Red flags

I want to chat with you a little about Candida overgrowth and stress. WAIT! Don't go... I promise this is worth the read- especially if you are overwhelmed easily, are sick often or in pain.

 It all started in the psychologist office a few years ago. It was the first meeting, and he asked me to tell him a little bit about myself. I started talking, fast, telling about my marriage, special needs child and my job. He stopped me after about 10 minutes and said, 'You have a lot of anxiety don't you?
 I listened to this and thought "No". So I said, " Why would you say that?" He continued to ask me what my definition of an anxious person was? So I responded with," An anxious person is a person who is afraid of new things, doing anything, looks like a chicken with it's head cut off, gasping for air, and looking stressed. He said, " That is what I see and hear when I listen to you."
 WOW ~ talk about a show stopper.

I didn't know what to say...I didn't see myself like that at all- I thought I was level headed, intuitive, low stress WOMEN who liked to smell the flowers...

Turns out that is who I WAS in the past. 

The women he saw now was not the same women.

Soon after this meeting, I enrolled in The Institute for Integrative Nutrition AFTER  my first experience meeting a health coach and doing an elimination diet... and I learned very quickly that emotional triggers cause chemical reactions in your body which can weaken your immune system. I had to learn ways to cope and to not be so anxious. I had been diagnosed with lupus and autoimmune disease just 8 years earlier.

I had urinary track infections often, had migraines, depression and mood swings.

I was also experiencing strep throat every year, sometimes twice a  year along with many colds. 

I was on birth control and even a SSRI for depression.

After Nutrition school I looked at all my RED FLAGS and said... something has to change I have to eat differently, handle my anxiety and stress differently or I am going to be unhappy, overweight and depressed for a long time.

I had to really dig deep and think about my behaviors, my patterns of thinking, and my true feelings.

What I realized was that high-stress situations at my home were triggering sugar eating and that was feeding my candida. It was NOT a yeast infection, but yeast in my body, making me tired, sluggish and thus I started drinking coffee for energy. ( I had my first cup of coffee at age 40.)

So why do I call this post RED flags?

I spent almost two decades of my life, full of anxiety- fear and after IIN ( Institute for Integrative Nutrition)

 I did little changes:

I wrote in a gratitude journal

I began meditating more.

I addressed my binge eating (eating disorder) and saw a trained psychotherapist.

I began to do more self-love rituals- naps, diffusing oils, baths with Epson salt, tongue brushing, dry brushing and reading.

This got me far- but not to the finish line.

Until I decided to write a book- A book about my marriage. I put away the fear of what my family and friends would think if they read the book- and I just wrote. I wrote to serve others in my situation, I wrote to help heal my fear, anxiety, depression. I wrote even though it was vulnerable. I wrote to cherish myself and my story.

( while writing from October 2014-March 2015, I worked long hours at the computer, didn't exercise and used coffee, creamer and sugar desserts to give me more energy to write) Making me more tired, and more lethargic~

BUT

I finished the book, I published it.

It's on Amazon.

While doing so I met some amazing other authors, many of which I will be show casing in future blog posts, as they all tell an amazing story of one kind of struggle or another.

BUT I came across my favorite book of all my fellow authors.

This women. This book.

Melanie Banayat

She let me read HER story.

Her book is called Stretch YOUR Brave Hack Your Story

It is a book to break through chronic disease with storytelling.

To tap into your courage and uncover root causes of health conditions.

Full of beautiful art work by Melanie and stories.

Which brings me to this post~

and Red Flags.

My mother has taught me to look for red flags in my life, but often I ignore her. I ignored her with my marriage. But when I read Melanie's book...I saw the words Red Flag Concerns under the chapter entitled I Got this! I don't got this.

There is a story about a women Melanie calls 

Stringent Sue and guess what...this women she writes about sounds a lot like me.

She suffers from Stress, anxiety, candida overgrowth.

Her red flag concerns are:

Stress can influence the bacteria living inside of us.  (Candida)

It can bother the digestive system and immune system.

AND she wrote...

