What’s New and Good?

If you’ve been around this blog long enough, you’ve witnessed some of what’s going on in my life. I don’t write about too much because my biggest fear here has always been coming off as preachy or obnoxious and know-it-all ish. Because, if there is one thing in the world I do know for sure it is that there is a lot I don’t know. So I share a recipe or two. I might allude to more exercise, or healthier food choices,  but I don’t usually go on and on about it.

Well, today I feel compelled to give some background. See, today I am introducing you to my new adventure and until you know I’m not the same person I was before, this new adventure might confuse you. So here is the story.

About a year ago, maybe eighteen months, I came to realization that I needed to be careful about the food around here. I have a terrible family history of illness and disease and while The Husband comes from fantastic genes, I couldn’t rely soley on those to keep my kids safe from future harm or heartache. The realization led to me diving in to all things Whole Foods and I’m not talking about the store. I purged the cabinets of most processed stuff (Most, the kids still need their Pirate’s Booty.) and started making more of what we eat,  from bread to granola bars. I was cooking three meals almost every day. No one really complained too much because they still had their chicken nuggets and hot dogs from time to time.

All was fine with the world until summer came and I somehow found myself the heaviest I have ever been (pregnancies included). Now, I’m the first person to tell you the scale shouldn’t matter, but my weight was just the concrete picture for how I felt which was slow, tired, and very unhealthy. It seems no amount of healthy eating was going to combat the fact that I hadn’t exercised regularly in years. Thus began the major effort to plan in serious exercise at least three times a week and the other four days just make sure I’m more active in general. I started running and doing more yoga. I signed up for a virtual trainer one month who sent me workouts I could do in my living room. I bought good shoes and a few new shirts so I could stop showing up in the XXL college t-shirts. I incorporated “movement” into my every day and that felt pretty good.

But I still worried. I’ve been known to take this path before and quit-for whatever reasons. By some stroke of luck, during all of this time I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. My youngest is a year away from starting school full time so I know I’ll have hours that I have to fill and I’d prefer if they were filled with some type of employment. I looked into teaching again. I investigated Master’s programs for counseling or nutrition or even fitness trainer. I even contemplated going back to Nursing school. On crazy days, I even secretely contemplated medical school. I thought if I made this new lifestyle (healthy eating and fitness) my LIFE then I was sure to stick with everything.

What I found Institute for Integrative Nutrition and it was as if someone dropped my future right in my lap. It’s a school where you learn how to be a Holistic Health Counselor, which in short combines everything I love. I’ve learned a ton about food and health. I’ve learned a ton about motivating people and teaching change in manageable increments. I’ve learned so much that even though I thought I had it together when I started school, I’ve changed even more since then.

Now, I get to do what I always loved about my old jobs, which is teaching and mentoring people and combine it with all that I’ve learned to love which is nutrition and fitness.

I don’t know everything. But I have learned a lot and I know first hand what it takes to make big changes. I think there are probably people out there who need someone like that to offer support and guidance. I’d love it if they found me.

Please check out my business website at RealLifeWellnessNJ. If you see anything that piques your interest, contact me. Or if you know someone else who might be looking for change, send them my way- location doesn’t matter. Thanks to the world of telecommunications I can counsel anywhere. Thank you, as always for being such supporters of Right Hand Mom and helping me find what I’ve been looking for all along. Don’t worry, this blog isn’t going anywhere. After all, I need a place for Mini-Van mixes no matter what job I do!