Have you ever been in the midst of doing something ordinary and every day and realize just how far you’ve come from who you used to be?  I once thought I was so healthy and ate the very best things for me.  Until this afternoon, when my boyfriend’s children were eating Chef Boyardee ravioli for lunch.  It literally makes me want to vomit watching them eat it.  And then I remembered that I lived off of those in college.  Like seriously lived off them.  And I thought they were amazing!  Who doesn’t want to pop open a can, throw it in a bowl in the microwave, and have an instant meal??  That’s pretty much how I lived for much of my college days and even into my early twenties, thinking I was this healthy, nutritious girl doing her thing.  Boy, has that drastically changed!

I’ve definitely seen many changes since those poor college girl days of Chef Boyardee and ramen noodles (I mean, who DIDN’T eat ramen noodles?!).  I thought cooking meant throwing some noodles in a pot and bringing them to a boil, then throwing some sauce and parmesan cheese on them.  Throughout my life, I’ve had stomach issues, but never really attributed it to what I was eating.  I didn’t have a lot of skin issues when I was younger nor did I gain weight very easily (god bless a fast metabolism).  Plus I was always really active, so eating a ton of carbs was normal for me.  Having some eggs and toast for breakfast was normal; then a sandwich (I went through the first several months of my vegetarian/vegan stage eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day for lunch…can we say healthy??); and generally some sort of ravioli or pasta for dinner (but it was from Trader Joe’s, so it was definitely healthy, right??).

I was a vegetarian for about 4 years and a vegan for just about 1.  I went this route thinking that it would help me have more energy and not be so tired all the time.  Except I was an “unhealthy” vegetarian.  I ate the frozen meals and frozen veggies and fake meat products – I mean, come on.  If I didn’t want to eat meat for health reasons, why would I think that the fake meat products were any better?  Have you ever seen the ingredients on those things???  I decided to become a vegan after I started having more skin issues (namely acne).  I thought taking out the dairy products would help.  I mean, I literally stopped eating EVERYTHING except veggies, quinoa, rice, beans, and sweet potatoes/potatoes.  Oh, and don’t forget the “healthy” sweet treats I’d make with coconut sugar and coconut flour and cacao nibs…because THAT was healthy!  Lo and behold, I was tired all the time and my skin didn’t get any clearer.  I can remember calling my mom in tears because my face was so badly broken out and that there wasn’t possibly any other food I could take out before I was eating dirt!  It was so frustrating because I thought I was doing everything right.  I had learned how to cook and use fresh foods instead of the frozen foods; I wasn’t eating dairy and was gluten-free.  But nothing seemed to help.

Until I came across the 21 Day Sugar Detox and the Whole 30 and I started doing some more research.  It wasn’t necessarily just what I was eating, but how long I’d been eating that way, as well as the high number of antibiotics I had taken as a child.  It was also the high amounts of sugar I was eating…I learned I was addicted to it!!  I *needed* it!  Just like I needed coffee at the time.  I learned that all of those things mess up your stomach and digestive tract (very technical here, I know, LOL).  I learned that you had to heal your digestive tract first before you were able to start eating whatever you want (in moderation).  So I cut out all grains (yes, even rice and quinoa…the “good for you” grains), all sugars and alcohol (I actually stopped drinking for several months to heal everything), and beans.

I ate real, whole foods…I found easy recipes to make, and let me tell you…when I first started cooking this way, it took me FOREVER to make anything.  I’d spend hours in the kitchen getting one meal prepared.  But over time, I started making the recipes mine and learned that I actually love cooking!  I love making my own food and nourishing my body with the things it absolutely needs.  And it doesn’t take me forever anymore, LOL.  And I know what affects my body now; I can do a little bit of dairy every now and again; gluten and grains don’t really agree with me; and almonds tear my stomach up.  I can tolerate a little alcohol every now and again, but when I start going crazy, I can tell…I sleep poorly and my face starts breaking out and I get super irritable.  I’m pretty sure it’s the sugar and how it affects me, but at least now I know.

It’s still a work in progress…shoot, I’m still a work in progress, but I’m light years ahead of where I used to be.  I make smart choices because I know that I will pay for eating certain things.  A little piece of yumminess isn’t enough to make me want to be miserable for hours or days afterwards.  And more often than not, I find much healthier alternatives, so I get my “fix” but still feel good about it.

What are some things that affect you when you eat them?  Do you need a reset like the Whole30?  It’s not something that you do for life, but it’s a good reset of your system to learn what affects you and what doesn’t.  And we could all use that every now and then, right?