"Candida bacterial overgrowth triggers intense sugar cravings in order to keep multiplying, which can keep the cycle of insanity going for women suffering with eating disorders."

So guess what in her book she had questions to ask myself and Actions to take and Stretching of my mind and limiting beliefs that had to be done. 

I finally had the last piece of the puzzle.

Just by looking at the Red Flag, healing my candida and having Melanie's book "fall" into my lap.

Why didn't my doctor believe me, about candida or my symptoms? It doesn't matter what matters to me is that I was able to begin the shifts it took to change and feel better.

If you order Melanie's book this week, you will receive access to all of these great bonuses including my book in pdf form.

After you purchase  Melanie Banayat's book on Amazon THIS WEEK May 10- 15 2015 just email Melanie at 

Melanie@miligirl.com a copy of your receipt.

and she will email you the link to access all the bonuses.

I am happy to report I am candida free.... and red flag are not flying.

When you purchase my book Stretch Your Brave, Hack Your Story between May 10 thru May 17, 2015 on Amazon.com, simply email me a copy of your receipt and I will email you the link to access all of these wonderfulBONUSES. That's it!  Be sure to mark you calendar and set a reminder, so you don't miss out. - See more at: http://www.miligirlwellness.com/stretch-your-brave#sthash.dQ4VJLKH.dpuf

I am about to give birth

So here I am about to give birth to my first published book.

Sitting looking out the window- at the stars.
Looking for the North Star to guide me.I need some guidance because...

 I have a confession to make,  Writing a book: It was a huge labor of love and a big learning curve. There were emotional ups and downs. I stopped writing and was going to give up 4 times.

 My topic is not about Health and Wellness per say. It's about getting your health back after a stressful living situation. Writing a book when you have a learning disability in writing and anxiety- is double tough.

 The sense of panic I have had about the topic, graphic design, what reviewers would write and so many fears appeared. My self doubt crept in a number of times telling me," Ha, your writing a book ," No one will want to read it." "What do you have to say that hasn't been said?"

 I am trying hard to let go of fear, I even talk about it in my book- but some how it still appears. After I take my own advice, and breathe, meditate and or take a walk I see the fear was not real at all. 

So here I sit with a book about to go on Amazon and I am not jumping for joy. My fears, anxiety and Mess life don't meld with my offerings- I want my clients to live a happy life with little worry but sometimes I can't follow my own advice.

The topic of my book Verbal Abuse is hard. It's hard for me to stare at it in the face and know that for much of this process of writing, I felt robbed. I didn't get to be the wife, lover and partner I thought I would be. My husband's verbal abuse changed that- His constant de-validating who I was, who my step-son really was and his inability to love us for who we are, not who he wants us to be- made us feel robbed. It's hard to promote because it's not a book for everyone. 

I didn't feel cherished and now it's time to step up to the plate and partake in some self-love skills that involve me cherishing myself, and yes, even my anxiety and fear. It's all part of me. I feel like I am a passionate person, I have passions that enable me to feel deeply. That is a good thing.

 My anxiety defined me for most of my young adult life into my adult life, but now that I have tackled the big job of writing a book, getting it published, designing it and marketing it- I feel like my anxiety affects they way I live my life but I am learning how to live with it.

90% of writers fail at finishing their books, So with 130 million books in print I should be happy mine will be one of those. I am happy. I know that I will have many trials and sorrows, but I can overcome them- tame them- Relish in them.

I am sitting here feeling alone. Tears streaming down my face. Why? I tell my clients to think positive. To look at what is NEW and GOOD not the obstacles. Then why is it hard to take my own advice and look at the good.

