I’ve been asking myself this question: Why did I ever stop personal training? Especially since there are so many things I love about it. I love helping people. I love exercising. I love seeing great changes in people. So why did I stop? Was it just life getting in the way and losing myself in being a wife and Mom or is there more to it? I think I’ve figured it out now that I’ve been at school for almost 5 months and have been back at it. What I had been trained to do and how I was doing it did not match up with my beliefs. You can only go on that way for so long before you either quit or change your beliefs. And it sure is easy to let “life get in the way” if you don’t feel totally comfortable with how you’re doing something. Now, none of this was a conscious thing. It’s just now in hindsight that I can say this. But how am I going to do this differently now?
As I build my business my focus will be different. I’m not going to market my practice as a way for people to lose weight, look better or focus on what they look like although I can help people with those things. Rather, the focus will be on wellness inside and out, getting stronger, healthier and learning proper techniques and individualized nutrition and exercise plans. So many times before I had everyone “doing” the same thing for the most part. This just doesn’t work long term and I didn’t ever believe it really did. That’s a big part of why I left.
No one way of eating works for everyone. No one way of exercising works for everyone. People are individuals and their eating and exercise along with life practices needs to reflect this in order for them to be successful.
An example of this is the Spring Challenge I’ve got going on right now. The Challenge exercises themselves are pretty basic and the number of reps are the same for everyone but I’ve had to tweak that system for quite a few people due to old and current injuries, strength levels and stamina. I’ve never done that when I’ve worked for a gym. The Challenge was set and that was it. You either did it or didn’t. That is just setting people up to fail and not try another Challenge or class in my eyes. You are always going to get people who sign up and don’t follow through. But you will have many that need just a little push with a little modification to get to the next level on their own. They can do it with just a little nudge in the right direction. And the ones that don’t follow through see that happening for the others in their group and it can push them to start again.
If the focus is truly on health and not what someone looks like I think the results will be longer lasting and actually more substantial and in the end they’ll find they like the way they are changing and look great and more accepting of themselves. I guess I’ll know more at the end of this Challenge based on people’s numbers of inches lost but I can already see the changes in my members when I see them.
I ran into a Challenge member yesterday who was joking that she’s sure she hasn’t lost any inches. Her face looks totally different. She has a glow and is stressed at work but taking it in stride and doesn’t seem run-down like I had seen her in the past. She’s got a spring in her step and her hair is thicker. I just nodded and said, “We’ll see on measurements day” but I know that I’m right. People are so used to jumping on some weight loss quick fix and losing a bunch of pounds which probably isn’t really fat loss and fitting into a smaller size for a couple of weeks. Then it’s back to where they were and nothing has really changed. And I’ve helped lots of people do that. I was “doing my job”….but I wasn’t happy about it. And I didn’t leave the person any healthier really. Well, that’s over.

This Challenge I’ve been running is over May 31st and I’m so excited to see people’s results. I can say through my cardio strength classes that I’ve seen a tremendous change in members with their abilities. One example would be with their push-ups. Some starting with only being able to do them on the wall and now they have moved on to either 30 modified or even full. This is a huge accomplishment. Especially for people who told me they have never been able to do a push-up and never will. Or the planks. Going from 20 seconds and really struggling to 80 seconds. Come on! That’s really great. I didn’t even realize how much it’s effected me until I had to move 2 pallets of sand the other day. They are 50 pound bags and there were 100 of them. The first pallet of 50 bags I moved in 25 minutes. What?! That’s nuts and my back was totally fine. There is just no way I could have done that before the Challenge. No way. I moved the other pallet in a little more time but still no problems. That’s 5,000 pounds of sand….ouch. The 4 simple daily exercises of the Challenge did that for me.