I hope you’ve had a great weekend!  Once again, I can’t believe it’s already Sunday, but it’s been a great one, and an absolutely beautiful, productive one :)  Enjoy the rest of your day!

With love and wellness,

Whitney

Just about a year ago, I joined my crossfit gym, CrossFit Takeover (CTO)…check them out here…http://www.crossfittakeover.com (seriously, best gym ever!!).  I’ll be honest, walking into the gym on my first day was so intimidating.  I had contemplated joining one for years, but had heard so many negative things about the people there and the movements, etc.  It wasn’t until my mom and I signed up for a Whole30 seminar last January (2014) for an April class that I found CTO.  It was five minutes from my house!  I knew I had no excuses!  I had knee surgery in May 2013 for a torn ACL and torn meniscus (don’t ever have one, for real!).  So come January 2014, I wasn’t quite back in shape or where I wanted to be and I still didn’t have full strength back in my knee or the muscles around it.  My first step was emailing the coaches/owners at CTO and Andy immediately responded.  He was so kind and answered all my crazy questions.  I felt so silly asking him my many questions, but he was accommodating and made me feel welcome…yes, even through email.

So February 9th, I walked into CTO for the first time.  CTO has on ramp classes to get you used to the movements and to see where you are starting from.  So I walk in, thinking it’s going to be this big class and I was going to make a fool of myself by not knowing exactly what I was doing.  Instead, it was me working with Andy one on one.  He explained what CrossFit was and we went over some of the movements we would be doing.  I then did a quick workout (I don’t remember exactly what I did), but it wasn’t too bad (think bodyweight movements and no weight on the barbell).  Over the next two weeks, I continued back for my full six on ramp classes before I “graduated” into the regular classes.  Working one on one with the coaches was one thing.  I felt invincible (ha) and like I could do anything.

So I walk into the 6 am class on a Monday after my “graduation.”  The workout was “Jackie,” which is a 1000M row, 50 thrusters (with a 33 pound bar for women), and 30 pull-ups.  Holy crap.  What was I getting into?!  I couldn’t do a pull-up!  So here I am, still a newbie, and I went all out on the row (can we say tiring??).  The thrusters weren’t *so* bad, but the pull-ups.  Oh, the pull-ups.  I used bands to get me through them.  The whole workout took me 16:35 to complete…and yes, I was the last one to finish.  But you know what the coolest part of it was?  Everyone in the gym was there, cheering me on!  Nobody left or made me feel like a weakling for being the last one finished.  Nobody knew my name, but it was still so empowering to have everyone cheering for me to get that last pull-up!  I don’t know how I found the strength to return the next day, but I did.  And I keep going back…every week, just about every day.

CTO has become my second family.  The people there are amazing, from the coaches to the other members.  I’ve made some great friends and even met my amazing boyfriend, Scott.  Not only has it helped me build some wonderful friendships, but it has also helped me get so much stronger and faster.  I’ve run my two fastest 1.5 mile times for work since joining CTO.  And I can see and feel the difference in my body.  I’m so much stronger now than when I first started.  I love seeing my PRs (personal records) increase every week!  And I love how it has brought so many great things into my life. All because I felt the fear and did it anyway!  I can tell you, at least in my experience, CrossFit is not full of meatheads and people who think they are better than you.  We lift each other up and help one another, not only in the gym but out of the gym, as well.

So if you’re unsure if CrossFit is right for you, but you’ve always been curious, reach out to your local CrossFit gym and see what it’s all about.  Most of them allow you to visit and get a workout in without paying so you can experience it.  I promise, you won’t regret it!  There are scales for EVERY workout!  Don’t think you have to lift as much as everyone else or that you have to be able to do all the movements. The coaches will work with you at your level to ensure you’re getting a great workout without hurting yourself!  And in the end, the only person you’re competing against is yourself!  Your aim, in CrossFit and in life, is to be better than you were the day before.  That’s it!

And now, just under a year later, Scott and I competed in the scaled co-ed division of Team Grit, a local CrossFit competition, on Sunday, January 18th.  There were 10 co-ed teams.  We went into it wanting to have fun, but putting our all into it and seeing where we ended up.  And wouldn’t you know it, we won first place!!  The best part for me was that I was able to do some of the movements I’ve struggled with throughout my time at CTO, such as pull-ups and snatch (check it out here if you don’t know what it is – 

).  I PRed my snatch at 100 pounds that day!!  It was an amazing day, even though it was tough.  And I’ll admit, Scott had to literally pull me along in the last part of the workout for the day, but we did it.  I pushed past the physical part of it and completed the workout.  Check out my pictures below.  The first two are obviously on the podium there, and the last one is after we got home, before dinner.


