Meet your new gut health guide, Cordelia.

GET TO KNOW THE Real Deal.

I’m Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition.

I sit as Vice-Chair for the Holistic Nutrition Credentialing Board (HNCB)

I'm a Certified Reiki Level 2 Practitioner

I've Climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for rural schools in Africa

I love cold water and in fact on any given day you may just find me hanging out with the local seals in the Pacific

I'm an award winning Holistic Nutrition Professional

I've overcome debilitating gut and hormone conditions in situations where I was told I would never improve

I serve as Dean for the School of Holistic Nutrition at Pacific Rim College -- the most comprehensive program in Canada!

If you want to commiserate over your health issues while sipping a cup of lukewarm fennel tea, Cordelia McFadyen - Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition - ain’t for you. But if you’re ready to put your game face on, get your sh** together (literally) and become the “Gutsy Goddess” you know you can be, read on….

Cordelia, who’s Dean of the most comprehensive holistic nutrition program in Canada, and who has battled and overcome debilitating health issues herself (a water bottle is an accessory, right?!), moves beyond Captain Obvious of drinking more water and nibbling greens.

Get ready to not just change what’s on your plate, but add movement, mental mastery and curated lifestyle habits to the menu! THIS is how you make new habits stick, improve your health and become the happiest, most energetic person you know. Cordelia - the type who started a swear club in elementary school, because f*** - will get you there. Start today.

The Beginning of an “Invisible” Pain

“Life happens for you, not to you.”, is one of my favorite quotes by the inspirational Mr. Tony Robbins (speaking of, if you ever want to hear my story about walking over hot coals at a TR event then let me know!) whose words have soothed me when I look back to the beginning of my health journey, although little did I know it at the time.

You see, my gut health journey takes me all the way back to elementary school. Back to the days where it was normal for me to come home from school, grab a snack, lay down on the couch and watch Star Trek clutching my stomach with a hot water bottle.

My parents knew I had a stomach-ache all the time, trust me my whole family did! That’s why it was normal for us to go to the Doctors office to see if we could figure out what was going on, why did my stomach hurt all the time? The doctors were always puzzled by the way I felt and while they were determined to “fix me”, none of the tests they ran ever showed anything.

While they were busy looking for something serious, which thankfully they never did find, one simple question was never asked, “What are you eating?”.

Teen Dream (or not!)

Fast forward to the already awkward adolescent phase of life and voila, the tummy-ache train continues!

Looking back, it is clear for me now to see that so many of the symptoms I was experiencing were exacerbated by the fact that I had unknown food sensitivities and gut issues as a result.

I mean the skin issues, the acne, the nose bleeds, the brutal period pains, the uncomfortable and painful bloating. It was a time of feeling majorly disconnected from my physical body. It would take me years to nourish that connection back to self. ❤️

My skin issues were of such a concern to me (to which teen girl are they not?!) I went to the doctor and was put on Accutane. Oh, my goddess, I wish I would have known then what I know now about Accutane as I would have never gone on it (feel free to ask me why). But hey, when you’re an awkwardly tall teen girl young with a red face and pimples, trust me, you take it.

It was either that or the birth control pill. Honestly, why were those the only 2 options ever provided to me?

And more concerning, why are they still discussed as options today?

Eyes Opened Across The Pond

Shortly after high school I did what a lot of young women do, I sought adventure so I spread my wings and flew all the way to jolly ole England!

Everything was great, for a little while, until I started to experience some old familiar flareups. Hello to the bloating, gas, skin and back breakouts, the monster mood swings, pesky weight gain, the depression; it all came on with a vengeance.

Which is why out of desperation, I went to see a Doctor. Yes, another Doctor (what else was I supposed to do?!?) to talk to about my upset stomachs. What happened next was not expected.

Imagine my surprise when for the first time ever, a Dr. actually suggested I remove wheat. Yep, out of all the foods he could have said, he said wheat. Honestly the first thought in my head was “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. If this was something as simple as wheat then why didn’t anyone ever mention this before?!?”. I also laughed as I grew up in Alberta and can remember chewing on wheat as my mum baked fresh bread, it all makes soo much sense now.