So with renewed focus on what lies ahead I started thinking about what happened to wake me up. There were 3 people who especially helped me get there and they didn’t even know it. My friend Jessie Matson kept bugging me and bugging me a few years ago to go to a Zumba class with her. I didn’t want to go. I was worried I would suck and that my ankle would really bother me. But I finally relented after months of her patiently asking. It was at those classes with Jessie that I remembered my love for group exercise. I also didn’t totally suck and my ankle was fine. Thank you, Jessie. My friend Patti Murby contacted me and said she needed my help. She has had issues with her lower back and needs that strong for the work that she does and she’s always had problems at gyms and with other trainers except me. I was really surprised she contacted me. I told her of course and we started working on strengthening her back. She is so much stronger now and is able to work without being laid up for days after. She can go out and do yard work and not worry. I’m really proud of her. Thank you Patti. If you hadn’t contacted me I wouldn’t have gotten serious about school when I did or renew certifications and get the ball rolling and this Challenge would not have happened. I’m sure she doesn’t realize what an impact that one little call had on me and I’m sure Jessie doesn’t realize it about the zumba either. Another friend, Karla Putney, is someone I’ve wanted to help for some time. She’s had pain due to neck and back issues. She was really nervous and hesitant to become a Challenge member this Spring. She is one of those people that has made those little changes and stuck with the Challenge, letting me modify it, and even going above and beyond on her own. Just witnessing that growth in 7 weeks has bolstered my commitment to a career in health and wellness. Thank you Karla. You’ve been fun to watch grow and change. And really, we are only here a short time with one body. We should be loving that body and having fun. These 3 women reminded me of that.

I’d like to help remind people like Jessie, Patti and Karla reminded me. As a certified Health Coach and certified Personal Trainer it is my goal to help others get healthy and happy. And I’m going to do it differently this time. Time to focus on health and wellness.

Catch you on the next bounce,

Mandi

I was out walking the other day and realized something. I’m back! It just popped into my head over and over again. I wasn’t sure what that phrase was all about. Then I got a text from a client and he called me Coach. And that’s when I got it. My passion used to be teaching fitness and I knew exactly who I was and what I was all about. Then life happened and I got lost.

While I was at UNH I taught group exercise from step class to aquacize to strength training. I worked at 3 different gyms at the time and loved every minute of it. I also worked with people individually and set them up with work out plans and did personal training. I studied Communication at UNH and it was such a broad major that you could really take in any direction. I dabbled in interpersonal communication, media studies, advertising, rhetoric…you name it. But I didn’t LOVE any of it. I LOVED training people and helping them. I considered switching majors my junior year to athletic training but thought it was too late and decided to just stay in Communication.

When I graduated in 1995 a lot had gone on in my personal life. I had ended a long relationship and started a new one that was really intense right away. Brett and I had been really close friends all through college and so when we started dating things moved really fast. Not in a bad way at all. It was natural. But because I was young, in love and totally broke I didn’t really think about who I was and what was important to me. I only thought about Brett and my life with him. I had to get a “real” job and make some money. And I had literally no goals or any idea of what I wanted to do. I just looked in the paper and took the first job I could find that was OK pay and really close to our new apartment in Exeter. I didn’t love that job or hate it. I just tolerated it and really didn’t think about it much. I really only paid attention to my relationship with Brett. I kind of got lost.

Brett and I got married in 1996 when I was 23. We were best friends and still are today. I don’t think he knew that I was lost. Not really. I didn’t even really know. I ate practically nothing leading up to the wedding and worked out like crazy. I felt like crap all the time including on my wedding day. I didn’t even feel pretty. I look back at those pictures and think, “Aw, look at me… I was cute and didn’t feel cute. How sad.” And after we got back from our honeymoon it was really strange. I think I got depressed because the build up to the wedding was so huge for me that I never had really thought about the “after.” All this time and energy had gone into planning the event and starving myself that I didn’t give it a second thought and it was a very weird feeling. I was even more lost.