 Look at why I wrote the book, and the healing that happened while doing it. I wrote the book as a service to other women who were feeling alone in their married life because of social isolation or verbal abuse.
 I wrote the book to make people aware. I stepped out of my comfort zone and stood far away from the zone and got deep and dirty into my hurt, pain and chaos. I did all this in the name of growth.
Then for goodness sake why do I feel so unloved today. The truth is I expected writing this book would fill my void. It would fill me with pride, and I wouldn't feel unloved anymore. I would ooze with the feeling that I wrote a book and I would no longer feel invisible. Well, that didn't work.I know self-esteem and self-love come in to play here and I know that some of my cracks have been filled by writing this book, but not all of them. I am a work in progress. Don't most of us just want to feel loved, appreciated and most of us go through life as wives, mothers, lovers feeling unloved?

The words by George Bernard Shaw " Life isn't about finding yourself it's about creating yourself." ring in my head. I keep creating a new me- a me that is less anxious, a me that loves her messy life for better or worse, a me that is growing and evolving a me that can feel the pain and admit it. So I a creating a new me, with the birth of this book.

I have admitted that I feel alone today- and  when I am about to give birth to my debut book and some of my feeling alone is  because no one called me when my book went to publish only my Mother. 

My mother who wasn't always emotionally available for me as a child and a teen. She was there on the other end of the phone to show me true support for completing a goal, to the end and being vulnerable enough to share my story, no matter how messy it is.

  I know the world is changing and Social Media and texting is the way we communicate now. I am trying to embrace that. I am grateful for the support I received on Facebook and in texts. I received dozens of well wishing from my siblings, and family, old coworkers, other health coaches and other authors. I know their wishes were genuine and I really sincerely appreciate the time they took to tell me. Some how I think I just needed a call, a voice, a hug.

IF you know me well, you know hugging doesn't come easy for me. I have never been a demonstrative person. 
My father was great at hugs and kisses. He wanted you to greet him upon entering his home with a hug and kiss and upon leaving. It was a great legacy to leave, except that when it was time to do this when he was alive. It was so difficult for me. Why you might ask? I am not entirely sure why? I loved and still love my father more than anything but the fact to have to look him in the eyes and hug him was difficult. I wish now I could do it all again, without trepidation, but its' too late for me to do with him. ( he passed) So I try hard to show up- and do it with my son. It's still sometimes a struggle, but I try to remind myself how good it feels. 

So if you see me on the street, in the grocery store or somewhere - I bet I need a hug. YOU can congratulate me on my book with a hug. 

So as I am about to hit publish for this post and publish to amazon 
I want to remind you that YOU are stronger than the things that make you feel weak. 

And even though my story and life  make me feel weak sometime... I am getting stronger every day.









IF you would like to know more about my book you can go to www.nopermissionneeded.me
If you would like to pre-order a copy before it goes to Amazon you can do it  here www.nopermissionneeded.me

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

E is for Easy...

Do you ever wonder, what other Health and Clarity coaches need to run their business? 

I AM ABOUT TO SHARE WITH YOU... WHAT YOU WOULD NEED IF YOU WERE JUST STARTING OUT AS A HEALTH AND WELLNESS COACH~

1.)  www.godaddy.com or www.greengeeks.com
Everyone needs a good domain name
I used the IIN website for a year or so. I wanted to put money into other things first.

2.) www.timetrade.com or www.acuityscheduling.com
I did it on my own for a year, and then I found it so much easier to pay a service or get a few months free of scheduling with clients. I set up my availability and they schedule. The calendar also travels to my smart phone no matter where I am.


3.) www.constantcontact.com or www.mailchimp.com or www.madmimi.com
Both of these are helpful, I used constant contact for all my newsletters, events, and mailings. I just moved over to mailchimp as it can do more of what I need it to do like opt in's on my webpage and more.

4.) A virtual assistant~ at some point you have to get a small team together. start thinking about what you don't love to do.. and think about having someone help you with that. I am not great at all the technical parts of building a website- so I use a VA.
www.taskrabbit.com or you can use www.Zirtual.com
Virtual assistants can range between $20 dollars an hour to $45 depending on what you want them to help you with.

5.) www.fiverr.com
I used Fiver to design my first logo after my IIN logo. I than used it for some promotion pages, covers for my ebooks and more. I have always been happy with the price and the turn around time. I had my first logo done for $10 dollars.

