It’s hard to picture it now, but I used to weigh 200 pounds before I became a personal trainer. I’m a mother of two who ate what they didn’t, slept when they did, and relied on caffeinated beverages to keep me going at work. Then one day I chose to take a walk instead of reaching for my regular snack combination of a Twix bar and a can of Mountain Dew. I haven’t looked back since.
For me, “health first” means the following:
I am interested in helping individuals regain control of their heath and their lives. This means that when you work with me you will have a partner by your side helping you make incremental changes that you can maintain for the rest of your life. You will have someone working with you to educate you on proper nutrition, identify why you feel the way the you do and then create a plan to eliminate the things from your life that are keeping you down (McDonalds, anyone?).
You should know right away that you will not go on a crash diet with me. I also will not put you through the ringer in the gym. Yes, you will hurt when you work out with me. But you won’t hurt so much that you’ll never want to come back. Instead, you’ll finally learn what your body and mind can do when you open yourself up to real change.
At 36 I started sobbing uncontrollably.
I had no idea why.
My husband stood there asking what he could do.
Nothing.
There was nothing he could do because I had no idea what was happening. I wasn’t bothered or stressed at work, things were fine at home. Life, as it were, was peachy. Except for this urge to cry for no apparent reason.
I worked more on my mindset….that must be the problem.
I worked more….after all the kids were not around quite so much, high school, jobs and sports.
I started every day with a cup (or 2) of espresso and ended every night vegging in front of the tv with a mega glass of wine.
I couldn’t sleep. Or more accurately, stay asleep, I saw 1-3am every dang day. Was it really a wonder that I needed coffee each morning.
And as I passed that 40th birthday, I realized the only friskiness was obligatory.
Oh snap!
When the heck does menopause start?
What is this phase called peri menopause? And it can last 10 years!!?
About this time, I met a naturopath who kept saying my symptoms were super common….and completely not natural. Seriously every woman passes through this phase of life, The Creator did not intend for it to be a living hell. Complete with hot flashes, night sweats, memory loss, stubborn belly fat, and a complete disinterest in sex.
Hmmmmmm, food for thought.
So I read up on the subject.
The one quote that sticks with me several years later was in Dr Sara Gottfried’s book “The Hormone Cure”, “if you will not take the time to fix your hormones at a young age, YOU WILL BE FORCED TO DEAL WITH THEM IN MENOPAUSE.”
Is it too late?
Is there a fix now?
Please tell me I can curb some of the horrible promises.
So I got modest results. I lost a little weight, I slept a little better, my hubby was a little hotter, aaaaaaaaaand there was still the uncontrollable sobbing.
I read a couple more books.
Did what My Natropath suggested.
I had never had the clarity of mind, the depth of sleep, the amount of waking energy or the hot as hell horniness I was experiencing.
Never.
Nope, not ever had I felt this good.
But didn’t really know what else to do.
I got certified as a Hormone Coach, but wasn’t really sure where that might take me.
A new doctor out there explaining relatively new studies about menopause and hormones and how we can exercise differently in order to feel better.
A double whammy of eating like my naturopath suggested and exercising like you’re in menopause, not like you are a teenager, and suddenly the heavens open up, the choirs are singing, the rainbows are brightened.
So I tested….I actually did it the doctor’s way the first time.
Was it tough? Yep.
Did it go against everything I’d been taught over the past 15 years? Yep.
Was it a mental challenge? Yep.
Was it a physical challenge? Yep. (Well, at the beginning)
And did I lose weight like a teenage boy? Yep!
Was I frisky as a teenage boy? Yep!
Was I sleeping through the night? Like a rock.
Could I remember where my keys were in the morning? Yesssssssss! Every dang day!
Score!
When I’m not working, I’m spending a great deal of time with my family. My daughters are recent college grads starting their “big girl jobs”, so it’s just me, my husband and our dogs now. Got to admit, we are really into this empty nest lifestyle now! A few miscellaneous facts about me and my family include:
Look, I know it’s hard to carve out time for yourself. You have kids to think of, a household to run, a job to go to every day and a partner to keep happy. But trust me, taking this one step can improve not only your life, but the lives of those around you.
