As my kids went back to school today, (which it seemed like it had MONTHS off!), I have been taking more time to reflect on 2018. This year marked a big change in my life, where I quit my 9-5 SECURE job with benefits to become a contract physical therapist as well as start other ventures and be more present in my kids’ lives. As I looked back, I do not regret that decision one bit! As I think of it right now, I do not think I could EVER go back to that work model and don’t know why I worked in that model for as long as I did. I mean I really

only had been a therapist in this model for a total of 8 years, but had been changing jobs every 2 years to find the next best thing….to feel some kind of fulfillment. The 9-5 model is just not for me. When I feel OBLIGATED or HAVE to do something, I do not want to do it that much more. I know for myself that when I am in a structured/scheduled environment, I am unmotivated and uninspired. There have been opportunities to go back to that environment with the incentive for higher pay, but to me, IT’S NOT WORTH IT!!!!

Working for myself, I have enjoyed the ability to make my own schedule. I am able to see patients, but then one day, I can meet a friend for coffee and another day, I can work out at the gym for my husband. I was even able to spend a lot of time with my kids during their winter break and just enjoy the time with them and be as active with them as much as possible. While one can always make more money, one can not get back TIME!

While I had good family time over the holidays, I know I need to re-motivate myself to get back into the flow of things. It definitely helps that the kids are back in school! I also received a nice unexpected motivational talk from my husband, which helped me put things into perspective! Thank you because I know you are reading this!

Over the holiday break, my husband and I watched motivating documentaries including Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, Forks Over Knives and Hungry for Change. They are great motivators to adopt a plant based lifestyle of eating. It all makes sense! I even did a 10 green smoothie cleanse and felt the amazing benefits including BETTER SLEEP, MENTAL CLARITY and MORE ENERGY! I have tried a lot of different “diets” and ways of eating including gluten-free, paleo, and ketogenic. I did these diets because I wanted to lose weight, which with that mindset, I am basically setting myself up to fail. But after watching these documentaries, it helped me “shift” my way of thinking.

You don’t want to ELIMINATE the “bad stuff,” just continue to “add more of the good stuff”- This was a game changer for me. With all those previous diets, I would say to myself, “you can’t have this… you can’t have that” and then I would immediately CRAVE it until I succumbed to eating it. The advice was just add more of the good foods like raw vegetables and hopefully it will crowd out the processed foods.

In the same line as #1, You don’t want to say to yourself, “ I can’t have this or that.” You want to tell yourself, “I can have this or that, but I don’t want to have this or that.” Just a different play on the words can make such a difference on my psyche so I don’t feel like I’m depriving myself and then craving it 10x more.

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT! A lot of the information in these documentaries we already know, but watching reminded me of the importance of it. Some used science to explain, but it’s common sense! It’s like comparing yourself to your car. The better you take care of your car like changing your oil, getting check-ups, car maintenance, etc., the car will run better and will last longer. Same with your body. If you eat better foods, you will feel better, will be less susceptible to illness and will live longer!

In the end though, for me, I just want to feel good and be healthy! I know I won’t be perfect with eating a plant based diet, but I will continue to make small changes and try my best. I have been getting more excited grocery shopping in the fresh vegetables section! Looking at the beautiful colors, gets me motivated to make plant based meals! At the very least, I have stopped tracking my weight on the scale because it would make me feel bad if I didn’t see the number I liked!