THE BKFST CLUB is exactly what it sounds like. Dark, streaks of purple light & strobes fill the visible space, your best friend is across from you with rhinestones covering half of her face, Mark Ronson is spinning on the 1’s & 2’s while Dua smashes, there’s a smoothie bowl bar and everyone is drinking yards of room temperature lemon water. And they’re outrageously happy.
Kidding.
But that’s a club I would be a regular at. The other club I’m a regular at started as a ‘clerb’, pure fun, hoping to lift spirits during a dark time, and it turned into more than I ever imagined.
How THE CLUB began.
THE BKFST CLUB began exactly as it begins each day now, a (sometimes too lengthy) Instagram story every morning, with a sub-optimally creative breakfast dish, a family member cameo if we were lucky, an honest review, and eventually a thing or two about nutrition and women’s wellness. It was born out of a global pandemic, wait. Have y’all heard about this? Wild. Anyway, it was born out of a global pandemic and its effects - namely, more time than ever. I’d just been laid off from my job on The National Tour of CHICAGO the musical, unemployment was taking an eon to hit the account, and I was back in my parents’ Florida home cooking for an hour minimum each morning and then eating poolside. Looking back, not a bad gig. But at the time, it wasn’t a gig at all.
From clerb to club.
Before I say anything, clerb means club and club means clerb. Ok good. Now, if you’re confused, go to Instagram and search @thebkfstclub and hopefully I made something amazing for breakfast and said something halfway smart and now you’re a part of THE CLUB. This, my friends, is THE BKFST CLUB.
Well, some of it.
So back to 2020, I was making breakfast and doing my thing and I started dropping a nutrition gem here and there. And people seemed to like it. I did this for about a year and through a couple of seasons of life- turning 24, moving back to a very quiet New York City, and eventually falling in love with my now CFO (he’s really well-paid) who told me one day- “hey, people want to hear what you have to say, you should say more of it.”
So, for the three people that read this first BKFST Blog, I hope you find someone who says something like that to you and starts a snowball effect of good in your life and that of others. I’m planning to keep him on the payroll.
I proceeded to do exactly that- say more things that people wanted and asked to hear. And it turns out, all of these things had to do with my own personal struggles. And now I know you’re all (all 3 of you) are like “~oMg Al3x!@, wHaTTT d!D you $tRuggL3 w////////?????” And even if you’re not thinking or saying that, I’m gonna tell you anyway.
Pre-club days.
Growing up dancing since I was 2 and a half years old, I spent a lot of time in front of a mirror. And most women of our generation grew up with some not-so-positive conversations around food and bodies making up the soundtrack of their lives from generations above. Both of these factors led to immense body image issues and the constant striving for a smaller, better, more idealistic body. I began cutting out foods like flour, then all gluten, then cheese, followed by all dairy, I wouldn't eat anything “unhealthy” or “bad for you” and everyone in my life praised me for it. I had a genuine interest in nutrition but it was warped by the dysmorphic view of my body and the voices in my life. Fast forward to college, where I have less than healthy primary relationships with myself and another, I am dancing upwards of 40 hours/week, trying to maintain impeccable grades, a social life, and my underground waxing business. Entrepreneurship started young. And no, I’m not an aesthetician. My relationship with food and the exercise I used to make up for it was less than healthy, I was stressed out, and I felt like it was an endless cycle.
Upon graduation, I worked overseas performing on a cruise ship (never again) (it was awesome and I learned so much about myself) (but yeah, never again) and decided that was a splendid time to get off of birth control.
Now let me pedal back for a moment. During college, I experienced the progression of gastrointestinal discomfort and symptoms that began in high school which were diagnosed as borderline Crohn’s disease. I was later diagnosed with H. Pylori and every food sensitivity under the sun around my senior year.
OK OK OK still with me? So I’m in China, diarrhea all the time, body image very very horrible, not okay, hating myself on the daily. And boom, I decide it’s a great time to say goodbye to the pill. At this time I know nothing about synthetic hormones, the effect of birth control on your gut, or the rest of your life for that matter. My gut gets worse, my face explodes in acne, and my sex drive is through the roof. At least there’s a pro here OK NOW LADIESSSS. Alright.
I get back home, move to New York to ~chase my dreams~ and I feel like shit. I haven’t seen a period in a year. I look like a pepperoni pizza, my stomach is in knotted cramps 90% of the time, and I have a horrible relationship with myself, my body, and the food on my plate. I started working with a dietitian and health coach who legitimately changed my life and helped to clear my skin and my gut imbalances. God Bless Meg. But the flip side of some really amazing work was the avoidance of so many foods that let do heavy restriction and binge cycles.
By the time I was on tour pre-pandemic, I had a full-blown binge eating disorder.
That’s a hard thing to put on the internet. Because a lot of you are like “w@@@!!!T, ThAt waz 0nLY 2 yeeeeeers AGO!”. Exactly. But wounded healers are the best healers. Ask my clients.
THE CLUB started to take shape.
So I’m knee deep in a tub of ice cream + 6 servings of almonds + more chocolate than you’ve ever seen + leftovers + halloween candy and then I’m on the floor of the bathroom feeling less valuable than a gum glob on a New York City sidewalk (unless you’re Buddy, the elf but I was definitely not Buddy, the elf). So I did what I do best- I learn. I began studying as much as I could to learn about Nutrition and Women’s Wellness, and gut health and acne, and everything in between. The Institute for Integrative Nutrition opened up a space for me to be able to share my pain with others and help them out of it.
I went on to create (with an expert team of medical professionals and fellow functional movement specialists) the very first Women’s Wellness Program to integrate mindset, movement, and meals in alignment with the menstrual cycle. I started working with women all over the world to heal their relationships with their bodies, food, hormones, and more. I started talking about periods on instagram, CAN U BELIEVE!? The horror. And people started listening.
The moment came when I needed a change, I wanted to help these women and help myself. I wanted to practice what I’d been preaching- make decisions that honor yourself and your body, something I had been saying but not doing for a little while too long. So I took a leap. I dialed back my involvement in the fitness space, applied for an LLC, invested in branding, threw myself into my art, and made THE BKFST CLUB officially official.
Join THE CLUB.
So welcome to THE CLUB, I’m biased, but it’s pretty fun in here. It’s also real. I hope you find something that resonates and maybe even decide to stay a while.
XX
Alexia
CEO & Founder, THE BKFST CLUB
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