Hi Brooke! April was my first month with you and it was LIFE CHANGING. My focus was self care. Learning about time and managing/thinking about it helped me tremendously. My 3 small kids (5, 3, 1 1/2) demand a lot of me. Postpartum autoimmune issues, fatigue, pain and a work related injury plagued me. (I also am a wellness practitioner of 18 years and do bodywork on the side, 1-2 days per week for 6-8 hrs) Tightening down on my schedule helped me to find time for the model and thought work, daily mindful movement (i.e. walks or yoga) and helped me take more time to rest and relax, while feeling more productive at home. I also found the time to complete my final requirements for my Integrative Wellness & Life Coach Certification and accomplish that which had been hanging out there. AMAZING.

So, then i was feeling better, and i didn’t set any new goals for the next month, our schedule changed, my kids got sick and i was crazy sleep deprived for about 2 weeks, not taking great care of myself again and i sunk into a fog of indecision and lack of clarity of direction and focus. So, I checked out. Indulging in my lack of clarity in my target market, which kept me from doing the market research i planned, which kept me from creating my first coaching program. BY the way, I am a virgo and perfectionism is a super unhelpful default mode I tend towards. Instead of sharing my target market thoughts with you, I swirled them in my head, and sunk into my fog and halted all momentum. BUFFERING all the way through. In self care, I had no interest in the stop over eating program. Well, a month or so ago, out of curiosity (and nothing else important I was doing, I started watching those videos during laundry time. I got really good at laundry, when I got to have you for company. So I realized the buffering that was happening with food and alcohol and how much sugar fed into my hormone imbalances and fatigue. So, I started about 3 weeks ago with a protocol of my own. No sugar or flour for 3 weeks, except a planned birthday meal with my daughter, and one stress/buffer moment. I did this, optimistically about of curiosity more than anything (not really expecting the extra thyroid/pregnancy related 50lbs i have been carrying to go anywhere. I lost 5 lbs the first 2 weeks! I feel amazing! less pain, more energy, some more wild emotions (esp the first week and a half) but without a buffer, I am having to consider my thoughts. Clearly the point, I know. One huge success for me was working 7 hours total on this past thursday (normally I cap it at 4 hrs these days) and i felt pretty great during and after (amazing without so much internal inflammation, how much better my body is feeling. I’ve been experimenting, and enjoying intermittent fasting with the help of bulletproof coffee or tea in the am, which seems to be making the fast doable with the adrenal issues I have had. So, as of July 1, solidly I am recommitted. Journaling my food and sleep daily, working through your workbooks and journals again, even trying to work through models when I am struggling. in a lot of ways I am still struggling, but in other ways i am seeing such great movement. And I am ready to jump back into business again, despite the fuller summer schedule. Thanks for being here waiting for me to return. I look forward to much more contact with you going forward! Next time I sink into the muck, I believe i will be able to jump back out more quickly.