Get Fit With Plants
Meet Jelly Young
“The biggest adventure you can ever
take is to live the life of your dreams.” Oprah Winfrey
Hi! I’m Jelly Young!
And I’m here to tell you that there’s another way to live.
I am a certified Holistic Nutrition Coach with a passion to change lives through a plant-based lifestyle. I combine science, spirituality, fitness, and lifestyle hacks to help people discover their highest energy potential. I use my science background and a Masters degree in Public Health along with my love for spirituality, meditation, and manifestation to change lives and help individuals discover how to fuel their body mentally, emotionally, and physically in order to show up to all aspects of their life in a new way.
No matter what your circumstances are right now – you (yes, you!) can make massive shifts in your mood, energy levels, and general vitality WITHOUT gimmicks, fads, and “must have” gadgets.
Look, I was once in this same exact boat. I was stuck on the roller coaster of cookie-cutter diets and thought the only way to reach my goal weight was to…
- cut out on carbs
- starve myself
- spend hours on the treadmill
But it doesn’t have to be this way
The solution isn’t to eat less but to eat foods that align with your values and manifestations. I’m talking about REAL, God-given food that your great grandma would recognize. I have witnessed myself, and hundreds of others transform physically and spiritually through plant-based eating…
And now it’s your turn
Say goodbye to dieting and restrictions. I am here to empower, guide, and demystify the myths surrounding whole-food, plant-based nutrition. It’s time to start living an energized and vibrant life that you can truly enjoy.
MY JOURNEY TO PLANT-BASED LIVING
I’ve always considered myself health-conscious but throughout my teens and early twenties, this looked more like restrictive eating paired with plenty of exercise. This was only exacerbated when I became a cheerleader at the University of Tennessee. The pressure of weigh-ins and striving to be as thin as possible made food my primary thought each day, causing me to gain weight and develop a disordered mindset around food, both of which were counterintuitive to my goals.
After finishing college, I moved to Indonesia to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in a small village. This experience started a journey that forever changed my connection with food.
There, I was much closer and more connected to the food. Eating meat for dinner meant seeing the animal be slaughtered in the backyard. For the first time in my life, I came face-to-face with the harsh reality that each time I consumed meat during a meal, I was taking a life. This forced me to start asking myself questions, like “is my hunger worth taking an animal’s life three times a day?” And “If I am mentally or emotionally not prepared to kill the animal myself, is it fair to outsource this to others?” Despite having access to so many fresh fruits and vegetables, I was also witnessing rampant diabetes throughout the village due to the high amounts of processed sugary foods.
I began challenging myself to eat foods only provided by God. This means natural, not packaged or created in a factory or chemically laden. I found myself saying thank you to God before each meal rather than stressing about how many calories it had, or if it was going to make me gain weight. Eating became another opportunity to change the world with my actions. A chance three times a day to remind myself that I do not want to cause harm or pain to other living beings. It became another opportunity to pray.
Before moving to Indonesia, I believed that our genes predicted our future. I thought that a family history of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke meant I would inevitably face the same outcome.
However, that all started to change Labor Day weekend, 2014. While living on the other side of the world in Indonesia, I received the call everyone prays they never get. My mom had a massive stroke and I needed to return home immediately because she would likely not survive. The life we knew as a family changed overnight. I rushed home to be with her as weeks passed and she slowly came out of a medically-induced coma.
As I was working through grief and witnessing my mom (the strongest person I knew) not be able to walk, talk, or eat for herself, I dove into the research of how I could prevent this from becoming my own outcome. The first book I picked up was Eat to Live by Joel Furhman and nothing has been the same since
There, I was much closer and more connected to the food. Eating meat for dinner meant seeing the animal be slaughtered in the backyard. For the first time in my life, I came face-to-face with the harsh reality that each time I consumed meat during a meal, I was taking a life. This forced me to start asking myself questions, like “is my hunger worth taking an animal’s life three times a day?” And “If I am mentally or emotionally not prepared to kill the animal myself, is it fair to outsource this to others?” Despite having access to so many fresh fruits and vegetables, I was also witnessing rampant diabetes throughout the village due to the high amounts of processed sugary foods.
I began challenging myself to eat foods only provided by God. This means natural, not packaged or created in a factory or chemically laden. I found myself saying thank you to God before each meal rather than stressing about how many calories it had, or if it was going to make me gain weight. Eating became another opportunity to change the world with my actions. A chance three times a day to remind myself that I do not want to cause harm or pain to other living beings. It became another opportunity to pray.
Before moving to Indonesia, I believed that our genes predicted our future. I thought that a family history of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke meant I would inevitably face the same outcome.
However, that all started to change Labor Day weekend, 2014. While living on the other side of the world in Indonesia, I received the call everyone prays they never get. My mom had a massive stroke and I needed to return home immediately because she would likely not survive. The life we knew as a family changed overnight. I rushed home to be with her as weeks passed and she slowly came out of a medically-induced coma.
As I was working through grief and witnessing my mom (the strongest person I knew) not be able to walk, talk, or eat for herself, I dove into the research of how I could prevent this from becoming my own outcome. The first book I picked up was Eat to Live by Joel Furhman and nothing has been the same since SINCE 2014, I HAVE DEDICATED MY LIFE TO STUDYING PLANT-BASED NUTRITION AND HOW WE CAN USE LIFESTYLE CHOICES TO IMPACT OUR SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM HEALTH.
After my mom’s stroke I stayed in the United States for six months to be with my family as my mom moved from the intensive care unit, to a long-term care facility, and finally to a nursing home.
When I returned to Indonesia six months later to finish my Peace Corps service, I was fully plant-based. Everything in my life came back to the motto Food is Medicine which is a daily mantra I use to this day.
As I started to view food as medicine and the mechanism to prevent and reverse disease, my body began to transform. I became lean with a more toned physique. I carried my weight differently. I began intentionally eating nutrient dense foods that fueled my body and gave me more energy and for the first time in my life, my body felt nourished.
Before becoming plant-based I was lethargic, tired, and looked forward to long naps. Sometimes I didn’t feel like I had the energy to show up to my own life. But as I started fueling my body with starchy vegetables, greens, and fruits, my body was transformed. Not just on the outside but also on the inside. Food became my connection to Earth and to God. And this passion drives me to walk with people on their journey to a more plant-forward lifestyle for health, disease prevention, and weight loss.
Education and Training:
~Masters in Public Health – Emory University
~Bachelor of the Arts – University of Georgia
~Holistic Nutrition Coach Certification – AFPA
MY GOAL IS TO SUPPORT MY CLIENTS AS THEY TRANSFORM THEIR CONNECTIONS WITH THEIR BODY, THEIR FOOD CHOICES, AND THEIR BELIEFS TO LIVE A WILDLY ENERGETIC AND ALIGNED LIFE.
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