Years went by and I didn’t even think that much about fitness other than that I needed to do some but got so depressed about my own body I couldn’t imagine helping others with theirs. I had never really been over weight and was just getting heavier and heavier. I tried everything to be thin and nothing worked long term. So I just pushed on with life and got a better job (better in that it made more money) and we bought our first house. Then I got pregnant. The old Mandi that was in there somewhere got lost even further. I now thought about myself in 2 ways: Wife and Mom. That’s it. And those are great, amazing roles. But that is not all there is. It’s not all that I am but at the time it was. I didn’t recognize that fact. Years would go by and I still didn’t. Not until the other day.

By 2003 I had a 17 month old and a newborn. Brett and I owned Elmore Lettering which is our stone engraving business. I would do the office work and Brett would go out in the field. We moved to Brentwood, NH even though we couldn’t really afford it, because we wanted a great school district for our boys. I just went through the motions of life and every once in a while I would think about that faint glimmer of me that was trapped way deep down not even really knowing I was lost.

Flash forward to 2009. Our youngest son, Logan, got really sick. None of the doctors could figure out what was wrong with him. He had a fever that would come and go. He was so fatigued he couldn’t get out of bed some days. He hurt all over and we couldn’t even touch him. He would cry and cry. I suspected lyme disease but the doctors kept saying it couldn’t be. After months of tests and pain he was diagnosed with lyme disease. As the years passed and Logan started fighting this disease he went through many obstacles which left me as a Mom just totally devastated. Remember, at the time I really only viewed myself in 2 ways: Wife and Mom. Wife went on the back burner (sorry Brett) and I was only Mom. After about a year of not sleeping or eating much my body kind of broke down. Working out was not even on my radar because I could barely get through the day. I decided to do something about it. I realized I was no good to Logan or anyone if I was like this. But I still didn’t know I was lost. I started therapy, yoga and journaling to work on stress management and get better. But I didn’t do this as Mandi. I did it as Mom. And that wasn’t enough in the long run.

2013. The boys are 12 and almost 11. Brett has found his passion for coaching baseball. I’m so happy for him and have worked with him to start realizing his dream. Over the many years we talked about “What are you going to do, Mandi?” And I just put it off and put it off. I had valid reasons too: “I work for our business. The boys need me. Logan is sick and really needs me. And now you need my help getting your coaching business off the ground.” Honestly, I just didn’t know what I was supposed to do other than what I was already doing. Then I decided to go back to school because in the end I really like working for myself and I’m sick of feeling crappy. Articles I had read from The Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN) really resonated with me and made me start to think about me again. Not in a selfish way though which I think is why I got lost in the first place. I felt like I had to be absolutely selfless to be a good wife or mom. I realized that I just love people. And the people who are closest to me I give them everything I have. The problem is that I gave everything and kept nothing for myself. The real Mandi was gone for a long time.

It’s 2014 and I’m back. I would never change my life from 1996 to 2014. It was important to live it the way I did so that now I can focus on why I’m really here and what I’m supposed to do. The more I talk to people I realize how many are lost too. And if they want to change that I’d love to help them. As I’m getting back into fitness training I’m focusing on overall health and wellness. As I work on my studies it’s very obvious to me that there is just so much confusing information out there and people are confused as to what is right for them. I wondered the same thing even with the knowledge I already had. It’s not a simple task to take on and it can be scary.

The first and most important thing to get started with is learning how to exercise consistently so that it is just part of your daily life. With everyone being so crazy busy that is tough. I started a 2 month Challenge that incorporates just 4 daily exercises with 4 days of 30 minutes of movement of the participant’s choice. That way they can have a say as to what kind of cardio they do and when which seems pretty realistic to me. Everyone was measured at the beginning of the Challenge and will be at the end to see their progress. I decided not to run a weight loss challenge since I don’t really agree with them. I like the focus of healthy and strong vs. skinny. It’s less threatening and healthier in my opinion on so many levels. I’ve got 17 clients in this Challenge and they are doing so great! It warms my heart to be leading them in the right direction and I’m really excited to see how they react to their progress. But the funny thing is that they were leading me somewhere and I didn’t even know it. They led me to me. And for that I’ll always be grateful.

