Month: February 2021

Categories
Goals Health and Wellness

You Don’t Have to Be The Best

I’m a recovering competitor and perfectionist…two things that don’t always go well together. 

I’ve always been an athlete and was above average in most sports growing up. However, because I’m so competitive, all I could see was everyone who was better than me. And because I was a perfectionist, I aligned that with never thinking I was good enough. In my mind, if I wasn’t the best, I clearly wasn’t a good player. At that time, I didn’t realize that was my thinking pattern…I just never really saw my talent. But looking back now, I see how it all connected. 

My dad was a constant encouragement to me and would tell me all the time what a great player I was (while also being honest about where I could improve), but it never made a difference. I simply didn’t believe I was as good as he (or the stats) said. And because of it, I gave up on my favorite sport when I was 15 and later wished I could go back and make a different decision.

Perhaps you are a little bit that way as well…especially when it comes to wellness. You see the slim people in magazines and think that you would never be able to look that way, so why try? (As I say all the time, what’s on the outside doesn’t always reflect the health level on the inside…) Or you see people your age running marathons and you feel bad about your two mile walk and just want to give up. 

Here’s the truth in life…you will never be the best at ANYTHING. There will always be someone better than you. You don’t have to BE the best to succeed in life and reach your goals, but you owe it to yourself to always DO your best.

Let the people who are “better” than you inspire you, but don’t let it defeat you. Determine what your dreams and goals are and work toward them — independent of others dreams and successes. You are capable of great things!

I’m thankful that God has worked in my life and my perfectionist ways — that I am able to show myself grace and see the amazing ways that He has made me and all the gifts He has given me. I don’t want to be the best anymore — because then I have no where to grow.

Categories
Family Goals Health and Wellness

How to Vacation Well

Last week, my family and I escaped the artic chill and snow and headed to Florida! It was sunny with temperatures in the 80s all week — a huge difference from the weather back at home. We spent our time as Universal Studios Orlando (both parks) for five days and loved every moment of it. (As I sit here at home writing this blog post, it is 2 degrees outside and I can feel the winter blues descending…)

After a crazy (and oftentimes, disappointing) pandemic year, it was great to finally be able to vacation and spend time as a family. Yes, we had to wear masks the entire time (which is annoying when you are outside in warm weather), but because of the limited capacity, it wasn’t as crowded and the wait times were so much shorter! Woohoo!

For some people, when they go on vacation, they also see it as a vacation from living a healthy lifestyle. Here’s the thing, you can enjoy all the good things AND be healthy while vacationing…it just takes some planning and discipline.

Here are some tips for staying healthy while on vacation:
1. Focus on moving your body, not getting your best workout ever. 😉 For our trip, I got over 20,000 steps each day walking around the parks, so missing workouts wasn’t a big deal to me. 80% is nutrition and only 20% is exercise — so if I do well with my nutrition, than I’m fine. If you are planning a beach vacation, break up your day with some longer walks to keep your body moving.

2. Pack your supplements! The easiest way to keep your energy up and not get sick while on vacation is to TAKE YOUR SUPPLEMENTS! Vacation is not the time to leave them at home. 😉 I figure out what I need for the time I’m away and then put them all in a ziplock bag so I’m not bringing a bunch of bottles with me (you can also create a MyHealthPak which are pillow packs of vitamins — SUPER easy for travel). 

3. Plan out your dining options. I knew that our dinner would be our nice meal each day and when I would be eating good food, so I made a plan for during the day as we walked the park. I packed healthy low-glycemic snack bars and looked for healthy options at the park. Instead of getting a meal with fries, I would get a snack of hummus, carrots, celery, and pita bread (it was really filling and cost half as much as the meal!). I also made sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day. When it came time for dinner, I was able to enjoy some amazing food guilt-free. 

4. Take time to breathe, pray, read, etc. I made sure that I was up first each day so that I could have time to breathe and pray before heading out for the day. Some days were better than others, but it’s important to still care for yourself and your mental health.

I hope that this year will give you the opportunity to take a break and get a vacation or two. 🙂 And, hopefully, this tips will help you keep to your health and wellness goals when you go.

But most importantly…

Enjoy the trip and don’t beat yourself up if you eat a lot of junk! Just jump back on that wellness train when the vacation is over. (I’ll be here to help you!)