But here’s the thing…you don’t have to go into CrossFit to compete.  I certainly didn’t!  But it’s become fun for me to see how far I’ve come and how much I’ve conquered over the past year.  I never would’ve thought I’d be where I am now after my knee surgery.  CrossFit has definitely changed my life for the better.  See what it can do for you too :)

And if it isn’t right for you, find your passion, whatever that may be.  Is it running?  Or yoga?  Or step aerobics?  Find what calls to you and do it!  Get your body moving, some way, some how.  You’ll thank yourself for it, I promise!

With love and wellness,

Whitney

I used to tell myself all the time that everything is okay in moderation. That’s how I would justify that piece of chocolate cake or the hard cider (or two) I’d have with dinner or the piece of pumpkin pie (or two) I’d have as a mid-afternoon snack. But you know what happens when you use this justification? It doesn’t become a once-in-a-while thing. It becomes an everyday thing. It creeps up on you. I know it crept up on me. Starting around Thanksgiving until this past Sunday, everything was “in moderation.” And it was okay because it was the holidays. Right? Well, for me, that meant increased break-outs, horrible sleep patterns, exhaustion, terrible mood swings (sorry Scott), and just in general feeling like crap. And while I was still working out, I didn’t like the way I looked or how much I weighed. Now, I don’t normally weigh myself, but Scott and I started a Whole30 program on Sunday, January 11th. That required taking before pictures and weighing ourselves. Needless to say, I am so happy to be doing this program! I am not happy with where I am right now!

Now you may be asking, what exactly is a Whole30 program? Check out the whole program here http://whole30.com/. But to sum it up, it’s basically a short-term nutritional reset of your system over a period of 30 days. It is set up to help you stop unhealthy cravings and habits (mine are sweets and alcohol), restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system. It removes certain food groups, like sugar (alcohol is included in this category), grains, dairy, and legumes that could be having an adverse effect on your health and fitness. The best way to see if they are affecting you is to remove them from your diet! The 30 day time period gives your body a chance to reset and heal itself. And it’s easy. You just eat real, whole food! More (and more) vegetables, some fruit, more protein, more seafood, eggs, and plenty of good fats from oils, nuts, and seeds. And it’s only for 30 days! This isn’t meant to be a life-long eating plan, just a short-term nutritional reset! The best part is you don’t have to count calories! You don’t weigh yourself every day! You eat when you’re hungry and you stop when you’re full! You just make sure to eat foods that have a short ingredient list, or better yet, no ingredient list at all!! Today, for lunch, I had Brussel sprouts, asparagus, and a deer stew with a bunch of veggies, plus a salad with guacamole. It was delicious! And kept me full all afternoon!

This will be my third Whole30 I’ve done. I’m on day three and so far, I’m doing well. I’m a bit more hungry than normal as my body adjusts to less carbs and fewer empty calories. I’ll admit, I was having a lot of fun over this past month or so (since Thanksgiving). I definitely enjoyed all the goodies that were brought over for Thanksgiving dinner, including mac and cheese and all the sweets. And I more than enjoyed all the Christmas baked goods that were brought into the office and brought home. And I slowly got back into the habit of having one (or two) hard ciders every night with dinner. With a move sandwiched in between the holidays, plus lots of unpacking, the drinks started going down easier and easier. Except my sleep starting become more and more sparse and my mood swings starting getting worse and worse. Seriously, I’d get mad for no reason…and I’d stay mad, not knowing what was actually wrong.

So needless to say, this Whole30 is definitely needed. My body doesn’t handle sugar and/or alcohol the way it used to (or the way I thought it used to). I have very quick, very negative affects when I have it. And it was becoming a daily habit! Worse, I was starting to crave it! I wanted something sweet every day, sometimes multiple times a day. And it was super easy to crack a hard cider as soon as I got home from the gym. I used to be an occasional drinker or an occasional sweets person. But over this past month, it became an everyday thing. And that’s what happens when you use the justification that everything is okay in moderation. Don’t get me wrong, I know that after the Whole30 is done, I will probably have a drink or some sweets every now and again. But I’ll also know that I feel better, sleep better, look better, act better, when I don’t have them all the time. And it will be easier to say no because I’ll have just done it for 30 days!!

