After staying active all of my life by doing what I loved, (training horses, and teaching riding), I decided to have more children in my 40s', with my partner.  So I had two more children at age 41 and 42, gave up my horse career, and began being a full time housewife and mother.  Everyone in my household became first  on the priority list and soon I found myself second, or even last.  I started gaining weight , letting myself go, and not taking care of ME.  I finally hit bottom after much weight gain , and always feeling sick, tired, and depressed.  I felt that I had lost myself, my life, and couldn't get it back.  But I had two small children to raise and a husband.  Although being a stay at home Mom is great, I totally lost myself in the process.  I felt alone, and for some reason old.  I felt constantly being needed by my others, and as I looked around me I then noticed my environment was toxic and completely negative!  In addition, my family and relatives, being two thousand miles away, had a major negative effect as I was left with a very small support system.

Not being able to figure out how to get my mind, body, and spirit back, and more so my life in general, I went looking for diet groups.  After all, how else would I be able to take care of my family and do my job as a wife and mother when I was not at my best?.   So the diet plan worked great for a while, as I lost a bunch of weight.  That made me very happy and energetic, but that was only a temporary fix as I was to find out later I was missing the other pieces to the puzzle of my happiness and empowerment.

Slowly the weight came back along with the feelings that come with it.  By dieting I had noticed I lost a bunch of muscle mass!  And then went the viscous cycle of being depressed, sick, and not feeling good about myself at all.  This just made me more vulnerable to all negativity and to negative people around me.  I felt I was slipping further away from my life!  I knew I couldn't live the rest of my life like this, after all I was always complaining (now that I look back) and that made me become a negative force around my family. My relationship with my family started taking a toll, and I had no self worth.  I was a human doing, not a human being!.  Somewhere, somehow I lost the essence of me!  And I realized that I needed to find my way back again, to live life again, to beam again.  My “light” had gone way dim and eventually out.   I started asking to myself what was I missing?, what was I lacking?, and how could I get my life back ?.

So I purchased exercise videos, tried to diet again, all of these to no avail.  I kept on going back to what it seemed a vicious circle. So one day I had enough and looked up to my old friend Holly.  I reached out to her for help as I knew Holly was a master of chinese medicine, and a fitness expert, plus she also was educated in numerous other fields, all pertaining to health , emotional, and spiritual wellness. So I picked up the phone and contacted Holly and she scheduled me to come into her office.  This gave us an opportunity to visit with me in order to learn more about myself and what was going on ( or what wasn't) with me.

Holly started me working out with Traditional Chinese Medicine combined with interval visits at her office performing acupuncture, and teaching me about foods, illness, and how to prevent sickness and disease. Soon I was learning about my body and mind, how they functioned , and what they needed to thrive , which I also found out it varies with the individual.  Holly also taught me the importance of physical training, and how to train smart to avoid injuries.  The workouts Holly intorduced me with are unlike workouts I had with former trainers.  She pays close attention to detail, all the while giving you time to adjust when new and challenging exercises are introduced.  She pushes you enough , but knows your limits.  After 6 weeks or so, My skin started to radiate, my posture was better, my health was improving and my attitude was changing! Through some of these time I cried more than once , but she lifted me and supported me all the way.

Once I started working with her I grew physically stronger, and emotionally stronger.  My mind was clearer, my confidence was coming back, and my self worth was returning.  I was hardly getting sick and I started realizing that age was just a number and felt that my possibilities in life were endless.  I started looking at life with joy again, like when I was so much younger!  It has been almost a year now and I feel the negative influences in my life have been reduced.  I am seeing life so much clearer now, enjoying my children more, and be a much more positive influence in both their lives and my husbands'.  Speaking of my husband, he is on the bandwagon to living a much healthier and happier life and being nothing but positive.  He said to me the other day -"I so want to live my life to the fullest and be happy!".   So you see this is all contagious!!