My name is Alexandra, but all my friends call me Dra. I love traveling, nutrition, cooking, exploring new places, reading, learning, and spending time with friends and family. I am a full-time accountant based in Chicago, but love to take photos and create recipes for fun. I decided to create The Healthyish Dish to keep track of all of my recipes and photos.
I attended college in Holland, Michigan, at a small liberal arts school called Hope College. It was through my experience at Hope that I discovered my love for cooking, traveling, and people. I double-majored in public accounting and business and got a minor in cooking (just kidding, I really wish though). During my time at Hope, I did cook A LOT. I would spend hours in the kitchen whipping up elaborate meals for one and redefining the meaning of the phrase “freshman 15” with my constant cookie baking.
After college ended I noticed my ability to eat whatever I wanted started to dissipate. I was feeling nauseous far more often than I would have liked, and coming from a girl who has an actual phobia of vomit, I was distraught. About six months out of college, the stress of studying for the CPA, working full time, being in a long-distance relationship, eating unhealthy, and drinking too much caught up with me. I decided it was time to make some changes. I started incorporating principles of the paleo diet into my life. The focus of my meals shifted from “what will taste good?” to “what will fuel my body today?”. I started reading labels and focusing on minimally processed foods. I was desperate to learn more about nutrition and the human body. Podcasts and nutrition books because my best friend. I was absolutely fascinated by the impact that food could have on the body, and was even more thrilled by the positive changes I saw after changing my “diet”.
I also started incorporating strength-based workouts for the first time in my life. In the past, I had developed an unhealthy relationship with cardio and “earning” my food. Instead, I focused on lifting weights to increase my strength and doing bouts of HIIT exercises for occasional cardio. I shifted my mindset to fuel my body rather than thinking that I needed to “earn” my food. I fell in love with fitness and the way that movement could make me feel. I stopped running, cycling, and elliptical-ing, all things I HATED, in favor of lifting weights and long walks. I even got certified to be a personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine.
Since then I’ve developed such a passion for holistic nutrition, fitness, and overall healthy living. I am completely in awe of the positive impacts that healthy eating habits and exercise can have on all aspects of life. I love sharing my recipes, and nutrition facts with others.
I hope you’ll follow along as I share my healthy-ish recipes!