Meet Maria Emmerich

 

We recently connected with Maria Emmerich and have shared our conversation below.

Maria, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

I struggled with food and weight throughout adolescence and into adulthood. I am very passionate about helping people heal their body through food because the medical field has failed me and my family numerous times.
As an overweight 16-year-old, I lacked energy, I was depressed and didn’t know why. After a visit to my doctor, I was told I had PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and walked away with a prescription to an acid blocker and an antidepressant — not the answer I was looking for. That same week, my dog was losing patches of her hair. “The veterinarian asked, ‘What are you feeding her?’ It was like a light-bulb went off for me. I went home and immediately changed my own diet too.
I started limiting carbohydrates and adapting a nutrient-rich diet, now know as the ketogenic diet. Seeing results, I decided to pursue a degree in nutrition and exercise physiology.
At the young age of 17, I met my husband, Craig and I really just wanted to be a mom.
But because I had PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome), we looked into adoption. Just as we were making headway and getting excited about the possibility of becoming parents, Craig, an electrical engineer, lost his job.
We lost every penny. We lost our house, our cars, everything. We would go on dates to the library and stay at my parents’ rustic Northwoods Wisconsin cabin with no TV nor internet. That’s when I started writing. What started as a cathartic stress-reliever quickly turned into something more.
My friend told me, “You need to start a blog. Write down your recipes and put them in a cookbook and raise money for your adoption.”
A year-and-a-half later, we adopted two boys from Ethiopia: Kai was four months and Micah was 18 months. But, it would be months before we could actually bring them home — to Wisconsin.
About 4 months after we adopted our baby boys, my husband, Craig, lost his job. We kept this secret for awhile… it was such a scary time for us and Craig didn’t want to feel like he was failing his family. But thanks to all of you, my boys have the best stay-at-home dad EVER!
I thought my calling was motherhood, but that was only one small part of my story.
My life has changed dramatically in the last 22 years. I have become an international bestselling author of over 14 books including “Quick and Easy Ketogenic Cooking” and “Keto: The Complete Guide to Success on The Ketogenic Diet”. My books and recipes have been featured by Halle Berry, Al Roker on Good Morning America, Valerie Bertinelli and others.
I have been helping clients with a ketogenic lifestyle for almost 20 years.
I am so grateful for every day. We have had some hard times. But Craig and I remain strong together.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a nutritionist who specializes in the ketogenic diet and exercise physiology. I struggled with my health and weight throughout childhood which led me to become such a passionate nutrition expert. My goal is to help transform people’s lives and start living again!
I specialize in brain neurotransmitters and how food can increase mental wellness. My expertise has sent me around the World speaking about ketogenic diets. I have also cooked with Halle Berry and Halle helped with my latest book. You can find me at KetoMaria.com.
I spends the majority of my time with clients around the World via Skype with amazing results. I specialize in helping autoimmune disorders, diabetes (Type 1 and Type 2), heart disease, cholesterol issues, alopecia, Hashimoto’s, cancer, epilepsy, seizures, depression and anxiety. You would be amazed at the amount of people get off medication with my guidance.
I am also an International Best Selling author of several books including “Quick and Easy Ketogenic Cooking” and “The 30 Day Ketogenic Cleanse“. She also authored 20 other books including several cookbooks and 3 nutritional guide books including the best-selling book “Keto.” Some of her readers include, Halle Berry, Valerie Bertinelli and Al Roker.
I have helped millions of people with my books and coaching to lose weight and regain their health with over 20 years of experience working with clients utilizing the Keto/Low Carb approach.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1. DETERMINATION: I never gave up! Even when people thought my approach was crazy, I kept with it and never once spent a dime on advertising. The word of mouth spread and I kept growing!
2. GENEROSITY: I provide many free services for people where they can get the support they need. The success those people who are a part of my free groups is amazing. Twila lost 270 pounds and I never charged her a dollar. Her testimony sent hundreds of people my way.
3. STRONG WORK ETHIC: I work all the time. Holidays, weekends, I get up at 4:30am most days to start work. When I have a project or book on my mind, I am obsessed and put so much time, love and determination into what I am focused on.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?

My ideal client is someone who thinks they are eating healthy and working out correctly because 99% of the time, they are eating completely wrong and working out in a way that is hindering weight loss.
It is also very helpful if they enjoy cooking somewhat, because anything that comes out of a package is not feeding our bodies well… you need to cook your own food.

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