Here’s another 20-some-year-old woman creating a blog. Not super original these days, I know. But please read on to find out why I created it and what I intend to do with it. And bless you for looking at the length of this post and continuing to read on anyway. I have lots of thoughts I want to share, and compiling them all is so good for my soul. I’ve always loved words and finding ways to piece them together to perfectly articulate what’s rattling around in my head.

Over the past year or so I’ve shared a lot about my journey to becoming a healthier me on social media. This was never something I intended to do initially. I took a risk when I shared my first post and the feedback and following I got from just that post alone was overwhelming. It revealed to me that people were watching me and that I had the opportunity to inspire and empower people who were facing struggles I was all too familiar with: poor body image, feeling controlled by food, failing time after time to make “better choices” that didn’t ever actually change anything I wanted them to, and feeling discouraged to the point of just not trying any more. I’ve been there and I know how much those things hurt. And after years of trying to find something that worked for me, I had found it. Why wouldn’t I share that with other people if it could offer them the same freedom it was offering me?

I loved sharing recipes I was using, parts of my workouts and just showing others that I was committing to myself in this way. It became clear rather quickly that what I was sharing was really making an impact on others. When people told me they had tried my recipes or that my post about working out inspired them to go to the gym, I was so humbled and moved. I was just sharing about my experiences of using a program that felt like a very healthy approach to nutrition and working out and was easy to implement into my busy lifestyle. I decided to become a Beachbody coach so I could share what I had been doing with others. Though I despised all of the common misconceptions about people working that business (that I once had myself), I was determined to do it my way, and do it differently than a lot of people I had seen in my news feed.

People started reaching out to me and asking questions like, what should I be eating to lose weight? Is there a better alternative to butter? How many carbs should I eat in a day? etc. I so desperately wanted to help them and know the answers to what they were asking. I would make an educated guess based on what my own nutrition plan told me, the conflicting information I found on Google along with what I thought I knew about nutrition. But at the end of the day, I had no education to guide my answers and no real foundational knowledge to reference when answering people’s questions, and that just didn’t sit right with me. Yes, I could continue doing what I was doing with my business, make money, and live happily ever after without it. But I wanted the education. I wanted to learn why my program was working for me, why the same thing would or wouldn’t work for another person, and of course, if “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” is actually better for you than real butter (by the way, it’s not. But I’ll divulge on that subject in a future post.)

I absolutely loved that by working my Beachbody business I had connected with old friends, and made several new friends all because of my new passion. I even helped some of them make strides in their own journeys to being healthier and took great pride in that. Though I had originally begun the program to lose weight and change my outside, somewhere along the way I found wellness, and how to take care of the inside of me. (And ya know what? I learned that when you focus on taking care of the inside, the outside takes care of itself.) Again, without diving into another post completely here, in short, I discovered how to be very self-aware and make lifestyle decisions that made me feel my best inside and out. I seriously felt like I had been reborn, like I got to start living a new life. I know that might sound melodramatic, but I really can’t describe it any other way. I wanted to give wellness to nearly everyone I knew. So I talked about it, a lot. And I’m deeply sorry if any of my posts or personal messages came across as me just wanting your money because that was never my intention. But getting paid in addition to helping people feel as amazing as I did? That sounded like a dream. And it still does. It was so hard to make the decision that ultimately Beachbody coaching was just not the right platform for me, while not yet knowing how I could potentially make an income from my passion without spending a lot of my own time and money to do so. By closing this door, I felt like I had failed, and that’s not something I’ve experienced much of, or a concept that I was even open to experiencing for most of my life. I’m not kidding (or bragging) when I say that in general, I have succeeded at just about everything that I’ve ever tried or stuck my neck out for. But fear of failure, disappointing myself, and disappointing others kept me from trying a lot of things. If I wasn’t certain I’d be just great at something, I didn’t even give it the time of day. For once I had taken a leap of faith, wasn’t sure if I would fail or fly, and just tried to enjoy every bit of the experience for what it was worth. Better late than never to learn that failure can result in growth. Hitting the ground stung for a bit, but I knew it wasn’t the end of this for me.