What do you think? Could you use a Whole30? Let me know your thoughts on this type of program. Does it make sense to you? It’s definitely a great program, but I know it can be difficult to follow, especially when eating out or going to parties. Find a group, ask a friend, or ask me to help you with it! It can be done! And you will see great results!!

On another note, Scott and I got a new washer and dryer yesterday :) Yes, it’s totally the little things that make me super happy! 

I hope you all are having an amazing week! Day three has been super easy…I’ve had a couple sweet cravings on days 1 and 2, but I’ve resisted and kept myself super full so I don’t slip up. Let me know how I can help.  I’d love to help you out with your program and reset :)

With love and wellness,
Whitney

I bet you’ve been wondering how you could benefit from working with a health coach.  And even more so wondering how you could afford one.  Well let me start by saying that having a health coach is actually very affordable.  There are several different things you can do to free up some funding in order to hire a health coach.  But first, let me tell you some ways that you would benefit from having a health coach, specifically, having me as your health coach :)

First, and obviously the most important, is that you’d get to work with me :)  I mean, come on!  Doesn’t that sound like a great time?  Seriously though, I’ve been in your shoes.  I’ve suffered from anxiety, insomnia and sleep issues, hormonal imbalances, acne, acne, and more acne, extreme fatigue, stomach pains, thyroid issues; you name it, I probably had it.  I went to doctor after doctor to find the answers as to why I felt awful; I was tired all the time, I couldn’t sleep, my face wouldn’t stop breaking out, I’d have weird rashes on my skin, I felt like I didn’t belong in my own skin, I was depressed and anxious and worried about everything!  Yet, I was told over and over again that I was healthy, that nothing was wrong with me, that if all that doctor’s clients were as healthy as me, that he would be out of business.  Does this sound like you?  Have you been there?  I’m here to help!!  You don’t have to do it on your own!  I did it on my own over a period of 4 years!  Yes, 4 years to figure out my issues and experiment and figure out what worked for me.  I’m offering a 6-month program to work with you and help you achieve the goals you have!  To help you figure out what’s going on in your life and make these important lifestyle changes!  Yes, in 6 months!!  But let’s look at the other benefits from working with a health coach too.

You’d have an accountability partner, someone that listens to what’s going on in your life and holds you accountable to those things you say you’re going to do.  Have you ever set a goal (or several) only to not follow through or have it be pushed to the side?  That’s where I come in.  Every two weeks, we’d meet and I’d follow up with you about those goals you set.  Having someone to hold you accountable is vitally important in helping you keep and reach those goals.  I know, for me personally, that having someone ask me about my goals helps keep me on track.  Knowing that I’m talking to someone in two weeks helps me follow through with what I say I’m going to do.  For instance, I have a peer coach right now; someone that I talk with every two weeks about what’s going on in my life.  She helps keep me focused so that I follow through with my goals.  Plus, I don’t want to talk to her in two weeks and not have any updates!  I’ve found that I accomplish so much more by having someone there to support me and ensure I reach my goals.

Another benefit is that a health coach also focuses on your whole being!  Being healthy isn’t just about nutrition or fitness or eating the “right” foods.  Working with a health coach means you focus on everything in your life, from relationships to work to your exercise regiment to what you eat and how you sleep (or don’t sleep) to your religious beliefs.  Everything is connected.  If one area of your life is not in sync, it causes the rest of your life to be out of sync.  Have you ever noticed that when you come home from a bad day at work to an empty house that you tend to eat more or eat poorly?  Or that you eat standing at the kitchen counter, shoving your food into your face as you watch the latest TV show on your iPad?  Because I’ve been there.  I was unhappy with work and the relationships in my life (that’s a whole other blog post) and that affected my eating.  I was eating pretty healthy and paleo, but every night after dinner, I was making a “sweet treat.”  I justified it by using organic and paleo-approved ingredients, so it was healthy, right?  As a result, my sugar cravings were INSANE!!  I was finally able to get them under control, which I’ll discuss in another blog, but I realized that my eating habits were directly linked to how my day went at work and what was going on in my personal life/relationships.  As your health coach, we’d discuss all of these things and help you see where your life may be out of sync and how to get it all back on track.

A few other benefits include overcoming your barriers in your mind (we all have them, right?), retraining the way you think with positive self-talk, and helping you achieve a healthier lifestyle, improving your health, fitness, and nutrition, as well as improving your relationships!  Some common barriers include “I can’t do that,” “I’m not good enough to do that,” “I make too many mistakes to try that,” or “I don’t have enough money to do that.”  The truth is you CAN do whatever you set your mind to!  As your health coach, I’d help you overcome those barriers and open your eyes to all the possibilities you do have!  And with that, I’d help you retrain your negative self-talk.  What your mind thinks and believes, your body and self achieves!!  You have to banish the negative thinking to get where you want to go!  Think positively, focus on the positives, and positive things will happen.