Nothing gets people at my house more fired up than me changing brands of some food they love. You know the scenario….they go to grab the peanut butter (if you have that in your house) and you hear, “Mom, what IS this?” Well, obviously it’s peanut butter but that’s not what they are really asking. They are miffed that you switched brands. It CANNOT taste as magical as their favorite. They know this before even trying it. Well, it’s a fair assessment that over the last 8 weeks this has been an ongoing dialogue here at the Elmore’s. Some of the household members are more open to that horrible thing, change, than others.

I recently had a conversation with my boys and told them that there are really only 2 things you can 100% count on in life. First, is the unconditional love from your parents. The other is change. Everything changes. Your body changes. The seasons change. Friends change. Change for the good and for the bad. But either way you can count on it. And so with that nugget of wisdom I explained that they just need to get over it and roll with the one constant they’ve got. Neither seems too impressed.
Regardless of how right I am in this case, I know that making small changes little by little and being patient while firm with the boys and with myself is the best course of action and definitely doable for the average person in the long run. Completely wiping out a pantry of anything remotely unhealthy is not only overwhelming, it’s really not cost-effective for most people. So what small changes have we made in these 8 weeks?

1. Drinking more water. Logan loves lemonade and orange juice which are both high in sugar. Logan has had to give up dairy in the past due to his lyme disease and never really liked it anyway. Water is not his first choice at any rate. Nolan is a milk lover. He has asthma and allergies and this is not a wise choice for a drink for various reasons but the mucus it induces is one of them. He also goes for the lemonade and Gatorade when available. Both boys are heavily active in sports and need to re-hydrate constantly. The new rule is to drink water first, then they may have a drink if they still are thirsty. This has increased their water intake a lot. Plus they are both getting more used to it. I wouldn’t say Logan craves water at all, but Nolan does. Adding in water to my daily life was no big deal for me. I drank soda a little bit. That has ended. I had some of one recently and thought it really was gross and made me feel sick. Same rule for me and I’ve replaced coffee with green tea. We’ve all found here that a lot of times when we “crave” a snack or something to eat we really are thirsty and the water takes care of it. The whole idea is to start creating good habits of drinking water which is really the only drink anyone really needs. Not everyone here is on board with that way of thinking yet, but they are getting closer and to me that is great progress.

2. Adding in more veggies. This seems simple but if you’ve got picky eaters or a husband who swears anything green other than iceberg lettuce and guacamole is illegal, then you feel my pain. Also, as I was taking my classes I realized that half of the foods they were talking about I had no idea what the heck they were. Bok choy sounded like a karate move but apparently it’s edible. And with a fear of cooking and totally sucking, the idea of deliciously cooking up vegetables for the eaters that gag just looking at it is intimidating. So what I learned is to have a game plan. This is what I do with exercise, so why can’t I do it with veggies? Pick a new vegetable every other day that you will try and add to the side of some food the family likes. I’m lucky that IIN has amazing recipes and great cooks on Facebook that share and help each other. So like a new exercise that I throw into the rotation, I also admit if it’s not really effective and instead of totally giving up on the idea, I tweak it the next time and keep doing that until I’m sure it’s not working for a person. Example: roasted Brussels sprouts; while I think they are yummy, no one else here does. Yet, shredded and thrown in a salad or with other greens, they have no idea and have said nothing. Stealth mode. More on veggies coming soon….

