September - a great month for a fresh start!

I love September! Growing up it meant the start of a new school year - new clothes, school supplies, teachers and catching up with friends not seen over the summer. Today, I watched my daughter as she got ready for her first day of her last year of high school, Grade 12. She doesn't share my level of enthusiasm about new school supplies (strange, right?) but I think that she was excited about beginning something new. As she walked out the door to catch a ride with her friend, I told her to take advantage of the opportunity for a fresh start and to enjoy the possibilities that will come her way this year.

What fresh start will September bring for you? My first goal this month is to get back to regular exercise, I let it go, for the most part, over the last 2 years and I miss it! Being in school last year led to some belly fat accumulation due to elevated stress levels, and hitting the pavement and weights will be sure to help me get rid of some of it....or at least it will release some feel good endorphins so I won't care so much, haha! My second goal this month is to prepare and plan better for meals. Normally we eat pretty healthy, but July and August were tough for me. Writing case studies and prepping for my final exam in July, and then going back to work full-time right after, led to some very lazy meals with more packaged than fresh foods, and more restaurants than home-cooking! Deep down I think I was rebelling against all the knowledge I have learned during my nutrition studies (I am now a fully certified RHN Holistic Nutritionist) but now it is time to smarten up, make a fresh start and use my knowledge for good and not evil ;)

If your fresh start has you looking for ideas for hectic school morning breakfasts, lunch boxes or fast healthy dinners before kids go to activities, let me help. If your fresh start involves taking control of some health issues, I can provide you with nutritional support to help manage your symptoms. If your fresh start is learning what quinoa is and how to use it, I can help with that too :)

Here is my girl on the first day of school way back in Grade 1:

 And here she is today starting Grade 12:

So I've finished my Holistic Nutrition courses...now what?

This past year I bit the bullet and went back to school to study to become a Holistic Nutritionist. For me this was the epitome of self indulgence - it meant much less available time to focus on my family and friends and a huge hit financially with tuition, books, and lost wages. But I had to do it! Nutrition is my passion and I was in fact planning on going to school to be a Registered Dietitian right out of high school, but life happened and my direction changed so that I did not have to move away from the boy who eventually become my husband. I am happy with the path my life took and we have made a beautiful life for ourselves and our daughter. Increasingly though it became clear to me that my passion for nutrition had not died, I was reading every book I could about the subject of health and wellness, and my family were my lab rats as I tried different diets, recipes and foods. My father passed away from cancer so that led me to find any information I could about protecting ourselves from cancer. My father-in-law has cardiovascular issues, how could I change how we ate to protect our hearts? My daughter has anxiety and ADHD, what could I feed her to help with her brain health? There is so much information about food and health available but I was confused as much of it is unclear - one article says don't eat eggs - the next says eggs are good for you! My quest for knowledge led me to The Canadian School of Natural Nutrition (CSNN) and fingers crossed my exam results will come back in a few weeks indicating that I passed, that I am an RHN and able to share my knowledge with others!

So as I wait until a few weeks from now, I will enjoy the freedom of not having coursework to do and spend time keeping my lab rats fed.