Hi, I’m Hadlee
I'm a health coach whose mission is to guide health-seeking individuals to implement essential habits for a thriving body, mind, and spirit.
What I do:
I help people feel better in their bodies, become more confident in themselves, have a better relationship with food, and become less stressed and more joyful in their day-to-day lives.
I work with people who struggle with an all-or-nothing mentality when it comes to health as well as other areas of life. People who want to improve their body image and overall confidence. People who feel a loss of control when it comes to health and health habits, who are either “on” or “off” the wagon.
Through my group coaching programs, these individuals create long-term, sustainable changes that serve them for a lifetime.
They embody an easeful relationship with food, with time, and with themselves. They improve their energy levels, gain mental clarity, and feel comfortable in their skin. They gain more control over their day-to-day life, and then discover the joy that was hiding in their lives all along.
My Story…
Ever since I can remember, I felt shame around my body
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely had a great life and childhood, even as I battled with my apparent lack of “willpower” around food and the way my body looked. I had great friends and family. I did well in school. I did theatre and swam and had a happy life.
But underneath much of it, I was out of integrity with myself, my body’s needs, and my own desires. I felt self-conscious, often took things personally, got sick a lot, and fluctuated between feeling good and feeling terrible both mentally and physically.
I was also really disconnected from my body. I was a big reader, and I remember reading stories where people could actually feel what their bodies were telling them. I thought this was just literary hyperbole (it’s not)! I literally couldn’t even tell when I was hungry or full, always relying on external portion sizes… or bingeing until I felt sick.
Bingeing also started when I was young. I would look forward to when we would finally get to eat. Food was comfort, and because I was so disconnected from my body, I didn’t even know when I was hungry or full – I just wanted food all the time.
This was exacerbated in High School when I was a swimmer, with 2.5-hour practices after school each day and 1-hour morning practices three days/week. I relished in being able to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, without gaining weight. A binge eater’s dream.
Of course, every off-season, I then gained weight because I just kept eating in the same way. So I would go on diets with my friends, experiment with calorie counting, try to find another exercise routine, etc.
But the more I restricted, the more I "lost control.”
Sometimes I would eat within the confines of a diet, but eat absurd amounts of whatever food I was allowing myself to eat at the time.
Other times I would eat something I “wasn’t supposed to,” and then just say “screw it, I’ll start tomorrow,” then proceed to eat everything I had deemed “bad.”
This continued throughout high school and college. My weight fluctuated constantly, and I never felt good in my body. I was very self-conscious, and always trying to find the ‘right’ way of eating. I thought if I could find the right plan and just stick to it, I would finally be fully happy.
But this always led to restriction and then the subsequent binge that accompanies….
The more I pushed and prodded myself to make changes, the worse it became. The more I beat myself up about not making the changes I wanted in my life, the more I felt discouraged and the worse my mental and physical health got.
It got worse before it got better.
When I went to undergrad at the University of Michigan, I started getting sick even more often, getting bronchitis, ear infections, pink eye, and other infections fairly regularly.
My skin flared up with psoriasis and I had large, red, inflamed patches of skin all over my body and face.
I felt groggy and tired all day, relying on coffee to wake up and alcohol to have fun. I suffered multiple-day hangovers, struggling to regain mental clarity and feeling even remotely better physically for days on end.
I developed an even more dysfunctional relationship with food and my body, with restriction and bingeing becoming more and more pronounced throughout my days and weeks. I felt a loss of control when food was present, and a sense of regret and self-contempt after bingeing. I constantly dieted and obsessed about my weight, even as my weight crept up and up and up….
I felt a general and constant sense of sadness, as well as consistent irritability, annoyed with myself and those around me for no real reason. I was honestly kind of mean, which made me feel even more self-loathing.
I felt like time was passing me by without me knowing what I wanted to do or be in my life. I was scared of the future and frustrated with the present.
I also started following the body positivity movement, but was totally confused about how to love my body when my body felt like it was falling apart. I was frustrated that there seemed to be a (false) dichotomy: either toxic diet culture OR do whatever and just love your body anyway, even if it feels like crap.
That was when I found Happy Healthy Habits.
Well, it wasn’t yet Happy Healthy Habits. It was a certification program called Yoga Health Coaching, based on the habits of Ayurveda and the principles of behavior change science.
With the help of this program, I learned how to eat for optimal digestion, developed an exercise routine, actually started sleeping enough, and cultivated a healthy relationship with my body and myself. I implemented health habits that made my body thrive, my mind clear and focused, my emotions steady, my mood much more positive.
I was excited to get out of bed in the morning.
I spent less time studying and got better grades.
I started loving my body for all it could do, and even for what it looked like. I honored my body’s needs without punishing myself for eating something “wrong” or not working out as hard as I “should.”
I had more positive relationships. I was more pleasant to be around. I felt blessed instead of annoyed. I took things less personally.
My psoriasis cleared up.
I no longer needed coffee to wake up in the morning. I no longer needed alcohol to have fun.
I started feeling my body’s cues and knowing what to do with them. I no longer obsessed about my weight or the food I was eating. My binge eating episodes decreased in frequency and eventually stopped altogether.
And I found my purpose.
I realized that this was exactly what I needed to be doing: helping people implement these habits, embody the growth principles I had learned, and change their lives to become ones they’re excited about living.
Not only did I uncover my potential for health and happiness, I also discovered my passion and made it into a business. Once I finished my Master’s in Public Health, I got certified as a Yoga Health Coach so I could teach the thing that had so drastically changed my life.
I developed my own habits program with an emphasis on healing relationships – not relationships with a partner, but rather with food, our bodies, and our Selves.
This is why I do what I do.
I know what it’s like to feel so mentally and physically low. I also know what it’s like to feel like there’s something missing, like there has to be more to life than what I was currently living.
And I’m SO passionate about helping people finally feel amazing in their bodies, their minds, and their lives.
This stuff matters. If we want to create a world that has more love and less hate and fear, if we want to show up as the best version of ourselves, if we want to make a difference in the lives of others, we have to start with ourselves. Once we implement the habits we need to thrive, we’re so much more capable of living our purpose, feeling fulfilled, and yes – being happy and healthy!
So. Are you ready to make a change in your own life?
Start by diving into our Happy Healthy offerings.
Ayurveda: The Key to Your Success™ Mini-Course
Habit Change Master Class
