I have been trying to write this blog for about a week now. I would write a paragraph or two and then step away because it just wasn’t flowing the way I thought it should. I wanted to write this helpful post to support my community but I just couldn’t get it right and I was frustrated. After I took another break from it this weekend, I realized what was missing. I was not sharing and being authentic. I was not being real with you guys. I can’t expect you to trust me with your health journey and your story, if I don’t trust you with mine.

So let’s talk about how we are treating and speaking to and about our bodies. This is a sensitive topic as it usually taps into our deepest and darkest insecurities.

When you stand in front of the mirror, where does your eye go first? Where do you zero in all your hate, disgust and frustration? What do you say and how do you treat yourself?

For me, that spot has always been my stomach. I can’t tell you the number of times I cursed those soft rolls and folds. How I convinced myself that if I could just get rid of them, then I would be worthy. Worthy of a dream life, wardrobe, relationship. If only I could get my diet perfect and workout a little harder I would get the flat stomach that I coveted. I was surrounded everywhere in my day to day life with images of “ideal” bodies and workouts and diet programs that promised the secret to achieving this goal. I fell for them all. There are very few diet or exercise programs that I haven’t tried and surprisingly none of them worked.

Then I got tired. Tired of beating myself up and waiting to go after my dreams and live my life until I hit this imaginary goal. Tired of trying to force my body into a form it was not meant to have. Just tired of all the bullshit.

There are some amazing people doing some wonderful things in the world of body positivity. I am starting to fill my social media feed with more images and messages of diversity, and seeing that what’s great is the wide array of bodies in this world. One of my favorites is Megan Jayne Crabbe, @bodyposipanda on Instagram (if you aren’t following her I definitely recommend you do).

This is an exercise I am borrowing from her, and it is something that she talks about more in her book, Body Positive Power. Such an incredible read. This is an activity that I do regularly, especially when I am having a tough/down day.

Close your eyes and picture the body part or area that you struggle with, maybe that’s your belly, the cellulite on your thighs, or the wiggle in your arms, or if you feel brave look at yourself in a mirror. No more pulling, poking or roughly squeezing that area. No more rude comments, no more swearing at it to just shrink down and go away.

I want you to say out loud or better yet write down, 3 things you are grateful for about that particular area. There are positives and you can find them if you just train yourself to stop looking at your body through the lens of not enoughness (yes, that’s a new word). Try touching your belly, legs, arms gently. Speak to yourself and all your parts as if they are the most precious items in the world (because they are). What surprises you most when you shift from the negative to the positive?

For the next week I challenge you to do this everyday. Keep your focus on the same part or change as you go throughout the week, the choice is yours. I just want you to start treating yourself and your body as the amazing miracle that it is.

Want more support? Hit the contact me button and let’s work together to get you to the best, most amazing version of you!

Last week I asked you to think about what health means to you. I know this can feel like a huge task and a bit overwhelming, but the goal is to help you take back your thoughts and assumptions of what health should be. This week we will start to organize everything into a guiding statement to help you make decisions in line with your vision and goals.

As we start to put this down on paper, I want you to think big picture. I want you to connect with the emotion of why now it is important to put your health first. Keep your statement to a short paragraph (no more than 3-5 sentences). Did anybody just panic that they can’t fit it all in? 🙋🏻‍♀️

Keep it simple, ask yourself: WHAT, WHY and HOW. WHAT do you want to feel? WHY do you want to feel this way? HOW are you going to get there?

Look back at your notes about when you felt healthy (disclaimer, if you have struggled in the past with an eating disorder or feel like you might have an active eating disorder please hold off and reach out to a professional. I can provide resources for help if needed). What about this time felt good and worked? How do you move your body? How do you want to feed your body? How do you honor your body?

Here is my Health Mission Statement:

To be happy, content, and love my body just as it is. To feed myself what my body needs when it needs it. To not compare or judge my body based on others. To move my body in a way that honors it and makes me feel good.

Once you have your health mission statement, I want you to sit back, read it, and notice how your statement makes you feel. If you aren’t excited and inspired look at what might need to be tweaked. This is a living statement, it should and will change over time, so just focus and where you want to start today.

Still feeling confused and lost, not sure what your next steps should be, let’s chat! Let’s work together on creating a plan and action steps to get you where you deserve to be.

When I decided to make my focus helping women find what health means to them, I knew what my definition was, but my joy and passion is in helping women come to their own definition. Health is not a one size fits all proposition, so today we take the first steps to discover your description of health.

There is an awesome podcast that I listen called Girls Gone Wod, hosted by Joy and Claire. Want a podcast that makes you feel like you’re sitting with your girlfriends chatting, check this out. A couple of years ago they ran a Mindful Body Challenge and a big part of this was crafting a Health Mission Statement. This is such a great place for anyone new to their health journey to start.

We are going to take this process slow, so deep breath and let’s go!

I want you to start thinking about what health means to you. Now before you get too worried about this, I have some prompts to help. I realize this can feel strange and weird, but just know that you don’t have to have the perfect answer, it’s okay if it feels messy and confusing. I just want you to start thinking, let your mind percolate on these questions.

I want you to think about the times in your life when you have felt HEALTHY. What did you think about when you woke up? What did your body feel like? What emotions did you feel? How did you interact differently with those around you? How did you approach decisions or uncertainty?

Start journaling your ideas, thoughts, even questions. Take some time and sit with your answers, maybe revisit them throughout the week. There are no right or wrong answers here. Give it the week, let your thoughts marinate on this and be kind to yourself. Next week we will use these thoughts and ideas to craft your own personal Health Mission Statement. This is a big task, but I know you are up for it!

