About Kelli - Founder of Hungry Hobby

Hi there! Welcome to Hungry Hobby!

I'm an Arizona-born and raised food lover who started blogging over a decade ago while juggling grad school and learning to cook on a student budget. What began as a way to share my journey to becoming a Dietitian has grown into a collection of 600+ recipes-each one created to nourish your body without skimping on flavor.

While I do post EVERY recipe I make here on the site, you can also follow along with me on Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and Youtube!

My story isn't your typical food blogger origin story. I wasn't raised by a foodie or handed down generations of cherished family recipes, but I love food all the same. I grew up in the '90s with a single mom who relied heavily on fast food to keep things afloat, and when I wasn't with her, I was with my grandma, who served up traditional Southern poor man's food-think canned green beans, fried spam, and fried frozen okra.

Honestly, food wasn't even on my radar. I ate that way (read mostly fast food) through college, where I earned a degree in business management. But trying to lose the weight I'd gained in college (more on that below) changed everything. I realized how little I knew about both nutrition and cooking-and that realization led me to pursue a master's degree in nutrition.

Overwhelmed (and fascinated) by everything I was learning, especially cooking, I started a blog to document the journey. I graduated with my Master's in Nutrition, became a Registered Dietitian, and a few years later, that blog eventually became my full-time job.

From meals that worked for a newlywed couple on a budget to recipes that fuel a now "middle-aged" (ugh) mom of three maintaining a 55-pound postpartum weight loss-this space has always been about what works in real life. Today, Hungry Hobby is both my full-time food blog and my private functional nutrition practice, and I feel so grateful to share it with you.

What you'll find on Hungry Hobby:

🥗 600+ Real-Food Recipes - Nutritious, flavor-packed meals designed for busy families and real-life routines.
🍽️ Healthy Hacks & Meal Prep Tips - Because I love to cook… just not at 5pm on a Tuesday with hangry kids melting down.
🧠 A Balanced Nutrition Philosophy - Whole foods when it counts, smart shortcuts when it makes sense-plus an eye on macros and calories for sustainable results.
📚 Free Resource Library - Includes weekly high-protein meal plans, downloadable recipe ebooks, and functional health guides to support gut health, hormones, and metabolism.
🛍️ Friday Favorites & No-Nonsense Picks - Weekly recaps of everything I'm loving as a millennial mom, Dietitian, and fellow human trying to keep it together-spicy book recs included.

What you won't find on Hungry Hobby:

🚫 Diet Culture Nonsense - No 1,200-calorie meal plans, detox teas, or fear-mongering about carbs here
🥱 Complicated Gourmet Recipes - If it requires a blow torch, ten specialty ingredients, or three hours of your life, it's not making the cut
❌ One-Size-Fits-All Advice - Your nutrition needs are as unique as your schedule (and your kids' snack demands). No cookie-cutter plans here.
🎉 Food Shaming or Ingredient Snobbery - I'm not clutching my pearls over red dye 40 at a birthday party, but I'm also not sautéing with Splenda or serving glow-in-the-dark yogurt at home (usually.)

To get you started, here are a few of my most popular recipes:

I'm so glad you are here! If you haven't already make sure you can access the Library of Resources where I share weekly meal plans (FOR FREE), recipe ebooks, and nutrition guides!

Want to know more about me? My Weight Loss Story & Passion for Metabolic Recovery

In 2009, I'd gained about 25 pounds in college and lost it the millennial way-on a steady diet of willpower, excessive cardio, and 1,200 calories a day of ultra-processed food. I didn't know how to cook, and I definitely didn't understand real nutrition or sustainable weight loss.

I signed up for one of those online calorie-counting programs that gave me a cookie-cutter goal: 1,200 calories a day. And while I did lose the weight-thanks to extreme deprivation and hours of cardio-I had no idea I was wrecking my metabolism, destroying my hormones, and setting myself up for a long road to recovery.

After coming off birth control, I didn't get a period for five years. My metabolism was in the tank. I struggled with a debilitating back injury. It took thousands of hours, dollars, and deep personal work to begin rebuilding-not just my body, but my understanding of what health actually means.

I've since devoted my career to learning everything I can about hormones, metabolism, and functional nutrition-and helping others avoid the path I took the hard way.

And I healed my hormones, metabolism, and was able to get pregnant naturally three times.

After each of my pregnancies, I lost 50-55 pounds the right way-focusing on whole foods, balanced nutrition, and incorporating strength training. It wasn't fast (each time took about a year), but it was sustainable, and I'm proud of every step of that journey.

I took everything I learned-both from my own hard-earned mistakes and my professional training-and poured it into my metabolism course (Fuel to Fire: Metabolism 101). It's the resource I wish I had back when I was relying on 1,200 calories and cardio to "fix" my body.

I also fixed Mr. Hungry's IBS and chronic migraines with a functional nutrition approach (see my functional medicine profiles with IFM and healthprofs.)

The blog-and its related social channels-have become a space where I share what actually works: for me, for my clients, and for my family. It's where my life as a Dietitian intersects with my life as a mom of three (all six and under as of 2024).

Somewhere along the way, I discovered that I love cooking-even if I had to teach myself. That said, I don't love cooking at 5pm on a weeknight with three hungry, chaotic little humans. So I share the meals we love-the ones that get us through this season of life with some joy and a whole lot of flexibility.

I'm honored to have you along for the ride!