Who I Am & What I'm About
A Little About Carmen
NUTRITION & LIFESTYLE COACHING FOR CAREER-DRIVEN MOMS
A Little About Carmen Dunn
Mom, Spouse, Business Owner, Nutritionist and Recovering Perfectionist!
Hi. I’m Carmen.
Like you, I wear many hats during the day. I’m a mom of 2 boys, the spouse of a Frenchman who doesn’t cook (not fair!) and the founder and owner of Context Nutrition, where I’ve been helping woman (and their spouses) since 2011.
Random facts:
I love eating healthy food but I hate cooking. This helped me develop my Meal Guide Matrix that allows me to put together healthy meals in around 10-20 mins!
Why I love nutrition: To me, it’s the highest form of self-love; nurturing your body & mind while taking responsibility for your health.
Fun facts:
Favourite meal: Toss up between Ratatouille with Salmon or Steak & asparagus!
Favorite wine: Merlot or Cahors
Favourite country: I have 2: France & Turkey!
Favourite subject in school: French & Biology
Favourite show to binge: A cross between bimbo entertainment (Selling Sunset) and foreign films. I’m currently binging Magnificent Century about the Ottoman empire!
Formal Stuff:
After I graduated (with honours) as a Certified Nutritional Practitioner from the Institute of Holistic Nutrition in 2011, I realized, although foundational, diet alone couldn’t get me the results I wanted for my clients. This led me to studying Functional Diagnostic Nutrition in California, that taught me how to address underlying issues (hormone imbalances, gut pathogens, food sensitivities etc.) by using functional lab work. This change created next level results for my clients that I couldn’t have gotten with food alone.
I’m a member of the Canadian Association of Natural Nutrition Practitioners and the Association of Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioners in United States. My education didn’t stop there though. I’m constantly enrolled in continuing ED programs on Energy, Fat-loss & Metabolism, Hormones, Thyroid, SIBO, Histamine & Mold.
I’m also a graduate from the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University. Like a lot of my clients, I did a career change around 30. My life didn’t look like how I had imagined it was supposed to and I wasn’t happy. I made the scary decision to walk away from almost a decade into my marketing career to go back to school and study nutrition. This career change was the best decision I ever made and the first time I truly felt happy! Today, I’m happy to say I’ve helped other women recover their health so they too have had the courage to walk away from a draining job or career.
My Health Journey
From Chronic Colds and Allergies to Acne, Depression, Exhaustion & Weight-gain (Skinny fat)
My childhood was spent chronically sick with colds, stuffy nose, tonsillitis and allergies. I had permanent allergic shiners (dark circles) under my eyes and always had kleenex in my pockets. The medical solution was to cut out my tonsils at 8, give me weekly allergy shots for years, pump me full of antibiotics and at 19, cut out my turbinates inside my nose to open up the breathing space – this only made my nasal drip worse.
Fast forward to 20, I had damaged my gut from years of antibiotics and ended up with adult acne. Doctors and dermatologists put me on every topical cream and drug under the sun from tetracycline (more antibiotics) and Accutane (liver damaging) to Diane 35 (birth control pill). The birth control pill worked beautifully, but when I came off it at 27, my acne returned with a vengeance to my face and for the first time, on my back.
Did you know that the birth control pill is a gateway drug to anti-depressants? Cuz that’s what came next. I spent my 20s on anti-depressants (Celexa, Wellbutrin, Sertraline, Effexor – Oh man, the electric shocks trying to come off them were next level).
By 27, I had had enough! Intuitively, it felt wrong to take chemicals to control my skin, mood and cycle. I wanted to deal with the ‘root cause’, not suppress symptoms. I didn’t know what to do, but it started my journey into natural health.
By 30, I had completely burnt out. I struggled every morning to get out of bed for work and would sleep in until 11 am on week-ends. My energy was weirdly best in the evenings which meant I couldn’t get to sleep until after midnight. I had trouble concentrating at work and procrastinated tasks which triggered more stress and irritability. And despite eating what I thought was a healthy and organic vegetarian diet and cycling daily, I was skinny fat. I couldn’t build muscle or nor burn belly fat despite going to a fancy gym.
Thanks to my new found education in natural health, my seasonal and food allergies are gone and I have not had to take Claritin since 2009. My skin is so clear I constantly get compliments. No matter how grey and rainy it gets, depression and SAD are now things of the past. I have more energy in my 40s than I’ve ever had and need less hours of sleep to feel refreshed. And for the first time in my life, I have ab muscles. I finally started to build muscle thanks to finding the optimal diet for my body. I truly feel healthier in my 40s than I did in my 20s and I’d like to show you how too!
My Philosophy for Health
My belief is that the further we move away from nature, the sicker we become. We need to go backwards to learn the foundation of what actually builds health as opposed to looking for a pill to ‘treat’ our symptoms, that we have to stay on indefinitely.
My approach is simple. Test! Don’t guess! Figure out the cause, then build the plan. To do this, I use functional lab testing then nutrition, supplements and lifestyle therapies so you can wake up refreshed, get through your day with ease, have patience with your kids (or spouse) and feel great in your clothes!