3. Movement everyday no matter what. This one was really easy for the boys since this is just something they naturally do. I’ve always had an “all or nothing” mindset which has not always been effective. Like I said in my last post I’ve been feeling like crap for quite a while and have had numerous annoying injuries. Brett is in the same boat (reconstructed knees, back injuries, shoulder injuries…) and when we are in work-season things are just nuts with even less time to work out. So working out to me has always been intense workouts and if I can’t fit that in, then oh well. That mind-set is out-dated and ridiculous. People don’t need to do high intensity workouts every day to lose weight and keep it off. But they do need to move every day, do weight-bearing exercises a few times a week and be CONSISTENT. This is absolute key to good health. Not only does it prevent injury and disease, it’s positive for your mental health. And don’t get me wrong. If you love high intensity workouts that’s great. All I’m saying is that you don’t have to do that every single day or at all. Moving can be walking, dancing, yoga, biking, the list is endless. So the change here has been move every day no matter what. Even if that’s a 1 mile walk. Or push-ups and squats but not a walk. I mean, with the constant snow storms, I’ve just had to make due. And if you’ve got an injury then find out what you can do and do that. Modify when needed but don’t stop moving. Out of all the changes this one has been the easiest for us but I think it’s really worth mentioning.

4. Cutting out processed foods. Everyone says they are either going to do this or that they don’t eat much processed foods or give it to their kids but I think they are either lying or kidding themselves. Goldfish are processed foods, people. So are Cheerios. And it doesn’t matter that it says “Natural” or “Organic” on the package. It’s processed. Now, some processed foods are less unhealthy than others. And it’s not entirely realistic to say you will NEVER eat processed. Life gets crazy, we live in the United States (well some of us) and these inexpensive foods are everywhere and are tasty. BUT…cutting down on eating things that are processed and I’ll go into this more in a later blog with more details, this is a small change that has a huge impact. I’ve been using up what we have an replacing items with whole or raw options. For example I’ve stopped buying granola bars that are heavily processed and full of sugar. I started making protein balls and now my own “granola” options. I can control what’s in there, add in some super foods and know what we are all eating. Also, the new rule at the house is that before they grab a grain or “carb” they grab a fruit or veggie and water first. This has cut down on the crappy snacking as I call it. It creates better habits and is a small and easy change. They will complain about this at first. That was fine with me. I know I’m right and just stuck to my guns. They got over it really quickly.

So these are the first 4 changes we’ve made in January: Adding more water to crowd out other drinks, adding in more veggies to every meal while trying ones we’d never really cooked before (experimenting), movement every day no matter what (and by that I mean exercise – funny people!), cutting out processed foods as much as possible. Try it. I think it would be surprising how these small 4 changes would make a huge difference in your health and are easy to follow. They have for me. 4 pounds lost without counting calories. Inflammation and pain lessened. No more anxiety meds. I worried as I was reading this blog over that some people would say, Mandi, come on. These are common sense. Everyone already knows this. If that’s the case, then why aren’t people doing these already? I think the reason is: Change. Change is uncomfortable and scary sometimes. And it’s easier to not make any changes even though they make sense. Nothing I mentioned above is really limiting anything important. A box of Kraft macaroni and cheese isn’t really important is it? Sitting on the couch checking out Facebook rather than going out for a walk isn’t really important is it? I could go on but I think we’d all come up with the same answer. You are important. Make a change.

Live like you mean it,

Mandi

I’ve never been a very healthy person.  I’ve been in great physical shape with a low BMI but I’ve never felt great.   Never.  Something has always hurt or I’ve been so tired I can barely stand it.  It wasn’t until I hit 40 that I actually acknowledged this.  I just ignored it and said to myself, “Suck it up, Mandi.  You’re good.”  For years and years I’ve read copious articles on health, nutrition, exercise and wellness.  I’ve been a group exercise instructor and personal trainer.  I’ve helped people lose weight and get stronger.  But on the inside, I’ve felt like crap and always seem to get some injury that sets me back.  About a year ago I started to really delve into why that might be happening.  Is it genetics?  Is it lifestyle?  Is it, god forbid, what I’m eating?  I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t smoke, and I don’t eat a ton of “junk” food.  I’m putting “junk” in parentheses because what I thought was okay, really wasn’t….but that’s for later.  Am I just getting older?  What the heck is wrong with me?

