Many people look to “reset” when the New Year comes around. It’s a fresh start, an opportunity to look hard at your goals for the coming year and make some changes to your current lifestyle. Health goals (fitness and weight loss) are one of the most common New Year resolutions. While I will always support choices that are healthy for your physical body, I also firmly believe wellness is about so much more than a number on a scale or the number of calories you eat every day. That being said, I don’t usually encourage or support goals like, “I want to lose 20 pounds this year.” Or “I’m starting a diet where I only eat 500 calories a day.” There are a few reasons you won’t find these types of goals on my own list of resolutions. The number on the scale is not indicative of your true health. Limiting calories may also mean you’re not fueling your body properly and can lead to more stress and inflammation in the body than currently exists. While you may find that you’re losing weight and in...

My husband and I have this great arrangement in our marriage. If I’m working at the hospital, he cooks supper, if I’m not, I cook. I had mentioned this at work one day and one of the ladies told me how lucky I was that he would do that. For a while, I thought she was right, I am pretty lucky, not every husband would cook for his family while his wife worked 12+ hour days. And then I thought… wait a second. Although I have a great husband who is loving a supportive, I’m not "lucky" that he cooks supper 3 times a week. It’s not about luck as much as it is the things we value. We have an understanding of each other’s time and energy… Don’t go all thinking that my husband is more evolved than any other man because truthfully he is not. He calls all my work woo-woo and has never once read a personal development book in his life. However, from day one in our relationship, I knew that my time, my energy, and my financial contribution were all important. So I demanded respect for them. I set t...

Balance is a unicorn. 

It’s that thing everyone is chasing. A balance between work and family. A balance between work and resting. Balance in your marriage. In your friendships. Balance in all your relationships.

Here’s the thing… Balance is a unicorn. 

Maybe it exists in the world, but it feels more like a mythical creature. 

What it comes down to is how you honor your priorities. 

If I say that my #1 priority is supper with my family every night, I will leave work to make supper every night. 

If I want balance between work and rest, then I have to create time for both. I can always see another thing that needs to be done. Another task that needs to be finished. So, I will work myself to the bone, and wait longingly for the day that comes where there is time for rest. Wait longingly for that day to come where everything falls into place and it’s perfectly balanced. But it’s unrealistic to think that that day is ever going to come. It doesn’t just show up on the cal...

Have you ever considered the four phases of your menstrual cycle? If you’re not trying to get pregnant (or avoid pregnancy) you might be totally unaware of the phases, with the exception of the week you bleed. Let me tell you why we need to change that. 

You know that each month your hormones fluctuate through each of the phases and each time the change, they create different desires in you. Just like Mother Nature shows off her four seasons throughout the year, you experience similar seasons throughout the month. Let’s break it down. 

Spring/Follicular phase: In this phase your body is preparing an egg for ovulation. The hormones responsible for this will make you want to plan things and create to-do lists. This would be an optimal time to create your monthly menu, shopping list, or create daycare plans for your kids. 

Summer/Ovulation: In this phase, your body releases that egg. You are now fertile. All the hormones required to allow you to be fertile are the same ones th...

Self-Care: the best gift in 2020. In fact, it's the gift that keeps on giving. I’m not talking about your “Jelly of the month membership” from your boss, 😉 or that great vacuum you got last year. You see, no matter if you’re gifting it to someone else, or someone else is gifting it to you, self-care is a pay-it-forward type of gift.  

Self-care looks different for everyone. Understanding what works for you may be a journey and it might certainly change as often as the weather. The important part is that you find your tools for self-care. The things you can do every day to fill your cup. Once you’ve found those, you’re unstoppable. Yes, self-care often means you have to stop running around like a chicken with its head cut off, but it doesn’t mean that you are less productive.  

Here’s how self-care works in your favor. Think about yourself as your cell phone battery. There is only 100% of you to give. Not 200%. Not 300%. One-hundred-percent. You get this 100% every, 24 hours. Did you ...