Health & Free Living

This past Sunday was my 42nd birthday. Normally, my husband and I go to downtown Chicago for an overnight and enjoy the city and great restaurants, but this year...COVID. I missed that time with him, but my birthday was still great. If anything, having a birthday close to Christmas makes you pretty flexible about celebrations. My family loves to celebrate birthdays and my parents always did a great job of making me feel special and that my birthday was separate from Christmas. But, as I grew up and became an adult, I knew that finding time to celebrate my birthday among the Christmas rush was difficult and the chance of celebrating on the actual day was rare.  Enter COVID. For one of the first times in a long time, my birthday was free and there were no parties to rush off to or events to crowd our days! The pandemic meant no getaway to the city, BUT I celebrated my birthday with my parents on Saturday, relaxed and had dinner out with my husband on Sunday (my actual birthday), trea...

About seven years ago, I began my journey to remove harmful chemicals from my life and home. Our health is affected by what we put in our body and on our body. A lot of products we used are filled with harmful chemicals that can mess with how our body functions and grows. This is a short list of some of my favorite chemical-free products. Try them out for yourself and start feeling better! 1. Skincare Did you know that it only takes a few seconds for what you put on your skin to be absorbed into your blood stream? Typical skincare products have tons of harmful ingredients added to them (to preserve it, etc.). My favorite skin care is USANA's Celavive line. USANA is known for have it's purity and potency guarantee in all of their products, including the Celavive line. Using patented Incelligence technology, the products help your body regenerate healthy cells and reduce the signs of aging and oxidation. You can check out the whole line here . 2. Make-up Just like skincare, our m...

I struggle with body image issues. I always have. Maybe it's because I grew before everyone else and was taller and bigger. In elementary school, I was never thin...just normal. Maybe it's because I always preferred to play sports with the boys and could never quite figure out where I fit in. I've been torn between wanting a fierce, athletic look and being model thin -- you can't have both. In fifth grade, I lost 12lbs and all my baby fat. I've remained thin and fit ever since. I still weigh the same as I did in high school even though I'm now in my 40s and have had two children. Yet why do I only see the imperfections in the mirror? And the hard part is that I can't talk about it. For real. Not because I don't want to or feel ashamed, but because sharing those thoughts  when I look great  might make someone feel less about themselves. And I would never want to make anyone feel less. My joy is helping people accept who they are and develop a correct mind...

2020 has been quite a year and now we've reached Thanksgiving. Pretty sure we thought life would be back to normal, but as I write this things all around me in my state are shutting down again because of the COVID. As mentioned in my previous blog post, there is always a way to find gratitude through the hard. In fact, gratitude is good for your health and helps with stress levels, etc.! So, I'm choosing to find gratitude in everything. Here's what I'm grateful for this year: -When everything shut down in March, we got so much more time with our family...and realized how busy we had become with all of our sporting events. The time allowed us to re-evaluate what we wanted to do as a family. -I got a new job as the P.E. teacher at Covenant Classical School! The interview process started right before the shelter-at-home began, so we had to get creative with interviews and I was finally hired in June. The job allows me to teach at my kids school and only work during their h...

When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit the U.S. in March and we went into shelter-in-place, I remember feeling an overwhelming tiredness that didn't make sense to me. I felt I was getting more sleep, we had nowhere to rush to, and I was grateful for the extra time with my family. Why the fatigue? As I talked to my friends, I learned that we were all experiencing similar feelings of tiredness and fatigue. About a month later, I read an article that talked about how we are experiencing a "fight or flight" response to the pandemic. The "fight or flight" response causes our cortisol levels to rise which can be helpful when needing to escape a situation, however, with no way to do anything during COVID, those responses continue to rise and can cause restlessness, trouble sleeping, GI issues, etc.  Obviously, we are unable to fight or flee the pandemic, so for some people, the body goes into a freeze response - low energy, difficulty concentrating, avoidance of all news...

  "Gratitude not attitude" became my mantra during the beginning of COVID-19. During that time, I would go for long walks -- listening to music and spending time in prayer. Sounds fine, however, often during my "talks with God" I would find myself complaining about something someone said and how it hurt me or some other situation. I realized that I could continue down that road or end the negative thoughts. So, I would stop myself in the middle of my pity party and say "Gratitude not attitude." I would then think of all the things I am grateful for about that person and/or situation. Was it always easy? No. Worth it? Yes. As we enter this season of Thanksgiving, are you needing to switch your negative attitude to one of gratitude? Where are the blessings in e-learning? In this political climate, where do your thoughts go when thinking about Democrats or Republicans? One party is not all positive and one all negative. BOTH parties have positives and negativ...

The world is a crazy place right now and trust has been on my heart and mind. Whom do I trust? Do I really trust God as much as I say I do? See, with the political climate and divisiveness going on in our country, here's what I've learned: no matter who become President and what is decided, God is in control. He already knows who the next President will be -- it's all a part of His plan for the world. Do I trust Him?  When I am overwhelmed with the arguing around me...I remember that He is in control. When I see the divisiveness on social media, I remember that He is sovereign. When I put my trust in Him, the weight is lifted from my chest and I can rest. I'm thankful that my God is in control and I don't have to be. That even as I vote, He is determining the next steps for our country and what will bring revival in the hearts of His people. God has not given up on His people and He has not given up on me. This time has also forced me to look at how I trust other pe...

I started feeling pain in my right glute starting in July 2019. I stretched and foam rolled to try to make it get better, but I continued with my daily runs and workouts. One month later and the only way to not feel the pain shooting down the back of both of my legs was lying completely flat on my back. As someone who is always active, this was a big wake up call. I decided that I needed to do things right (not just take a break for a few days and then try running again), so I started Physical Therapy and stopped running or working out. Gotta admit, on top of struggling to stay still, one of my first thoughts was "how will I not gain weight if I can't workout?" Then I reminded myself what I tell clients all the time: wellness is 80% nutrition and 20% exercise. I took a look at my nutrition and made sure I was eating good foods and not mindlessly snacking. Not only did I maintain my weight (even lost a few pounds), but it helped me reshape my mind-frame on exercise.  I...

The current discussion on social media these days has a lot to do with people's beliefs -- especially politically and with hot topics, etc. We are quick to point out if someone is leaning a certain way because of their beliefs...and then say that he/she is wrong to do so. However, we ALL make EVERY decision based our own set of beliefs (current culture is simply mad that your belief is different than its belief). And that includes our feelings about health and wellness. Have you ever thought of that before? How do your current beliefs of health, wellness, nutrition, exercise, etc. affect your lifestyle? With all the diet fads, past and present, our beliefs can be all over the place.  I think one of the biggest belief most people have is that it won't effect me.  I can have the hamburger, large fries, and jumbo Coke because it tastes good, I enjoy it, and I deserve it.  If it tastes good, how can it be bad for me? Or another belief: eating well means that I can't enjoy any...