Okay – so now that you know the benefits of working with a health coach, let’s talk about a couple ways you can save some money in order to afford a health coach.  You already know some of the obvious ones like skipping your morning coffee runs and bringing your lunch to work.  Keep track of your spending if you are buying coffee every morning and lunch every day.  How much are you actually spending?  Last time I checked, a cup of coffee from Starbucks, particularly the frou-frou drinks, are just short of $5.  If you stop every morning, you’re spending $25 right there (if you only go during the work week).  Start making coffee from home and bringing it in a pretty thermos with you to work.  And what about lunch?  The inexpensive places typically run from $10-15 for lunch.  But what about the nice places?  You could spend anywhere from $15-30 for lunch.  Eating out every day for one week at the cheapest rate of $10 would cost you $50.  Already, you’d have saved $75 by making your own coffee and bringing your lunch every day.  That’s crazy!!

A couple other ways to save money is to get rid of cable.  What, you say?  Get rid of my cable??  Yes, get rid of your cable.  I did it a couple years ago and I haven’t looked back.  I use Netflix for my movie-watching and any shows I want to watch, for a low rate of $7.99 a month, as well as Hulu Plus to watch my current shows, also for the low rate of $7.99 a month.  So for $16 a month, I can watch whatever shows I’m addicted to, as well as any movies I want (well, that Netflix has on there).  Compare that to the cost of cable now…what is it?  $80? $90? I hear what some people are paying for cable and I’m in awe…I guess it depends on how many channels you want and what premium package you have, but no thank you.  I’ll pay my $16 a month :)

A few other ways include drinking more water when you do go out to eat.  It’s free and it’s good for you!  Trade out your soda, lemonade, or tea for water at one meal a day.  That’ll save you a bit!  Clean out your closets/homes.  Instead of donating your stuff, bring it to a consignment shop, hold a yard sale, or put it on Craig’s List.  Make some money off the old stuff you no longer want or need.  We just did it in our household with a fish tank, a treadmill, and a rowing machine.  It helps the bank account, for sure!  Also, keep track of your bank accounts.  Are you spending too much on bank fees?  Do you even notice when you are charged a fee?  If you are, do some bank shopping.  Find one that doesn’t charge you fees!  All you’re doing is throwing away money if your bank is charging you these fees.

One last way to save money is to price shop when you do need to buy something.  Compare, compare, compare!  And sleep on it!  Don’t impulse buy.  Determine if whatever you’re shopping for is something you need or something you want.  I’ll give you a great example.  Scott and I were shopping for a dishwasher a few weeks ago because ours broke down.  We were going to a couple different stores to comparison price and came across this amazing deal on a double oven.  He and I stood there talking about it, looking at it, wanting it with everything we had.  We knew it was a great deal.  But we decided to leave the store and talk about it a little more away from the store employees.  And as much as we wanted that double oven, we knew we didn’t need it right now.  Our oven works just fine and we don’t plan on staying in our current house for much more than a year, and then we plan to rent it out.  We decided that our next house will be where we splurge on a double oven.  That was definitely a want at that point, not a need.  Make sure this is something you do with anything you want to purchase and I promise, you will save some money.  We saved ourselves about $900 by walking away from that double oven.

Implement some of these cost-saving ideas and you can easily afford a health coach.  My 6-month program is only $95 a month for a one-on-one health coach experience!  And only $50 a person for a group coaching experience!  And I promise, it will be one that is life-changing!  Contact me for more details!  I can’t wait to hear from you and work with you!!

With love and wellness,
Whitney

So our house had a little mishap today.  My boyfriend’s 5-year old daughter was playing with the husky, Eli, with a massive rope toy.  She was swinging it around, hitting the coffee table and sofa.  I asked/told her twice to stop and get away from the furniture.  Both times, she moved away from the couch, but after the second time, I walked back into the kitchen and the next thing I heard was a loud crash.  I immediately knew what it was based on the sound.  I walked around the corner and the tree was on the ground.  I immediately knew some of the ornaments had been broken.  See, this year, we used my small 4.5′ fake tree because we were in the process of moving (Scott and I moved in together) and knew we wouldn’t have time for anything else.  On that note, we also only used my ornaments because we knew exactly where they were and wouldn’t have to get anything else from the attic.