I don’t think I’m alone in this feeling.  I’ve started to pay closer attention for more than a year and I swear all people really talk about is health.  Yeah, they might start out talking about their kid’s soccer team or work, but it always gets back to health in some way.  What they are eating.  What new exercise fad they are embarking on.  What new prescription they are on for whatever ailment.  I would listen and listen and think, “Wow.  It’s not just me.”  But I wouldn’t address it most of the time.  Who am I to give advice?

About the same time that I started really admitting something wasn’t right with my health, I kept seeing all these ads for this “school.”  Again, I put this in parentheses because I just couldn’t believe what I was reading and that it was an actual school and not some fake hyped up scam.  For a whole year I would come back to it.  What the hell is this IIN – Institute for Integrative Nutrition?  Learn about whole health….real information that is unbiased and all encompassing?  It has to be fake.  Has to be.

My husband Brett and I were having a budget meeting for our stone engraving business and for the upcoming winter (our business is seasonal so it’s always a total crap shoot as to how the winter will go) and I brought up going to the school.  I had mentioned it to him before but only in passing and never for a real concrete option.  I didn’t dare.  What if he said, “go for it” and I was stuck really going ahead with it?  Too crazy and scary to think about.  But he didn’t say that.  He said, “let’s look into it and see if it makes sense for you.”  So we did.  And here I am.  Just starting week 6 of school and although I’m loving it, I’m also realizing that I’m even unhealthier than I imagined.

What does that mean, Mandi?  So ominous.   Well, let me back up just a bit.

As a child I was a really picky eater.  Some of that was just me and some of it was from the fact that my Mom never cooked.  I’m not kidding or exaggerating.  She hated cooking and avoided it at all costs.  She’ll even admit it.  I remember eating slim jims, deviled ham on white bread, McDonald’s regularly.  I wasn’t overweight but I clearly remember not having much energy.  Both of my parents were heavy smokers and led sedentary lives.   This isn’t an attack on my Mom and Dad.  I love them.  It’s just an explanation as to what I learned about food and health.  Not much.  My grand parents had a horse farm and although my Grandfather loved to farm and could grow literally anything, he didn’t like vegetables and my Grandmother wasn’t a huge fan either and they sold a lot of what they grew or gave it away I guess  instead of using it for themselves.  At least I don’t remember ever eating any vegetables except for holidays.   Nutrition, cooking and food were not part of what I learned.  What I did learn later on was strictly whatever fad diet was big at the time and what they were pushing at whatever gym I worked at.  Low fat, then low carb, super low calorie, weight watchers, atkins, zone….the list is endless.  And I jumped on every train because I was eager to learn and wanted to help my clients.  NONE of these diets ever worked long-term for any of them or me for that matter.  NEVER did I think it was the information that was wrong.  I just thought it was me.

Personally, I’ve never had a full-fledged eating disorder but my relationship with food has never been healthy.  There have been a few times in my life when I lost a considerable amount of weight (it doesn’t take much to show when you are five feet tall) and each time was so unhealthy.   The first time was when I had my tonsils out right before my sophomore year of high school.  I couldn’t eat for weeks due to an infection and considerable pain.  Oh the accolades I got about being so petite and had lots of attention for it.  It took awhile for the weight I had lost to come back but I remembered the feeling and worked hard to keep it off by eating practically nothing other than french fries and working out like a nut job.   The second time was in college.  I was working 3 jobs and had no money.  I wasn’t trying to lose weight.  I just wasn’t eating much and working out at least 3-4 hours a day.  I remember getting a box of Cheerios and being so pumped.  I ate like half the box in one sitting and thought “I’m good for awhile”.  I remember finding coins out of someone’s jeans (I worked at a dry cleaners) and buying peanut m&m’s at this little machine at the front of the store and thought, “well, peanuts are good.  Protein.”  I got really thin and had a doctor’s appointment where they were all alarmed and asking if I was faint.  I was really anemic.  I was tired, yeah, but I was taking 5 classes, working 3 jobs, working out a ton, eating not much unless you count the cheerios and m&m’s and sleeping next to no hours a night.  Of course I was tired.  I got another job that made more money and had some food money so I gained some weight and didn’t think about it much more.   The next time was when I was planning our wedding.  I got really intense with my work outs (probably some of this was because I wasn’t teaching at the time) and I ate not a whole lot.  A big meal was a small salad.  I would occasionally have some chicken or an egg.  I started to get massive head aches.  It got so bad that I went to the doctor.  They said it was probably stress and I was anemic (again) which could be a contributing factor.  Never did they ask about my diet.  Which I now think is strange but not so strange once you learn how little the average doctor actually knows about eating healthy.  I’m not sure what my BMI was the day of my wedding, but it had to be unhealthily low.  Everyone told me how great I looked.  I felt ugly.  Sometime at the end of the honeymoon my headaches subsided.  I now know that it is because I ate.  I also gained 10 pounds on that trip.  There wasn’t a day that went by in my whole adult life that I haven’t thought long and hard about food.  Not one.   I think I always knew I needed to eat and eat something healthy.  But I just didn’t know what that really meant.  So a lot of times it was so overwhelming that I just ate nothing thinking that was easier and smarter really.  Better to eat nothing than to eat the wr0ng thing.   And then days later I would devour all the wrong things because my body was starving for nutrients.

