People assume that because I’m a health coach I must have always been thin/healthy/fit/[insert misconception of choice here]. If only!

Like most kids, I would’ve preferred to live on cookies and ice cream bars and cake. Luckily my mom was a bit smarter than all that! But my penchant for sweets set me up for struggles with health in my later teen years. I was moody, foggy headed, and on an emotional roller coaster reminiscent of PMS, just all the time.  Getting healthy entailed eating a clean diet, which now seems simple, but at the time set me up for feelings of deprivation. Healthy eating felt like punishment.

So no, my journey didn’t have me growing up on tofu, kale chips and kombucha. Instead, it looked more like moments of obsession, where if it didn’t look like chicken, brown rice or broccoli I wasn’t eating it to days (weeks?) where Diet Coke and Ding Dongs were a staple.

And then there was the “but it’s from Whole Foods, it must be healthy!” phase. My weight would go up or down, and along with it, my moods. It felt hopeless at times. And after awhile it seemed pointless to even try.

I thought I had to give up anything that tasted good and everything I loved to be healthy, to have energy or to lose weight. Food became a struggle, a source of frustration. (Can any of you relate?)

Thankfully, my journey also had me crossing paths with some amazing coaches and healers who have helped me to let go of the shame and guilt that plagued me, and break free of the desperation and sense of deprivation woven tightly around food.

What I discovered in this process is that honoring my body and my spirit plays as much a role as what I’m eating and how much. For a girl who is more of a “just give me a plan to follow” type, some days that still challenges me, pushing me out of my own comfort zone.

It is on those days that I get to put into practice all the things I work with my amazing clients to create for themselves, committed to living my vision board life!

Now I get to bring it all together, the “drop and give me 20!” of the gym and the “ooooom” of yoga. Weaving that duality into what I do, I celebrate all the Earth Mamas and City Girls, you who throw on your LBD and are as at home among the champagne and crystal chandeliers as your are traipsing through the woods in your hiking boots.

I celebrate all you are, all you bring, all you do. Let’s do this…just for the health of it!