6.) www.picmonkey.com and www.canva.com
I use all the time for my social media marketing and for Fun facts of the day, YOU use it to place images on text. I use it a lot when I take a picture of a food, smoothie or exercise and put words or the recipe on top of the image, I can add a border and more. I use both of them and they are Free for normal things and upgrades get you more fonts, etc.

7. www.dropbox.com
I use this for all my documents, health forms, photos, waivers for clients to sign, video.
You can share all the documents with friends, clients and more. They can go to computer, phone or tablet. It is safe and secure, and sharing is easy.

8. www.weebly.com or www.wix.com or www.squarespace.com  ( website builder)
When your done with you IIN site you might want to use one of the above sites... or wordpress. I use weebly right now, but I  used wix before. I plan on moving to wordpress in 2015.

9.www.wepay.com, www.braintreepayments.com,
www.stripe.com  ways to sell your products and get paid.

10.www.quickbooks.com 
If you have an accountant or bookkeeper this is still a great website.


Bonus:
Social Media Managment
helps manage vimeo, twiter, facebook, google plus and more.
www.hootsuite.com and www.meetedgar.com


I hope this list helps empower you to get started thinking about some of the things you may need to start your coaching practice, and some of the expenses you may have monthly.

letter D for Doubt

I want to tell you a story:

A story about me and my business.

This is a story about a client and I.

A story that I thought would leave me derailed, feeling worthless and devalued- 

I had graduated from IIN ( the largest nutrition school) when I started doing many  more consultations ( health histories) and I was starting to get a nice client base, and building my email list. 
I met a women who was a Pilate's trainer, she came to one of my lectures. After the lecture she asked for my business card. For a number of months she followed me on my facebook fan page and commented and wrote me often.

Finally, the day came when she met me for a consultation. ( on a side note- "While I was at IIN I was Vegan and lost 35 lbs, While I was working on my business, I wanted to save money and so I did not hire a team I began doing everything myself. I spend more and more time in front of the computer, learning SEO , marketing, website codes and more. I let my food and my exercise slide")

Have you ever seen a coach of a football team, a basketball team or something physical and they don't look very fit? Well, I was that coach. I was not a fitness trainer or a fitness coach. I was just a coach. 

We sat down and had a great chat, I did the health history and she was really digging deep giving me good answers. I felt a connection.

NOW, it came to the part where I have to "close the deal" I had done it many times before so I wasn't nervous. If she chose not to work with me, it wasn't going to be a personal knock to my self-esteem, I had done a lot of personal growth over the year, and I know if she chose not to work with me~ I would be fine- I would get right back on that surf board and keep riding the wave.

She leaned over and said," LisaRenee I think you have this passionate charisma that I love, and I know you know a lot about health and clean eating, but I don't think I can work with you as a client, as your body type, the size you are -isn't fit in my eyes- and I wouldn't be able to be inspired by you. "

You could hear a pin drop.

Did I cry? NO- Did I want to cry? honestly no NOT THIS TIME... she did not rock me to my core with these comments. They were hard to hear as I was 190 at the time- but they motivated me to get back to taking care of me.

Why wasn't I angry or sad by this shocking comment?

Because she was HONEST
RAW 
and it showed me she wasn't my ideal client.

We wouldn't have been a good match.

She might have wasted my time, at each session by not really connecting with me, and not doing her action steps or meeting her goals.

IF she hadn't been honest with herself and her feelings, she may have signed up with me, and then if she didn't get the results, she would spread negative feedback- 

So don't let doubt get in your way- If a client sits with you in a consultation and says, no thank you. 

Don't doubt what you worked so hard to do.
Don't give up your dreams and go grab the want ads.
Don't  doubt your self-worth.
Don't let doubt paralyze you.

They were NOT your ideal client or they would have opened up their wallet~ and paid you.

Take some time to write down today- 
what is your ideal client?
Where do they hang out?
What do they do for fun?
What movies do they like?
What blogs or websites or magazines do they read?

TOP TEN

As a wellness coach and clarity coach, people often ask me what I recommend... to help with balance, stress and to make my days easier.

