From passion project to career: a holistic health coach on fitness, nutrition & positivity
Of the many internet darlings we can thank for some much-needed positivity in 2020, Authentic Fork is one of the brightest—bringing healthy, simple recipes, workout ideas and a real side of wellness on the ‘gram. We caught up with its creator, Amanda Bruzzese, over Zoom to get all the details on her passion project turned career.
A holistic health coach in training, Amanda’s passion for health and wellness started after a difficult experience in her teens with disordered eating. An early mentor and aspiring dietitian inspired her to dive into wellness head-first—and by her college years, she’d already made it her mission to turn it into a career and landed her first job in health advertising.
“Health and wellness literally consumed my life in so many ways. I realized, I’m so passionate about this, I want to make it into my living somehow. ”
Fast-forward to today, and she’s about to graduate from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, an exclusively online program well-suited for a full-time work schedule. The program had been on her “someday” list for years—but took a big moment in her career to pause, reset, and realize what she’s passionate about. In March of 2020, her corporate role, along with so many others, was furloughed. After more than a few days of soul-searching, she decided to go for it. And leaning in to studying holistic nutrition meant sharing that with others, too.
On Authentic Fork, she aims to tackle the aspects of Instagram’s wellness community that have become less about positivity and more about diet tea—one well-researched, beautifully photographed and attainable piece of content at a time.
When it comes to fitness content, Amanda’s goals are to bring a real, inclusive voice amidst all the noise. On an image-based platform, with body-type comparisons and #sponsored promises abound, that voice can be crucial.
“Instagram is so saturated with fitness bloggers and health & wellness bloggers. It’s hard to narrow down who those real, authentic people are. Some people tell you, ‘do this for slim legs!’ It’s not about that. It’s about moving your body. ”
Along with her recipes and fitness tips, she’s sharing takeaways from her holistic nutrition courses—which includes some unexpected realizations and a little self-reflection. Instead of just focusing on a diet plan, holistic nutrition looks at the whole picture.
Working one-on-one with a health coach means confronting your other demons, from fitness routines to relationships, stress and anxiety (hello late-night anxious snacking). Then you’ll have the tools to connect the dots and make lasting changes for the better.
Putting yourself (and your dream) out there for the world to see can be intimidating—especially in a digital culture where everyone seems to have an opinion. With Authentic Fork three months in the making, and having taken the leap to study at IIN, Amanda was pleasantly surprised by the experience.
“Being able to make friends through it has been the biggest surprise for me, and how welcoming and positive everyone is. Surrounding yourself with positive people and people who lift you up is so important too, because you’ll start acting that way. You’ll pick up those behaviors. And I feel like that helps me keep that positivity, too, and block out the negativity in my head … the world really isn’t out to get you. There’s a lot of good in this world.”
Her goals next: launching a website, continuing to grow the Authentic Fork audience, and pretty soon, her own heath coach practice—to which we’ll happily be first in line! In the meantime, follow @authenticfork here.