Alas, when your body feels like an enemy and nothing that you eat feels good, you get desperate. You can get desperate enough that anything that anyone might suggest sounds like a plan (Hello 👋🏻 fear-based health decision!).

I did as the Dr. suggested and cut out all obvious sources of wheat (wheat and gluten can go by many different names) like bread, pasta, crackers, cookies, muffins, etc., for the next 30-days and holy moly, it was like a veil was being lifted off of my brain and I began to think clearly. More clearly than I had ever done in my entire life, more then I was ever able to.

I didn’t have to have my afternoon nap to get through the day anymore?! What was happening to me? I wasn’t sure but I liked it.

Back Home, With Some Gut Knowledge

After my run in with the Doctor, and the more holistic healthcare system in the UK in general, I had an idea that food was definitely involved in the way that I was feeling and that I had better figure it out in greater detail so that I didn’t slip back into old symptoms.

I reached out and started my search for a Naturopathic Doctor (ND), I didn’t even know what an ND was at the time, but I knew I needed help and that the traditional Medical System wasn’t well equipped to help me.

I reached out to a local Calgary ND and it was during our initial consult together that he talked to me about something called ‘food sensitivity testing’. My ND at the time suggested that I get it based on the severity and the sheer number of symptoms, both gut and brain, that I had experienced my entire life.

When I got the lab test results back, and surprise surprise, they indicated that I most definitely had some type of strong immune response to wheat and gluten (among others!) I felt relief. Relief that at least I had some idea of what was making me feel terrible! Having terrible symptoms is one thing, not knowing what causes them is another.

I remember that my levels were so high that even testing a year later it looked as though I was still consuming wheat and gluten, when really, that entire year prior I had not touched it! It took a couple of years for that inflammation to go down in my digestive system.

I’m glad I took the chance and invested in myself get the health data so that between my health team and I, we could really make some gutsy health goals to get my energy, body comfort and confidence, back on track.

Change of Plans!

The journey of healing my gut with the help of my health team led me to an unexpected change of careers in my 30s.

I had a successful career as an event manager in Calgary however as my health started to improve so visibly, those closest to me started to ask more questions about what they could do to feel better. Knowing what had worked for me could work for them but also knowing that we are all completely different, I sought out an education in Holistic Nutrition. It had to be holistic nutrition as my healthy journey was not just about what I ate but also what I spent my time doing, how I felt about myself, what exercise I did. It really was a physical, mental, spiritual and emotional healing.

After my education I started my very own business – Inspired Living Nutrition Inc! My purpose is simple, women’s empowerment through gut and hormonal health. Plus, boundary talk and personal health advocacy! Because come on, it’s not just about knowing what to do, it’s the support one needs during the messy middle when the power of a health team really gets activated.

Through my involvement in the industry I also had the opportunity to join Pacific Rim College as their Dean for the School of Holistic Nutrition. It’s a position I still serve on today and it’s such a privilege to give back to an industry that has given me so much.

It’s because of that passion for the industry that I’m Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition®, serve as Vice-Chair for the Holistic Nutrition Credentialing Board (HNCB) and am affiliated with the Canadian Association of Natural Nutrition Practitioners (CANNP) to ensure transparent ethics and professionalism for the industry in Canada and the States.

Health At Every Age & Every Stage

To remind me that health changes at every stage and every age, I now find myself utilizing the same framework and tools that I used to recover my gut health to recover my hormone health. Turns out if you have a lot of gut issues you probably also have some have hormone issues too. Wow, what an awesome bonus, ha-ha. 😉

While I’m beyond grateful to live in a country with a standardized medical system, it’s become apparent in my extensive experience that women’s gut and hormone health requires a full-on health team that ideally, will include practitioners from both sides of the allopathic and holistic healthcare spectrum.

As I always say, you are healthy to the level in which you serve yourself, so serve yourself first darling.