It feels really good to admit all of that.  Now, what am I going to do about it?

I know what I’m not going to do.  I’m not going to pretend (like I always have) that everything is just fine and I can get by on exercise alone.  It just doesn’t work.  I’m 20 pounds over weight, achy, tired and fed up so clearly that doesn’t work.   My two boys are great athletes who are falling into all the same traps I have.  I can’t let that happen.  No way.  The problem is that there is just so much information out there.  How does anyone know what is the right way to eat?  Who the heck do you listen to?  Your doctor?  The USDA?  A Registered Dietician?  I had done all those things and gotten nowhere really.  Plus every year they tell you something different.   One way of eating for everyone.  That has never made sense to me at all.  I started paying attention to people who are not over weight, achy, tired and riddled with injuries.  What I found is that they all eat and exercise differently except for one thing.  They don’t eat processed food, they have a way to cope with stress and they have learned to listen to their bodies.  Sounds simple.  Not exactly.  Some are vegans while other eat Paleo.  Some follow a 80/20 way of eating clean.  The main thing I got from my research is that while they feel food is important, it’s not all encompassing.  They keep it simple and don’t stress about it.    After all these years of NOT doing that, how can I change and more importantly, how can I teach my boys ?  And possibly teach others?

That’s where IIN comes into play.  Oddly enough, throughout the year of schooling I will learn over 100 dietetic theories and have already learned about this concept of bio-individuality.  There is no one “diet” for everyone.  Each person is different and should eat what works for them overall.   This idea of bio-individuality fell right in line with what I had already learned just talking to successfully healthy people on my own.   There is no one expert on what or how people should eat.  And just because something works for me right now does not mean it will be best forever and it definitely doesn’t mean it will be best for everyone.  Here’s the challenge about realizing this: Isn’t it a little overwhelming to not have someone just tell you what you should eat, how you should eat it, what supplements to take and how to exercise?  Yes.  But isn’t it more overwhelming to have someone tell you all those things and then it doesn’t work for you?  I would say even more so.   The cool thing is that all those things you just want someone like a doctor to tell you is something you can figure out for yourself with a little guidance and some patience.   I’m excited to learn that.  I’m also excited to share what I learn.

What I’ve learned so far is that I can help people who are willing to be helped.  But first I have to help myself and my family.  I will share as I learn.  Oh, and I’m the expert on me.  And that cooking can be fun.  It’s the cleaning up that sucks.

This is probably going to be the longest blog post I ever do.   I know it’s a lot to read.  But I feel like if I’d like to be Health Coach and guide people to feeling good then that means I need them to share with me.  And I don’t think it’s very fair to ask them to do that without sharing myself.   Everyone has a story and they are all important.

Next blog — how to make small changes that make a big difference.

Live like you mean it,

Mandi