I am worth it and so are you!

It has been a long two years of putting myself last and taking care of my needs before others.

In my last post "how to never leave yourself behind" I talked about how I finally started taking care of myself and not leaving myself behind, but it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I finally and truly did have enough.

Enough pain in my body, enough of not being able to exercise, enough of eating just because and enough of being a wife and mother who wasn’t truly present in her relationship with her husband and her daughter.

To be honest it wasn’t a huge breakthrough moment, it was just a moment of knowing what it felt like to feel good in my skin and wanting to feel that way again.

So I started slowly just as I had done before. I knew how to get there; it was just motivation and self-care that I was lacking.

I felt that it was time that my body needed strength building exercises that pushed me to where I needed and a little beyond. I needed more stretching and more cardio to work every part of me.

So it started with signing up with some friends to a crossfit gym. I had done crossfit before and what I love about it is that it’s a group activity with a trainer to motivate you and help you. Another plus is that everyone greets each other and if you’re new, people actually introduced themselves and make you feel welcome.  It’s not your typical gym where you check-in, plug in and leave and I so need that.

Then I started drinking a lot more water (alot) more than my 3 glasses a day and I continued having a veggie smoothie with veggies and fruits that made me strong and reduced inflammation.  

I also made sure that with what I ate, I had some sort of green vegetable or salad with lunch and dinner.

I also began scheduling once a month massages and continued getting together with my girlfriends.

I finally really started taking care of me and putting myself first when it came to certain things.

These small but powerful changes have made such a difference in how I feel, how I sleep and I how I treat and act around my family.

Although I may not be to where I want to be quite yet……I know that I will continue making small changes that make me a better woman and overall human because I AM WORTH IT!

So now it’s your turn to know you are truly worth it!

Begin by asking yourself these powerful questions and start scheduling time for you in your calendar:

Q1: What is one small step I can take this week that I know I could do successfully towards taking care of me?

Q2: What am I REALLY commited to doing? (not something you "think" you want to do)

Q3: When do I plan to do this by? (Schedule it)

Q4: What would success look like? (Going out to dinner and feeling confident)

Q5:What would it feel like if my needs were met? (Would you be happier, in a better mood, a more patient mommy?)

Sending you all the love & strength you need to realize YOU ARE WORTH IT!

Gratitude, Nancy

How to never leave yourself behind!

Dodinsky's words were just words until something BIG happened to me.

As a mother,health & lifestyle coach, I was often the last one to take care of myself. 

I needed to help my family and others,find their way to joy and health. 

That's what I do. There is no time for me. 

Besides I would tend to my needs eventually.

Looking back now I saw that even though I "knew better" I often left myself behind to serve others and usually kept the left-overs for myself.

It started about a year ago....intense head, neck and shoulder pain that lasted for 3-4 horrific days. Not to mention the very bad  attitude to go with it! 

Those days were just about surviving the pain and asking myself "how can I just through it.

There was no joy, no happiness and no patience. 

My body felt drained of all it's goodness.

I was miserable and I bled bad energy & unhappiness.

I know because during those days, my 5 year old mirrored my emotions. It was ugly!

So I would nurse myself back to health, taking care of my needs for just those 3-4 days.

Once I felt good again, it was back to trying to be superwoman.

This quotes comes to mind:

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Albert Einstein

In my own mind I thought I had tried everything I could to try and figure out what my body was trying to say. Funny enough I kept trying those same things over and over and the results were the same. I felt insane!

I tried taking certain out foods, adding more veggies, not doing weights at the gym, going to a yoga class here and there  but nothing worked ( or so I told myself).

So I put it off (AGAIN) and told myself I would take care of it later.

Later never came!

Until a year later when my body started screaming at me! 

The pain now started happening every two weeks!

Enough was Enough!

Something had to change!

I had to change!

So I did some research and....I found out that my body was on fire (on the inside anyway).

All signs pointed to chronic inflammation.

So I changed my diet, I began my day with drinking a big glass of warm water to hydrate, followed by a veggie smoothie (then my coffee) and I started taking some minerals I felt my body needed.

I started gently moving my body 3-5 times a week.

I started calling up my friends and setting up time to meet for tea or just take a walk. 

I started making time for more relaxing showers.

And hardest of all: I realized that not everyday had to be packed with a zillion things to do. That my agenda didn't need every minute filled with places to rush off to and a dozen people to meet.

I realized that my husband had given me the gift of being able to stay home to be with our daughter, and that it was okay to give myself permission to spend time on things that I enjoyed and wanted to do.

It's been a month and so far the pain has not returned. Yay!

Changing things has made me a more patient mom, a not so stressed wife, a more listening friend and a Happier more joyful, gratitude filled woman!

Mama, Now it's your turn to feel a little JOY in your life!

