Welcome! I am a Holistic Nutrtionist, Coach and Educator, Business Mentor, and Entrepreneur. I hope you will get to know me better through my experiences in my “Words of Wellness”:
1. You are what you eat
I have a long history of compulsive snacking and eating on the run – never giving any real thought to what I was consuming. In my late twenties and into my thirties I became significantly overweight and under-energized. Thankfully I encountered a team of dynamic women who introduced me to a lifestyle of health and prosperity – leading me to research nutrition and overall wellness. Learning what my body needs at the cellular level helped me to change my thinking about food as nutrients to fuel my body and generate healthy cells. This gave me back my health and vitality.
2. Your body was made to move
Besides getting to my car, or through the halls at the school where I taught and up and down grocery store aisles, I was not moving my body. I knew I should “exercise”, but that word held visions of pain, frustration, misery and humiliation in a gym. My weight was creeping up, my muscles were wasting away and my joints were stiff. Knowing I needed to move my body, I decided to get creative about it: brisk walks with my dog; playing soccer or road hockey or catch with my kids, biking, hiking, swimming, canoeing, Pilates, and more recently, Nia. If you are going to “exercise” daily – and you should – it has got to be fun!
3. Love and respect yourself
I have to admit that I set high standards and I am the worst one for beating myself up with negative thoughts and words. I am guilty of setting the bar too high and then being angry with myself for “failing”. I need to accept that I have limitations, respect my strengths, and be patient while I turn my weaknesses into strengths – it takes time for everyone – even me! I have learned that to love and respect others, I need to love myself first. That means being gentle, patient and kind to myself – positive, nurturing self-talk and time spent with positive, supportive people and activities.
4. You are part of nature
The best decision I made was to move out of the city to a rural, waterfront community. The sound of lapping waves rocking you to sleep, the fresh gentle breeze caressing your face, the soft sand sifting between your toes, the smell of pine needles tickling your nose, the peace of the the canoe gliding over the calm bay as the sky reflects in the water…I think you get the picture – I can finally breathe deep enough to inspire my body, mind and spirit. And I am inspired to eat fresh, whole natural foods to fuel my body.
5. Follow your passions with purpose
I was a school teacher for 16 years because teaching is one of my passions. Then, after discovering the power of food and nutrients, nutrition and wellness became my new passion. Accompanied by an overwhelming desire to reclaim my vitality and control over my schedule to enjoy my life with my family, I embarked on pursuing my new passion with the purpose of helping others to achieve a healthy and prosperous life.
6. Manage your resources well
Have you noticed that the more money people make, the more they spend? That was me: I worked my way up to the top of the pay scale, buying the bigger house, the more expensive car, more stuff to put in my house, more toys for my kids, more luxuries…until one day I realized most of this “stuff” was not being used or enjoyed. In fact, it was just creating more work to maintain. I got tired of working harder and longer to maintain what I had or to accumulate more things that I had no time or energy left to enjoy. I downsized my home to move to the water, got rid of a lot of “stuff” and continue to focus on simplifying. Less is definitely more. Time and health are your most valuable resources – nurture them and use them wisely (you can’t get them back) – they will pay you back in priceless treasures.
7. Develop and nurture meaningful relationships
I am very independent. I take pride in doing things myself and not relying on anybody. What a recipe for disaster and loneliness! We were not created to be alone or to be masters of all things. We need each other. Moving to our small community has taught me the value of developing friendships and supporting one another. What a wonderful experience to be able to rely on a friend to help with the children, make a minor repair to your house, keep an eye on the place while you are away, or just lend an ear or a shoulder to cry on. Even better is the gift of being there for your friends.
8. Try something new!
Certain birthdays and milestones can make one feel old. Being rigid in your routines and habits only creates boredom and frustration. Yes, I hit a milestone birthday this past year – enough said! But I embraced it (okay, maybe rebelled against it would be more accurate) by being more adventurous and trying new things. I was surprised to discover how stubborn and close-minded I had been about a lot of things. Yet, I was absolutely amazed at how letting go and giving it a whirl could be so exhilarating.
9. Give yourself permission
This is something new I learned by trying a new activity – Nia. The instructor used this phrase repeatedly: Give yourself permission…to learn the steps; to just observe; to make mistakes; to slow it down; to do it your way…What an awesome phrase to apply to our day to day lives!
10. Wellness is a journey
I like to be efficient. Create the plan, follow the plan, and be done. This doesn’t work very well most of the time in life – how annoying! Like most of life, wellness is a journey we embark on each day. It is a series of choices (seemingly small and meaningless at times) of food, movement, activity, relationships, thoughts and deeds. These choices build on each other to create our wellness. Perfection is not the goal – enjoying life in health and prosperity is.