I have to admit, I was devastated cleaning up the mess.  My heart was broken as we picked up the tree and all the little pieces of the broken ornaments.  I have LOTS of pug ornaments that I’ve accumulated over the years (thanks mom and Court).  I wanted to cry.  But I realized as we were cleaning up, me and Scott and his two sons, that this mess…this disaster, had brought all of us together to work together to clean up.  Scott and his oldest son helped find pieces of the ornaments and glue them back together.  In all, we actually only lost one ornament that had shattered into several pieces.  The ones we glued back together, while they may have a little part missing from here and there, are still usable.  It actually turned into a fun afternoon putting everything away and figuring out what pieces went to which ornaments.

But in going through this, I realized how much I have grown up (yes, it’s taken me a long time to realize that, LOL).  In the past, I would have been so angry and upset and crying and been very ugly about the whole situation.  In fact, I think Scott was more upset about it because he knew how much my ornaments meant to me (they all have some sentimental value of some sort…I have lots of them with my pugs’ names on them…luckily, none of those broke).  I told him, “It’s fine, sweetheart.  The tree is fine and the ornaments are just things.  She’s not hurt and the dog’s not hurt and nothing is seriously damaged.  It’s okay.”  And I really meant it.

I don’t know why I felt the need to share this with you all, but it’s part of my 2015 resolutions.  I want to focus more on the positives in my life and stop complaining so much.  I have so much to be thankful and grateful for.  I could’ve been angry and upset and made the situation so much worse.  Scott’s daughter was crying and I walked up to her and told her that it upset me that she knocked the tree down, but that I was glad she was okay.  I wiped her eyes and helped her blow her nose and got her something to drink.  I calmed her down and in the end, she came over and helped us put the ornaments away.  And that, all of us, working and laughing together, is what I’m so grateful for.  It made it all worth it.

Bad things happen…mistakes happen.  That’s life.  But it’s how you handle it that really makes you who you are.  Focus on the good things that come out of those mistakes and you will be much happier.  And on the plus side, our Christmas decorations are down and we can get them stored in the attic :) One less project for this weekend.

I hope you all have an amazing weekend and focus on all the positives in your life!  Write down one to two things a day that you are grateful for and you’ll start to see a positive shift in your attitude and your life.

With love and wellness,

Whitney

Did you have an amazing New Year’s Eve?  I spent mine with my handsome boyfriend and his beautiful daughter, as well as a bunch of great friends I met through my Crossfit gym and my boyfriend.  It seems like it flew by…one minute, it was 7 p.m. and we had five hours left of 2014, and the next, we were in the last minute of it and counting down to 2015!!  We made it to midnight and watched the ball drop in Times Square…well, Scott and I did.  His daughter made it til about 11:55, LOL.  She was so close!!  And she slept through all the noise and the celebration!!  She was zonked out til 9 a.m. this morning!

This time of year is always a time of reflection.  We look at what we have accomplished over the past year – did we keep those resolutions?  And we look forward to the upcoming year and what we want to accomplish.  As I look back over the past year, I realize just how inspiring 2014 was for me.  I started focusing more on me and what I wanted, instead of what I thought other people wanted for/from me.  I also learned how to love myself more…not just the “good” parts of me, but EVERY part of me.  And with all that, I met and fell in love with Scott, a fellow Crossfitter and someone who loves me for exactly who I am.  He supports me and my growing business, both with the Health Coaching stuff and the doTerra oils.  I’ve even gotten him interested in the oils!!  He loves using them!  And even better, his kids love them too!!  His daughter came up to me this morning and said, “Whitney, I need some oils for my leg.  I got a boo-boo.”  How awesome is that???  Additionally, I started my training with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and have made great strides to becoming a Health Coach and living the life I’ve always wanted to live!  In December, I was half-way through with the program and pre-certified to start seeing clients!  I’m in the process of setting up my very own business (which is a HUGE step and only *slightly* intimidating!!).  But I am beyond happy!!  I made some huge life changes this year and I am so excited to continue moving forward and seeing what 2015 has in store for me!

I hope you look back on the past year and see great things, as well!  If not, here’s to a fresh start in 2015.  And here’s the thing – you don’t need the first day of the new year to make a fresh start.  You can start any day of the week, month, year, etc.  But this is the time of year for that fresh start!  Make it a beautiful year!  It’s day 1 of your 365 page book for 2015.  How do you plan to write your book?

Here’s to an awesome, beautiful, productive 2015!!

With love and wellness,

Whitney