This is my TOP ten things I can't live without right now:

1. My gluten free- paraben free lipstick
www.redapplelipstick.com

2.Meal planning  

I can't go without menu planning ever... even if we decide not to eat at home one night, I have to cook on Sunday's and prep meals for the week. I use www.plantoeat.com 

It is a terrific service, there are lots out there but this is one of my favorites. I have also done freezer parties with WildTree, and having 10 finished meals waiting in my freezer is very appealing to me.

Another fun website for meal planning is Once a month meals www.onceamonthmeals.com

3. Email decluttering- cleaning- what I mean by this is a way to unsubscribe to things I might have been interested in a few months, or a year ago, but I am NOT interested now, and they are cluttering my email. So I use unroll me. (www.unrollme.com) it is so fast and easy and it rolls them up into one awesome daily email so I can read them there, or save them in a folder to read later. BEST thing I have ever done to feel like I de cluttered my computer.

4. Magnesium Salve

I have never had trouble sleeping, but I have trouble having restful sleep or not waking a lot. So a fellow friend who is a Health Coach makes Magnesium salve and she sent me some samples, it worked I had a well rested sleep and felt like I didn't wake up as much or at all. Her name is Beth Anne Kelleher and she has an Etsy store called Healthy balance Beth.

5.  a book -
You know I can't live without a current book I am following or reading and right now it is The Joy Diet.
By Martha Beck.

She also has a free download of worksheets to follow on her web page.

6. DoTERRA oils

In my quest to heal my gut, I stopped using OTC medicine. So I began to purchase oils. I use Oregano oil for sore throats. I use peppermint oil for headaches. I use oils for stomachaches, bug bites, ear infections and more.

My son has ADHD and I was diagnosed with adult ADHD a number of years ago. I have started using Frankincense with him, and I have seen a difference in how he acts. If you want to order something or just look around you can go to http://mydoterra.com/fountainofhealthhealingoils

7. Coconut oil-
I use it to cook with, to make my bullet proof coffee and to take off my makeup.
Nutiva is my favorite, but sometimes I buy other kinds.

8. Happy Herbivore-
 Meal planning I pay for from time to time.
www.happyherbivore.com

9. Kris Carr's newsletters and smoothie recipes
www.kriscarr.com

and drum roll please... the number 10 thing I can not live without.... right now....

10. The Farmers Market
I love going and finding new things I have never tried, herbs, lettuce and anything new.

C is for Cookbooks

C is for Cookbook

I am a huge fan of cookbooks... and I have a large collection. The collection I had when I was not a health and clarity coach, are different than the ones I love now... Here are a few I found this weekend in Hyde Park, NY in a store called Hammertown

Plenty is beautiful and it has been on my wish list for a few months.

This one my grandmother purchased me... so I own this one.

Now here are my favorites that I own:

I have tons more favorites... but I hope you enjoyed the list, and maybe you will check out a few.

THE beginning

So Let's start at the beginning

I was a Pre-K teacher for 14 years.

I started down a wellness path( to heal my auto-immune disease)

 to 

a school...

IIN

The Institute of Integrative Nutrition

I completed the school, graduated...and.... I spend 2 years working with clients. Busy moms who wanted to stress less and live more.

I enjoyed helping moms find a balance. I facilitated and helped women with Fibromyalgia, lupus and other auto- immune diseases, change their diets.

I loved guiding clients in seasonal detoxes to find out hidden food sensitivities, and food intolerance.

But I have been working with health coaches and women entrepreneurs, and have really enjoyed it.

I have found the tools that help

me get clear on my target market, get crystal clear on what I do and what I offer.

So I find myself at the Beginning again.

As I transition from working with busy working moms to working with entrepreneurs.

It's been exciting.

We have a connection.

I understand their struggle.

I help them identify action steps

I provide accountability to create change.

So if your also at a place of new 

Beginnings

and want to have a complimentary session with me, email me at

helpatfountainofhealthcoach@gmail.com