Originally I wasn’t going to include any additional information about myself, other than what I post on the blog, but it occurred to me that some people might be curious about the individual behind the words. So I asked myself, what would my readers want to know about me? Would they want to know where I grew up? My education? My professional background? My favorite color? Twenty-five random things about me?
The answers to those questions don’t really interest me, so I doubt they would you. But a couple of questions I do think are important to answer are—Why write about wellness? and Why me?
Crap, those are really good questions. On second thought, maybe I should just recite my resume and copy and paste my “25 random things about me” from my Facebook page. No, no, I can’t do it.
So, here goes…Why write about wellness? and Why me?
First, I’m a self-described Nutrition Nazi. As a wife to a pizza-burrito-spaghetti-burger-loving husband and a mother to three children, ages 14, 11 and 9, I’ve got my work cut out for me to force horrible things like broccoli, green beans, apples, and oranges into my family’s diet. They don’t naturally gravitate toward healthy choices, so I consider it my job to teach them about healthy eating. Quite simply, because I love food more than anything on this planet.
Wait, did I just say, “I love food more than anything?” I meant to say “my family.” I love MY FAMILY more than anything on this planet and I want them to live long, happy, healthy lives. (Between you and me though, I really like food too.)
Furthermore, I believe that establishing good habits early will make it easier for my children to be healthy adults. (Forgetting the college years of course. Those I expect to be a pizza-and-beer-fueled haze. I get that.)
So, who am I? I’m the kind of mom that packs their kids’ lunches every day because I completely disagree with the school system’s definition of nutritious cuisine. (Pizza, twice a week, really? And when did nachos qualify as a decent meal?)
My kids have gotten used to my nutritional lunch requirements, grabbing yogurt, fruit, a sandwich, a protein bar, etc. and throwing it in their lunch box. But they still think living in my house is cruel and unusual punishment since we rarely have chips, they’re not allowed to drink soda or juice boxes, and we have dessert only one night a week. I frequently hear the following complaint, “Mooommmm, there’s nothing good to eat.” Which translated, means, “I’m really craving a bag of Cheetos or maybe a Twinkie and we don’t have any of that.”
Do you see their dilemma? I’m horrible.
As if constantly telling them that fruit, yogurt, and cheese sticks are all fine snack options wasn’t bad enough, I also serve vegetables for dinner and make them try new things all the time. (Tonight for example, I made Asian gazpacho and baked salmon with shitake mushroom sauce. They didn’t like the gazpacho, but they loved the salmon. So dinner wasn’t a total loss.)
This is a long way of saying, I’m passionate about nutrition, and I’ve been avidly researching it for years in support of my goals for my family.
I know nutrition is important, but it’s not the whole picture in terms of wellness. Wellness includes fitness, emotional health and other topics I’m not as knowledgeable about. So when Dr. Bryan Lowry from the Advanced Wellness Centre, asked if I’d be interested in joining the In8 program to learn more about leading a healthy life and write about my experience, I jumped at the chance.
My goal with this blog is to bring you along my journey as I discover what wellness means, what the In8 program is all about, and most importantly, have some fun along the way. Because, above all else, I like to laugh. A lot. And I like to make fun of myself. You’ll discover shortly that I’m kind of weird, and I know it, so I’ve got a lot of material to pull from. By keeping things light and interjecting some humor into a boring topic, I hope to raise awareness about how to change your life for the better.
Hmm, Did I even answer my own questions? I feel like a politician. I’ll be right back, I need to take a shower.