Categories
Faith Family Health and Wellness Self-care

Honestly…

I’ve been thinking a lot about honesty lately, specifically in relationships. For the most part, I consider myself an honest person. When I worked in retail, my customers appreciated that I would give them honest feedback and let them know if something worked for them, instead of just trying to make a sale. I joke around that if you give me a just a little alcohol, you will be sure to know my opinions about any and everything. 😉 However, when it comes to people who are close to me, I have a harder time being honest.

I can be honest when it doesn’t matter — even when it is with people I consider my friends. I think because there isn’t as much at stake — if they judge me, get mad, or walk away, it doesn’t really matter. I know that I was honest and I can move on in my life. 

However, with those closest to me, I’m careful to keep things close to me and compartmentalize instead to sharing how I honestly feel. There’s way more at stake. Yes, I know that the people closest to me should be and are the ones who won’t walk away or leave me, but I clearly struggle with trust.

One of the things that I am working on this year is being more honest with people — those closest to me included — and sharing when I am disappointed or hurt, etc. See, I’m also a people pleaser and want everyone to be happy (that’s a whole other post about how I need to let people feel…), so even when I feel rejected or hurt, I tell people that it’s okay and move on. But by doing so and not being honest, people don’t see how I value them and our time spent together. Clearly, if they mattered, it would bother me.

So, if you have known me for years, be aware that I’m going to be more honest with you. Yes, life happens, so if you cancel a lunch date, I’ll understand, but I’m also going to let you know that I was looking forward to hanging with you and adjusted my schedule so we could spend time together — not to make you feel bad, but to let you know that you are valued…and maybe I won’t be the person that you know you can always cancel on. 😉

My quest to be more honest has already lead to some tough conversations with people closest to me. You know what? They still love me. They didn’t walk away. 

How about you? Are you good at being honest with people when it really counts? Who do you need to be more honest with today?

Categories
Health and Wellness

Why Wellness?

I recently had someone say that “wellness” is just a term that people use to talk about dieting and looking a certain way and that she wants nothing to do with it. I’m sure she has some things from her past that made her view it that way, but I also realized that there might be other people who misinterpret what “wellness” is…and why it is so important.

First, let me clarify what wellness isn’t:

  • Wellness isn’t how you look in a bathing suit
  • Wellness isn’t the number on a scale (although that can be a sign that you aren’t well)
  • Wellness isn’t being able to run a marathon
  • Wellness isn’t depriving yourself from all good foods and only eating kale 😉

What is wellness? Wellness is taking care of the body that God gave you — allowing it to function to it’s fullest potential.


God, in his awesome creativity, gave us bodies of all shapes, sizes, and abilities. Contrary to what is shown on TV and the internet, one shape and size isn’t better than another. And athletic ability doesn’t determine our worth…or the money we make. We don’t get to choose the body we have, but it is our responsibility to take care of it.


Let’s say you got a brand new luxury car. Are you going to fill the inside with fast food wrappers, use diesel for fuel, and never get the oil-changed? Of course not! You give it the fuel it needs, you protect the floors and leather inside, and you make sure the engine is running it’s best. 


Your body is far more valuable than any car and has WAY more responsibilities that just getting your from place to place. You need to care for you body so that it runs it best — by fueling it with proper nutrients and food, drinking water not sugar loaded beverages, maintaining healthy gut bacteria, etc.


I’m not a fan of diets. God made our bodies to run on carbs, fats, and proteins — there is no need to remove one of them. When we focus simply on weight, we keep our bodies from functioning the way God designed them to run. Does our society need to eat better? YES! Our world is overfed, but undernourished. 

So why focus on wellness? I strive for health and wellness so that I can be around to watch my kids grow up AND can engage with them — that I can go play a game of basketball or wiffle ball with them. I want to thrive so that I always have the energy to help and support my family. I’m 42 years old, but feel better than I did in my 20s. 


How about you? What motivates you? Why do you need to focus on wellness? Maybe it’s so you can focus at work and not fall asleep on the job. Maybe it’s to get rid of Type 2 diabetes. Maybe you just want to get up the stairs without running out of breath or wake up in the morning without everything hurting. Find your “why” and start working toward those wellness goals. Not because the world tells your to look better. But because you value your body and want to feel better.