My recent metamorphosis into a much more social, outgoing (for me) and confident person has been a big change. It’s been a shift from hiding in the back hoping not to be noticed to actually seeking out attention (hello more social media posts 👋🏻).

I saw this quote the other day from poet Rupi Kaur and I’ll be honest it made me a bit uncomfortable.

“what’s the greatest lesson a woman should learn? that since day one. she’s already had everything she needs within herself. it’s the world that convinced her she did not.”

I played the game that one day when….

• one day when I lose that last 15 pounds
• one day when I finally get that perfect job, home, mate, family
• one day when I finally have the right qualifications
• one day when I {fill in excuse here}

When I finally did everything perfect and had everything in alignment then I would deserve my dream life. I spent a lot of years letting the outside world tell me what I could or couldn’t do, what I was worth, and how I could show up.

Then one day the strong ladies in my life showed me how I could show up differently. How my perceived weakness could be my true strength. How my story and vulnerability did not make me less, but actually made me real. How my passion and vision has a place in this world. That people need me to show up quiet, introverted, put together, messy, but ultimately real.

The path is not always easy and that first step will take some faith. I don’t have it all together and I still have moments when I panic about how I am going to make this all work. So, in those moments I focus on what I am grateful for, I find something that takes care of me (most likely re-runs of The Office), and I keep showing up. I am here for you in all your raw, messy glory. I am building this community as a place of support and encouragement. Your one day when…starts today.

I recently joined a mastermind group for business owners, and what I love about the organizer is how she starts every call. Each week we have to come to the call with something we are proud of and something we are grateful for.

I remember hearing that for the first time and thinking, if this is the homework this might be easier than I thought….I was kind of wrong.

It’s easy to list things you are proud of or grateful for, when you are zipping along and everything is going great. You want one item, how about 20! The real test and challenge came when I had a week that wasn’t great.

It was one of those week’s where it felt like nothing was going my way. I was tired (and to be honest a bit cranky), the weather sucked (❤️ you SD), and I just felt like nothing and no one was getting the best version of me. The assignment would cross my mind and I would be positive there was nothing I could find to be proud of or grateful for.

I wish I could say I had a Hallmark movie moment and suddenly understood the true meaning of the work and saved the family business blah, blah, blah, but that wasn’t the case. What I did was reach out to my people. I texted my sister, I had a virtual coffee date with one of my good friends, I indulged in my favorite podcast and then I begrudgingly sat down and did the homework.

I found that by putting on my optimist hat for just a moment, there was plenty that had gone right. I used the tools my coach gave me and in the end found so much to be proud of and grateful for. So now whenever I feel myself slipping into that spiral of why me? I sit down, take a deep breath and I look for the good.

Ohh, how I would love to lie and say that I am as serene and at peace as this picture, but we have pledged to be honest here so I won’t do that. More often than not my outside looks serene and my insides are screaming “What the everloving eff have we gotten ourselves into?

I struggle with motivation. There I said it! Whew, that felt good. 😊

As a budding entrepreneur it can be tough to figure out just what exactly you are meant to be doing. I mean, I know I am meant to help people, but shouldn’t I be much further along than I am? What am I doing wrong? Why am I making this so complicated?

So I do what I always do when I feel blocked, I search Pinterest. While yes, at times social media can turn into a great way to zone out and waste a couple hours, it can also be a really useful tool when you need some inspiration. I looked up inspirational quotes and this really stuck with me:

“I am exactly where I’m supposed to be to learn what I need to learn, in order to become the person I must be to create the life I want.”

Faster, bigger, better does not always serve us if we don’t get the important lessons that will help us down the road. I am here to be your reminder that you are doing amazing. You are doing the best you can and some days that is good enough. Savor the lesson, the journey, the experience as they will be far more rewarding then quick success.

The last couple of years I have seen plenty of people I follow on social media choose a word to guide them in the next year. It has always been something that intrigued me, and I have half-heartedly participated in the past. Well this year I decided to really find my word and see if having that focus helps.

So I chose strength as my word for 2019, my guidepost for when things get choppy, my goal in moving forward.

When I say strength, I am not talking just about physical strength (although that is part of it), for me it is about emotional and mental strength.

This will be year 2 of my journey to build the life and job of my dreams. Last year was filled with some amazing progress and success, but it was also filled with plenty of moments of self-doubt and confusion and the pull to give up was strong. But 2019, 2019 will be different.

I was meditating trying to listen for my word. I was trying really hard to get quiet and listen to what would serve me well in the next phase of my journey, when I started to hear the word strength and then I began to picture trees. I wasn’t sure in the beginning why the two went together (at least for my purposes) so I let the thought go. So often when I try to force finding a meaning I come up with stock answers and settle something that wasn’t meant to be. I knew what I needed to hear would come I would just needed to be patient (I may have 2 words for 2019 😂).

It can be easy for me to constantly change course. To see something easier or be swayed by someone’s random comment and all of sudden I am off and looking for something new. There is comfort to be in the research phase. I love the planning, executing…not so much.

So this year I will be a tree. Firm in my roots of knowing what I am here to do, serve women. Flexible enough to add or trim branches so long as they support my roots and my core philosophy. This year I will stand strong when the wind gets overwhelming and I feel like I may be blown off course. I will also be patient. Mighty oaks don’t grow in a day or even a year. Amazing things take time and I am starting to really believe that is true for me as well.

I challenge you to find some space, find a small amount of time to get quiet and ask what your word for 2019 will be. Feel free to share that with me and know you have someone rooting for you (no pun intended) and whatever 2019 brings me I love knowing I have this wonderful community to keep me strong.