God knew I was searching for answers and I happened to stumble upon an Instagram post referencing the Nutritional Therapy Association and their Nutritional Therapy Practitioner certification. I read nearly every word on their website, every answer on their FAQ page, and a couple of hours later, I was convinced this certification was the answer. The NTA believes that food is medicine and that many illnesses, ailments and diseases can be alleviated, reversed and ultimately cured by changing one’s food, supplementation and lifestyle. Yes. yes, and yes. I believe all those things too (though there was a time I would have had NO idea what any of that meant. It’s okay if you don’t, but trust me, it’s fascinating.) It was only in hindsight that I could really understand my own health struggles and that eating REAL food was ultimately the main factor that helped me feel like a completely different person from the inside out. This certification will give me the knowledge, understanding and tools I need to truly help those around me, with a completely individualized approach. Will it take me longer? Yep. Will it be hard to accomplish while working a full-time job and fulfilling all of my other obligations? Absolutely. But it will be worth every sacrifice to be able to help others find what makes them optimally well and healthy. It’s scary to say (type) these intentions out loud because it makes them real. But I want to be transparent about where I’ve been, where I’m at, and where I’m headed. To be honest, all the kinks haven’t been worked out with my plan, but I’m trusting that it’s all unfolding like this for a reason. With any luck, I will enroll in the program before the end of 2018.

<<EDIT: Nearly three months later, I still haven’t published this post and made my blog public. For whatever reason, I just didn’t feel ready. And I’m glad I didn’t. As the year has continued to unfold, I’ve had a lot of realizations. The first being that I think I was so eager to jump into earning money through this passion because deep down I was unknowingly trying to find a reason to jump ship on my current profession. Being a preschool teacher is insanely emotionally draining work, especially when working with a population affected by trauma. It doesn’t come with a ton of respect as a profession from our society as a whole, it doesn’t come with wearing cute heels and business attire to work, and nothing about wiping butts roughly 17 times a day screams “professional” to the average person. I think some insecurities about my chosen career have bubbled to the surface over time, and along with the challenges I face daily, quite frankly I was ready to say, “to hell with it.” I think that’s why I felt so strongly about pursuing a “side hustle” that could potentially become a full-time hustle. And while I still want to pursue this program, I’m starting to get comfortable with the fact that God is still using me in the field of early childhood education, and that completing this program may not happen as quickly as I can snap my fingers. (Which is real quick, if you ask my mom.) But once again, my prayers were answered and within the past couple of weeks I learned of the opportunity to take a shorter class that would cost a fraction of the other certification by two of my most favorite mentors in holistic nutrition, Diane Sanfilippo and Liz Wolfe called the Balanced Bites Master Class. I’m officially signed up and can NOT wait to start on July 9th! This will be the perfect way for me to “get my toes wet” and also give myself some credibility before I keep posting pictures of “healthy” recipes without being able to fully defend why they’re healthy. However, I’m not going to financially benefit from any of this any time soon, and I actually think that’s for the best. This way, nothing about my work can be misinterpreted because I’m doing this “fo free.” I’ve got so much to share and I feel called to share it, credentials or not. I can share a lot of work from peeps who do have the credentials, and that feels like it’s enough for me right now.>>

So, about the blog. I felt like it was finally time to create my own space where I can keep “all the things” together, and where I can dive deeper into topics I can go on and on about (like debunking nutrition and workout myths). You’ll find all of that here. I’ll post links to new blog posts on my other social media platforms, but if you know you’re going to want to read them (I’ll make them worth your while, I promise!) you can go ahead and follow me to get notifications each time I write a new post. (Click the + at the bottom of the post and click the link to do so!) I plan to share recipes, my thoughts on different wellness topics or concepts, book recommendations and more. Most importantly, I will never claim to have all of the answers. But as I continue to learn, my passion about this subject continues to evolve and it is such a joy to share it with all of you. If you’re still reading this blog post, have liked or commented on any of my past posts, have tried my recipes, or said kind words regarding my lifestyle, thank you. It seriously means so much to me to have your love and support, and hopefully your attention. Because if I have your attention, that means I have the opportunity to share something with you that just might change your life like it did mine.

A good friend recently shared this quote with me and it encompasses all that I’m aspiring to do with my lifestyle and this blog.

“In a world full of ‘look at me’ girls, be a ‘come with me’ girl.”

I’m looking forward to all that lies ahead, and I invite you to come with me.

Lauren