It's starts with a small change and a little DIY challenge.

__________ A CHALLENGE FOR THE SUPER MAMA______

Below are some questions that will help you begin to find that so needed joy in your life:

A. List 1 activity you would like to start doing in your life, but are not currently practicing:  (Make it something you really enjoy doing for YOU)

I want to start practicing ________________________________

B. Identify 2-3 challenges keeping you from practicing this activity.

 I am not practicing ____________________ because_______________and ______________________ and blank.

C. List 3 solutions to the challenges you listed?

I could:

1.

2.

3. 

D. Now complete the sentences below.

Today, I commit to__________________________________

I want to do this because____________________________

I will accomplish this by______________________________

You can do it!

Until next time!

Joy & Gratitude to you, my beautiful superwoman!

X, Nancy

ps- I want to hear all about your change. E-mail me here.

Self-forgiveness on the elliptical!

Have you ever known you weren’t meant to be average, but never had that AHA moment

Mine finally came at 40!

I was on the elliptical trying to figure out who it was that I wanted to inspire as a health and lifestyle coach.  For some reason great ideas came to me when I was moving.

I so badly wanted to find my niche, my tribe, the people I was meant to help change, but what and who was it?

Suddenly this one thought filled my mind entirely.

A thought that hit me like a brick that came out of nowhere 

(or maybe it was the perfect timing).

This thought wasn’t about my niche or my tribe but about me, and my past!

It was right then and there that the realization of me never before  forgiving myself for being Bulimic and depressed for so many years, consumed my head!

I realized that the shame and guilt of what I had done was still with me and unknowingly affected me every day. 

It now made sense why I felt stuck in so many ways.

But why now? Why had it taken this long?

You can imagine what happened next:  I broke down into tears (still on the elliptical) and cried until I could cry no more.

After my heart had its say,  I went outside for a breath of fresh air.

I sat down and thanked my body for so many years of protecting the pain I had held onto since my mother’s death at 16, my divorce at 23 and the dread of turning 36 (my mom’s age when she passed away and the age that my grandmother passed away too)

I held my body tight, and showed gratitude to it for taking me this far and truly forgave myself and the damage I had done to my body for so many years.

I held my shame, my guilt, my eating disorder and my depression in my hands like a circle of energy.

I showed it my love and thanked it for all it had done, for serving its purpose, one that I no longer needed and then I let it go and watched it disappear into the sky.

 For the first time in my life I felt free. I felt a huge weight lifted, one I didn’t know I had carried with me for so many years.

And through all of this. it was now crystal clear who my tribe would be and who I was meant to help and inspire.

It would be other women like me, who struggle day in and day out with eating disorders and emotional eating  or maybe I should say who struggle with needing to find the way to self-love and self- forgiveness.

Because when I looked back through to all of those years and really thought about it, it was never really about the food.

So next time you catch yourself going to food for comfort, ask yourself without judgements or guilt: What is it that I am really needing in this moment, and what can I do to fill the void that food can never fulfill? Maybe it's forgiveness or love!

Until next time!

My love, courage and strength to you, 

See what I am up to at: www.nancyalbright.com

It all started about a year ago...

I felt empty, not in a spiritual sense but there was something missing, something I was suppose to be doing?

 Don't get me wrong, I adore my life, I love being a stay at home mom & wife but when my sweet Husband and 4 year are away, I felt like I was meant to do something amazing.

Like every stay at home mom, I love the cleaning, cooking, laundry ect...it's theraputic in a way, and I love it when things get done, but could that truly be it for me? There had to be more, right??

.....Yes, Yes there had to be, so I searched and searched!

Most of my adult life, I have been the one who always seemed to fit out (instead of fit in). I think it might have been due to the fact that I loved living a really healthy life style, being crazy active & just loving anything and everything to do with health, wellness and fitness.

Then last Janurary it hit me ..KAPOWW! There it was, a light shined down, the stars aligned, things came together perfectly and so I am so happy to say that I began my holistic health coaching career with the Institue of Intergrative Nurtrion.

I am so excited to say, that I am on my way to further learning how insprie & help people not only love their life  & who they are, but also help them obtain the great health and balanced lifestyle they have always wanted.

Now I am 3 months into my year long journey of becomeing Certified. So far I have learned so many amazing things, and so much more than I could have ever imagined. I love everything about the school, what it teaches & how it teaches. In fact I am enjoying it so much so, that my husband has commented more than once lately "what you're studying again?"  Can't seem to get enough☺

So it's back to Studying for me, and as I go through the course I will share the wealth of knowledge that I learn with you.  I look forward to the rest of my journey & hope you join me as I aspire to inspire Health & Wellbeing in your lives.

Much Love & Smiles, Nancy