Wellness With Hazel

Wellness With Hazel

Menu

Meet Hazel Knight

🌿 Your Guide to Joyful, Sustainable Wellness

From Overwhelmed to Empowered
Hi there! I’m Hazel—a mom of two spirited kiddos, wife to my endlessly supportive husband, Ben, and a certified nutritionist who’s been in your shoes. My journey to wellness wasn’t a straight path. After the birth of my second child, I found myself exhausted, overwhelmed, and 50 pounds heavier than I’d ever been. I tried every quick fix: crash diets, miracle supplements, and workout plans that left me burnt out. Spoiler: None of them stuck.

One rainy Asheville afternoon, while chasing my toddler and tripping over LEGOs, I realized I wasn’t just tired—I was losing myself. I wanted energy to keep up with my kids, confidence to look in the mirror, and—most of all—peace with food.

During my transformation journey

I began swapping late-night stress-eating for early morning hikes in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Those misty trails became my therapy. With every uphill climb, I wasn’t just burning calories—I was reclaiming my breath, my strength, my self. I’d come home muddy and exhilarated, my legs aching but my heart full, to find Ben wrangling breakfast chaos with our two little tornadoes. “Go write it down,” he’d say, nodding at my hiking journal. “Someone else needs to hear this.”

So I dug deeper. Between diaper changes and preschool pickup lines, I devoured nutrition textbooks, earned my certification, and started experimenting. I learned that sustainable weight loss isn’t about willpower—it’s about working with your body, not against it. Roasted sweet potatoes replaced sad salads. “Lazy girl” workouts (dance parties with the kids, living room yoga) replaced gym guilt. And yes, dark chocolate stayed—because joy matters.

The Turnaround
It started with a single step—literally. One evening, as I sat on the floor of my cluttered kitchen (because let’s be honest, moms don’t get to sit at tables), I scrolled through photos of myself pre-kids. The woman in those pictures wasn’t just thinner—she was lighter, in every sense of the word. But instead of feeling defeated, something clicked: What if I stopped chasing “before” and started building a healthier “after”?

Ben, my rock, saw the spark before I did. “Let’s meal prep together after the kids are asleep,” he suggested, trading his Netflix time for chopping veggies. We turned it into our weird little date night—laughing over quinoa mishaps and taste-testing protein bars (verdict: most taste like cardboard, but we found a few gems!).

 

Ben & Me

During one of my hikes in Craggy Pinnacle Trail

The pounds melted slowly, but the shifts were seismic. My energy surged. My migraines vanished. And one day, at the top of Craggy Pinnacle Trail, I realized I’d just hiked three miles without stopping—something I couldn’t do even in my 20s.

But the biggest change? My inbox. Friends, then strangers, began asking, “How did you do it?” So I started sharing—first on Pinterest, pinning meal prep hacks between my kids’ finger paintings. The response was electric. Women like you messaged me: “Your roasted chickpea recipe saved my lunchbox sanity!” or “I finally stepped on a scale without crying.”

That’s when I knew: My mess had become my message.

Why Pinterest?
As a visual learner, I’ve always loved how a single image—a vibrant meal, a laugh-out-loud meme—could inspire action. When I started sharing my “10-Minute Meal Preps” and “Hike-Friendly Snacks” on Pinterest, something magical happened: You showed up. Thousands of you! Now, my boards are a cozy corner of the internet where we swap recipes, celebrate non-scale victories, and prove healthy living can be deliciously uncomplicated.

My Why
This isn’t just about weight loss. It’s about:

  • Family: Raising my kids to see food as fuel and joy (yes, we bake cookies—with chickpeas sneaked in!).

  • Community: Building a tribe where “progress over perfection” isn’t just a mantra—it’s our anthem.

  • Nature: Hiking Asheville’s trails with Ben, who’s now my #1 taste-tester and hiking buddy.

Let’s Grow Together
I’m here because I’ve lived the struggle—and the freedom that comes after. Let’s make wellness feel as good as it looks.

🌄 Hiking trails, dark chocolate, and real talk await—Hazel

P.S. Ben says hi. And yes, he still eats the “weird healthy stuff” I make. Mostly. 😉