HELLO. I AM SYDNEY NIKOLE.
Faith, Food, & Wellness Content Creator. Loving God, plant-based eating, and healthy living.
Story behind this food blog
Hey friend, hey! I’m Sydney Nikole, founder of Klean Living with Kole and I’m so glad you are here. Welcome to my world through the internet, where I share healthy, plant-based recipes, my faith journey as a young Christian woman, and my passion for lifestyle medicine.
I’ve always been passionate about health and wellness from as early as 17 years old, where I found my love for plants and community health. During my junior year of high school, I furthered a science fair project from my older brother that grew plants through the alternative growing method of aquaponics. In the simplest of terms, aquaponics is the harvesting of plants in water using the fecal emission of fish as a natural fertilizer. Through this project, my plants grew 6x faster than the traditional (soil) method and after making it to the state science fair and receiving the Governor’s Honor award, the produce from my project developed into a larger green house on the campus of my high school, providing fruits and vegetables for the local Atlanta community. This was incredibly significant because my high school was located in what we know as a food desert.
Between my freshman year of college and the end of my graduate school experience, my health journey has definitely been a rollercoaster of highs and lows. I’ve struggled with the “freshman 15”, yo-yo dieting, body shaming/comparison, emotional eating (binge eating), food addictions, body inflammation (acne), and others I do not have the time to name. So let me be the first to attest that it is extremely difficult to love yourself and your body when you feel as though you don’t look like what “society” deems as good enough.
It wasn’t until my junior year of college, that I finally decided to expand on what I already knew about nutrition and discover the healing benefits of food. Through tons of research, as well as trial and error with my own body, over time, I have been able to reverse my hormonal acne and hyperpigmentation, improve my overall gut health, as well as lose 20 pounds naturally. Did I mention that I also helped my grandmother of 75 years old lose 30+ pounds and reverse her diabetes diagnosis? Now she is mobile than ever, attending weekly workout classes, and shops at her local farmers market.
My love for healthy food, lifestyle medicine, and wellness is a passion that only came from God himself. As I learned to understand the healing properties of the plants God gave us on earth itself and allowed God to work on my heart, he graciously helped me to learn how to love myself in all of its stages. I’ve grown to value the relationship between my faith and how I fuel and take care of my body, and believe that my experiences can help you too live a better lifestyle.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Foods I Do Eat: fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, pasta, and eggs
- Foods I Don’t Eat: all meat (this includes seafood) and dairy products (cow derived products)
My grandmother lost the weight in 6 months and reversed her diabetes fully in a year, seeing the first signs of progress (weight loss, decreased A1C levels) in just under a month.
I’ve been a Christian my entire life, grew up in church, and at one point in my life, my dad was a pastor. It wasn’t until graduate school, that I was in a really low point in my life and the only person who pulled me out of that dark space, was God himself. Two years later and we are still going strong!
Wanna know more? Check out the FAQ page.
As a recent graduate student of The Ohio State University and a current Administrative Fellow, I believe that I have a unique position to spread the love of Christ through my life lessons as a 20-something year old, woman of color and see a unique responsibility to pour into the minds of others through my wellness journey, life’s testimonies and alone time with God.
I enjoy creating long-form content the most on my YouTube. On my YouTube channel I have the opportunity to show my community, “Sydney” in her most raw form, sharing my insight and experience on health and wellness topics, my college experiences, and my faith journey.
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Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
1 Corinthians 16:19-20
Thank you for reading
My areas of creation may not make sense to most, but I know that you too can benefit from the knowledge, real-world experiences, and wisdom I’ve acquired over the years in the areas of faith, food, and wellness. It is my hope that through Klean Living with Kole, I am able to excite, empower, and encourage healthy eating and living into the lives of others, while bringing more souls into the Kingdom of God.