Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am married to Josh and have two amazing boys, Jack (age 10) and Tyler (age 8). I am a psychologist and have a private practice where I work with adults. My specialty is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, a treatment approach that involves helping people recognize how their thoughts and feelings impact their behaviors, and teaching them skills for correcting negative patterns. I love to work with individuals, getting to know them and truly understand their struggles so that I can help them make their life better.

I have always believed that lifestyle behaviors such as diet, exercise, and sleep greatly impact one’s mood, as well as other problems like depression and anxiety. My graduate school work in the 90’s involved very intricate studies monitoring people’s lifestyle patterns and better understanding the link to mood and their overall sense of well being.

I left the research world when I began my private practice in 2005. However, I continued to observe how significant a role lifestyle behaviors played in my patients’ health and happiness. I found myself inquiring about lifestyle more and more, and emphasizing healthy habits in my treatments. Outside of work, I was reading study after study about how exercise and diet improve your physical and mental health. I was enjoying helping people one by one, but was searching for a way to help even MORE people.

Meanwhile, despite what I knew about helping others, I was struggling myself to make some of the changes I wanted to make in my own life. With two young kids, a husband, a job, and a home to maintain, I was finding it difficult to find time to exercise and eat healthy. Even though these were habits in which I so strongly believed! And boy was I paying the price. I simply felt BLAH- sluggish and without energy.

Then a friend of mine introduced me to a company called Beachbody. I had never heard of it. I initially joined the Beachbody community so I could sign up for a nutrition and workout plan to help myself lose some weight and FEEL better by gaining more energy to get through my day. I joined a private Facebook “Challenge Group” that was led by my long time friend, and now Beachbody Coach, Lisa. Through this group, I learned how to work exercise into my life nearly EVERY day, a feat I previously thought to be impossible with little kids a home. I also learned to clean up my own eating, break free from sugar, chemicals, artificial ingredients, and processed food. And I started drinking a nutrition supplement called Shakeology. Lisa had raved about how much it helped her. I figured if it worked for her, hopefully it would work for me. And what do you know, I started to FEEL amazing, had so much more energy, and was simply happier! I decided to become a Beachbody Coach and help others get on track the way Lisa had helped me.

I knew that I had found the answer I was looking for- not only for my own personal goals, but also for the career goals I had. By combining my knowledge of how to help others make behavioral changes with effective home-based workout solutions as well as nutrition supplements and meal plans, I could reach a wide range of people and truly make a difference. To me, helping others improve their physical and mental health means they can go on to live the life they want- a life without limits, while feeling fantastic. And that brings me such joy.

Fast forward two years, I LOVE my job as a Beachbody Coach! I have been running my own Facebook Challenge Groups and have been able to help others get out of a rut and learn to incorporate exercise into their life. I have helped them develop healthier eating habits. And I have taught them the tools for staying motivated. And let me add, these are busy people just like you and me! We have discovered that it IS possible, even when it seems like you can’t get one more thing packed into an already busy day. We have had fun. We have learned balance. We still go out to eat. We still have ice cream. But we do it as part of a plan and in moderation.

Along the way, I have made some amazing friendships! Some new, and some rekindled from a previous chapter of my life. I have been building my business and can’t wait to see how much it will grow in 2017 and how many people I will be able to help on their health journey.

So please come back and visit my blog to read more about how busy people with jobs, families, kids, pets, and houses can find the time to prioritize their self care. I will be sharing recipes, meal planning tips, and most importantly, strategies for staying motivated. I KNOW it is not always easy! Sometimes lifestyle changes involve waking up earlier, or making other sacrifices. It is critical to feed your motivation so you maintain the drive to do what you need to do EACH day, so you can FEEL the way you want, and live the life you desire.