Meet Chrissy Barth

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chrissy Barth.

Chrissy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I think I was destined to be a dietitian and an educator- the latter as my mother and grandmother were teachers. I grew up in New Jersey as an active kid where I played a variety of sports including golf, tennis, volleyball, soccer, softball, basketball, and track and field. When I was 13 years old I tried my first diet and with my Type A personality took dieting to extreme measures. On an already lean and athletic frame, losing ten pounds over the summer before going into 8th grade, set off an alarm and my parents quickly took me to see a dietitian as they knew something was not right with me. While I credit the dietitian I worked with for being where I am today, I felt my personal experience working with my treatment team could have been better as they did not specialize in eating disorders. During my outpatient treatment, I swayed from one side of the eating disorder pendulum to the other over and over and over again. It wasn’t until I moved out to Arizona and attended Arizona State University in 1997 where my life changed all for the best. Arizona has healing energy which I felt immediately. Studying nutrition and being blessed with some of the best professors, I am forever grateful to them all. I debunked many nutrition myths during my education at ASU including that eating fat does NOT make you fat. My dietetics degree from ASU saved my life and gave me purpose.

In 2004, I stepped into my first yoga class where David Romanelli of At One Yoga was teaching and again, my life changed so much so that I do not know where I would be today without yoga. Taking a class from David was not only a great work-out but a great work-in. Shortly thereafter, I immediately signed up for Yoga Teacher Training at At One Yoga. The feeling I experienced after taking a yoga class was different than any other exercise. I’ll never forget driving home after my first class and bawling my eyes out. I was hooked. Yoga is a gift and has taught me the power of mindfulness, letting go, self-love, listening to the stillness, and in regards to nutrition and my battles as a teen, becoming an intuitive eater. In 2004, I also finished my dietetic internship and continued to work as a dietitian at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona while building my private practice on the side. There weren’t many – if any positions available for a sports dietitian working with athletes as well as those in recovery for eating disorders and therefore, I jumped in and created my business: Live Breathe Nutrition which has morphed into Nutrition Lifestyle Education and will soon be morphing into another business venture as my interest has shifted into integrative and functional nutrition and mental performance for athletes, executives, and those in recovery for addictions. I am also a Lecturer at Arizona State University where I teach a variety of nutrition courses as well as one in entrepreneurship.

Has it been a smooth road?
It’s been a wild ride! The beauty of having a business in nutrition is that there is so much one can do! In the same breath, the biggest challenge for myself is staying focused and not spreading myself too thin to the point where I feel like I am going in circles. As an entrepreneur without a business degree, I feel as though as I am always learning about the business side of things. Some of the struggles along the way include believing in myself and my value. I look at challenges as gifts to grow and to be a better version of myself. My dream as a kid growing up was to work in the NFL as a sports dietitian and I accomplished that through hard work and determination. I remember the wise words from the wonderful gentleman who hired me for the position with the Cardinals. He said that I have worked hard to achieve this role as the sports nutritionist with the Arizona Cardinals and that I have earned it. Looking back now, I believe him.

Please tell us about your practice.
I am an integrative and functional mental performance dietitian where I help athletes, executives, and those in recovery for addictions achieve and maintain optimal performance. I started my career in 2004 as a sports dietitian which has morphed into having a keen interest in mental performance and brain health. Between my grandmother passing away from Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) in her late 90’s and learning more about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), I have an immense amount of compassion and passion for those struggling with brain trauma. The movie, Concussion, literally “hit” me hard. AD is now the 4th leading cause of death in the United States. I use to see AD as a death sentence, but after learning more about how AD can be reversed, I welcome the opportunity to join the fight. I am currently working with a functional medicine physician in Scottsdale, AZ where we run a program created by Dr. Dayle Bredensen, MD, that helps reverse Alzheimer’s Disease in the early stages. I am also a yoga teacher and am currently earning a certification in Polestar Pilates which is a life-changing movement exercise that fuses Pilates, physical-therapy, and mind-body energy systems.

As an advocate of self-acceptance and self-care, I am most proud of turning a negative experience I endured at the young age of 13 and one that almost killed me into a thriving career where I am fortunate to work and meet with many other professionals in functional medicine. I am also grateful for my clients and students who continue to challenge me and help me grow on my professional and personal journey.

My love of learning from an integrative and functional nutrition approach and successfully overcoming an illness that has the highest mortality rate among all mental health illnesses sets me apart from many others coupled with my background in mind-body practices such as yoga, Pilates, and meditation.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Best: The list is endless! I love the people, the sunshine, the mountains, the healing atmosphere of the Valley, the yoga community, living in a place where you can go hiking and skiing all in one day, the fabulous restaurants – especially Fox Restaurant Concepts, sports teams, and the vast array of spas where I can disappear for a day to recharge.

Least: The pollution. Something needs to be done to help improve our air quality.

Contact Info:

• Address: Integrative Medicine of Arizona
  3295 N Drinkwater Blvd #3
  Scottsdale, AZ 85251
• Website: www.NutritionLifestyleEducation.com
• Phone: 480-332-8127
• Email: Chrissy@NutritionLifestyleEducation.com

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