. She was dealing with addiction, losing family and friends, homelessness and there were days she thought she was going to die from the intensity of living addicted to drugs. In October 2007, at the age of 20, she decided to get clean without rehab or any professional help. Kimber moved in with a friend and detoxed for 30 days without medication. After getting clean and getting her health back, she wanted to lose the weight she had gained in the process and do it in the healthiest way possible.
In 2008, Kimber graduated from the California Culinary Academy to become a chef, but became more intrigued with how food affects the body. Kimber had lost 40 lbs and dropped 10 pant sizes just by cleaning up her diet. She stopped eating processed sugar in 2012 to stop the crashes during the day which could terrifyingly feel like the previous drug crashes she used to experience. Kimber felt energized all day, her cravings for sugar and carbs went away and she generally felt happier.
In 2013, after reading Wheat Belly, she challenged herself to remove gluten from her diet for a year. After reintroducing wheat she felt sick when eating it and experienced headaches, rashes, fatigue, cramps and bloating. She quickly learned how bad gluten was for her body. She continued to grow her healthy lifestyle by becoming a 200 ERYT certified yoga instructor and last year received a diploma in personal nutrition. Since being in Columbia Kimber published Happy Food Cookbook and ran Happy Food Catering.
Kimber is one of the hardest working women I know with a true yogi's spirit. She's the operations of Nourish and will be our captain.
I grew up in St. Joseph, MO on Hamburger Helper, Dunk-a-Roos and Gushers and the greenest thing I ate was a canned green bean. I managed to stay thin thanks to playing competitive basketball and volleyball, but I thought people that ate healthy were "weird". In college, I would study with baaaaags of candy and almost always had a box of hot tamales on hand. At this point, the only interest I had in “health” was watching calories and running long distances with friends to burn off the Trops we drank tailgating the day before.
The first time I considered health beyond simply being thin was when my sister had moved to California and she had started to see how differently people lived. My sister experimented with being a vegan and even though I never went that route, it really got me thinking and interested in what a healthy lifestyle meant. Over the years I have totally transformed my diet to organic, healthy food and I never count calories...I just go by my energy levels. I love learning and researching the latest food and health news and how food effects our body. I have turned to yoga, practice meditation and read books on the power of our mind, organic food and am always researching and reading health news. Now being in Clovers and Natural Grocers is my heaven, reading Mind Body Green is my morning routine and a kale smoothie is standard.
I have haven’t had an non medically induced period in 17 years. I’m determined to experience my next pregnancy without the assistance of fertility shots. My body does so much better without grains and sugar and, of course, I feel best when eating clean. I still have some things to figure out with my fertility (I’ll keep you posted!) but I have been able to control my almost comical swelling, I have energy for days and I can see how no sugar and a green juice make my skin glow. I honestly crave loads of vegetables and processed foods truly don’t taste good to me. I love the idea that we have the power to absolutely change our own lives and the way we think and feel. I never want to stop growing and evolving.
Kimber and I have worked tirelessly this last year to bring Columbia a health food restaurant that meets our standards of nutrition. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do and can taste the Nourish difference.