The older I get, the faster time flies.
What a year it’s been!
Last year, at the turn of midnight into 2015, I made it my goal to go “full time” with Thrive Wellness & Recovery: my nutrition, therapy and fitness practice.
I wrote in my journal: “One Year Goal: Be ALL in with Thrive.”
At the time, I was juggling about 6-9 little side gigs at any one time as I was kicking up my business as a solo-entrepreneur and feeling like a Stretch Armstrong Doll (to say the least)—pulled in a million different dirctions:
- Personal training
- Pediatric occupational therapy (part-time)
- Home health occupational therapy (part-time)
- Hospital rehab occupational therapy (PRN)
- Coaching group fitness and CrossFit
- Lululemon seasonal
- Freelance writing for various magazines and online publications
- Blog-content creation for several companies
- Nannying here and there
“When do you sleep Lauryn?!” my friends would often ask.
The short answer: Not much.
Fast forward to December 31, 2015, and I am speechless and overjoyed with where the Lord has brought me—and Thrive—today.
(I’m full time!).
How did it happen?
By default…and prayer.
I had the opportunity to come on staff to a fitness company this past year as their full-time ghost writer—writing and maintaining their daily blog on all things fitness, coaching and training.
It was a wonderful job to be able to financially support myself with the perks of working with an amazing, like-minded team (go-getters), but unfortunately it took A LOT of my time and mental brain energy.
75% of my time was spent thinking, planning, writing, creating, and dreaming up content for another person’s dream—not my own; leaving me with the short end f the stick at the end of the day to devote to Thrive (i.e. not much).
Long story short, after about 6-7 months into the gig, my boss called me up and said after much thought and planning for the year to come, they were going in a different direction with their marketing budget—less content on the blog, and more focus on developing their internal programs.
Bottom line? I was fired—not needed.
This happening left me at a crossroads, with one of two ways to go:
- Get down. Distraught. And hit the streets—looking for a new job to fill the void and make up for half my income.
- Or, see the ‘let go’ as an OPPORTUNITY—the opportunity (or kick in the pants) to full-on pursue what I had intended to do all along (Thrive).
I chose the latter, and without so much as batting an eye—dove in head first!
The outcome?
Do what you love, love what you do…and when you are truly in sync with what it is you were made to do, the money and business will follow.
Thrive is my mission to empower others to thrive in their lives after 14-years spent NOT THRIVING—stuck in my eating disorder.
This is accomplished through my three-pronged approach to addressing each client’s MIND, BODY AND SOUL through nutrition therapy, lifestyle redesign and counseling, and fitness training.
Whether your goals are to lose weight, conquer cravings, balance your hormones, get your period back, build strength and fitness, improve your digestion, find freedom from your eating disorder, explore your passions and purpose—in life and career, and more, it is my daily calling to meet people right where they are at, and help them get to where they want to be.
In addition, Thrive is a place where people can find useful information, advice, insights and inspiration for thriving in their own health, breaking up with the diet mentality, and recovering from eating disorders—all through a holistic perspective.
Three to five times per week, I bring you the latest in health wisdom (and unconventional wisdom), address the buzzwords and wellness trends of the day, and educate you on the basics of your body, health, nutrition, fitness, and recovery on the blog.
As I reflect upon the past year, here are some of the top body, nutrition, fitness and health lessons learned on the blog in 2015:
In the realm of body image and self-acceptance, we discussed getting the body you want without going crazy .
To combat the diet mentality, we learned how to STOP COUNTING CALORIES in The Calorie Myth is Dead, break up with the scale and explored 20 signs that revealed you have a horrible relationship with food.
In addition, we learned the “Why’s” behind WHY FAT IS GOOD FOR YOU, dissected the truth about carbs (good or bad?), ketogenic diets and gluten-free diets, challenged conventional wisdom on cholesterol (and eating butter), and we looked deeper into the topic of undereating (7 Signs You May Not Be Eating Enough), discovering what happens when you aren’t feeding your body appropriately.
On the eating disorder recovery front, I shared Nicole’s transformational story on battling ED and fighting for her life , and challenged you to explore WHY you are stuck in your rut.
For your digestive health, we drilled down everything you need to know about probiotics, did some digging into whether or not you have a leaky gut and if your poop is normal, and discussed 10 ways to improve digestion—naturally (No supplements needed!).
You learned all about the red-tide and hormones in Getting Your Period Back (& the reason you’re not having it), Dealing with Crazy PMS and the truth about birth control pills. We also touched on breaking your caffeine addiction (which directly impacts your hormones!).
On finding balance, we addressed what that stupid “80/20” rule you always hear about really means , learning how to say “NO!” (for all you ‘yes women’ out there) and also getting to the root of Adrenal Fatigue (the opposite of balance!).
For navigating the kitchen and grocery store, we talked about how to eat real food on a budget, navigating Whole Foods on the cheap (it’s possible) , simple how-tos for cooking the basics (that you’re too embarrassed to ask about), meal-prep for the week in 20-30 minutes, and other tips for getting the most (deliciousness and nutrition) out of your lean grocery bill.
As for the kids, picky kids ARE transformed through this approach and these tips for integrating healthy meals into your house (and their diets). We also reminisced about the days of eating Lunchables, Oreos and Fruit Snacks—and how these foods impacted our own health.
When it comes to your fitness, Thrive’s Guide to Fitness spelled out the basics for building a healthy body (physically and mentally) through your workouts. I shared 5 strength moves you’re NOT doing in the gym for a perky butt and poppin’ shoulders and 15 workouts you can do practically anywhere.
On pursuing your dreams, I wrote a little blurb up on How to Become a Holistic Nutritionist, How to Make a Living Doing What You Love for landing your dream job, How to Start Your Own Blog, AND how to accomplish anything in 30 days.
Phew!
So many lessons—and those aren’t even half of them!
Thanks for following me on this journey this past year as Thrive has begun to start, well…thrive.
Interested in exploring how a three-pronged approach to thriving in your own health, nutrition, fitness and recovery could work for you?
Let’s chat today—free consult on me!
