2019 - Here's where I start to lose me…

After endless hours of scrolling on social media for tips, tricks, and training, I started to take on the identity of everything I was investing my time in…without even realizing it.

Reduce the carbs?

Increase the carbs!

Calorie deficit?

Caloric surplus!

Cut it all out?

Add it back in!

High reps and low weight?

Low reps and heavy weight?

Do the cardio?

Stop the cardio!

I still don't look like that.

I still don't look like that.

I still don't look like that.

Until we love ourselves enough, any excuse is good enough, whether from others or ourselves. Any food that we put into our bodies is good enough. Mistreatment from people is accepted. Any intrusive thought about how "terrible" we are is allowed. We make ourselves available to all of it.

It hit me later on that night how Evan and I felt exactly the same, just about different things.

My heart becomes so heavy when I see the potential in a person and I wish they would just take care of what they were given.

Now, health does not seem as simple as picking up garbage, but it can be.

Would you take a shortcut on other important areas of your life?

If your car’s gas tank was empty on a Monday, would you only fill it to a quarter tank and expect it to get you through a week of commuting to and from work?

If you had a broken leg, would you put a bandaid on it and expect it to heal properly?

If you were married, would you only talk to your spouse once a month and expect to have a fruitful relationship?

I am guessing - probably not. So why do we treat our LIFE like that?!

Being a health and wellness professional means that sometimes people will feel obligated to tell me about their relationship with food and their bodies without me ever asking. Almost like there is a judgment coming that they are trying to avoid. I can walk into a room full of people and once they become aware of what I do for a living they begin to apologize to me for what they are eating.

A very common phrase that I have heard over the years is “I am an emotional eater”. In my early coaching career I felt like I had an understanding of what this meant. Something along the lines of “If you are stressed, mad, sad, emotionally driven - you eat” But lately I’ve been doing some reflecting and I now believe that we are ALL emotional eaters. Without even realizing it. We, knowing and unknowingly attach feelings to certain foods. Think about it - Do you have a favorite food? A food that reminds you of a certain person or a place? A certain alcohol you can’t have anymore because of that one time you had a wee bit too much? How about your go-to food when you are sick? Perhaps a food that you now hate in your adulthood because you were forced to eat it as a child?

Okay - Let’s unpack a little..

…It is time to renew our minds and embrace the truth -The number of times that a person has to start over is a direct result of a band aid solution to a DEEP cut. Quick fixes and extremism are not the answer and haste leads to waste. Doing things in this way will not produce results and that is a hard truth...but a wise man once said “The truth will set you free.”

“ When I was a kid I used to avoid things that were physically challenging. My parents definitely made me try new things but I feel like I had way too many skinned knees as a kid for someone who didn’t learn how to ride a bike until she was 12. I was never athletically inclined. I was not super strong or fast and it wasn’t for lack of trying! The only things I was ever good at were dance and playing catch with my dad.“

“What happens when we push ourselves to the furthest extent possible mentally, physically, emotionally? We crash. We over think. We make poor decisions. We wrestle with an overloaded foggy brain and settle for quick fixes because we are exhausted. Sprinkle a little guilt right on top because later on we feel like we should have just done it…a recipe for disaster. “