Hello. Thanks for stopping by today.

I’m Nichole, a board certified Integrative Nutrition Heath Coach.

Not positive what brought you here, but I’m hoping that hearing my path to managing self-care can be helpful to you.

Before becoming a mom, I was in corporate brand marketing, armed with my MBA, without any wellness concerns. Eating right was easy. Exercise was a part of my daily routine. Self care was prolific (spa days, at home facials, leisure-filled days at the beach with friends).

When I got married at 42, I became an instant mom with two super cool step kids. Figured that after running multi-million dollar businesses for years, motherhood and ‘home keeping’ would be a cinch. Bwahahaha!

WTH is Happening to Me?

Not only had my previous balance gotten out-of-wack, but I also suffered from four miscarriages and a pregnancy within a year. (Yup, my peri-menopausal body/mind was delightful during this time.)

Thankfully, our little one was born healthy and I assumed my body would snap-back into shape postpartum.

Nope.

I started nursing. Needed to increase supply. So I dramatically increased my carb consumption.

Thankfully, I was able to nurse our baby for two years. Yet, in parallel, my peri-menopausal hormones surged and my health (& sanity) started to spiral.

My health report card became stacked with a litany of junk and I decided to dig myself out.

After several months of research and self-healing, I decided to get certified as a health coach to extend my wellness eduacation even further. (At the same time, I was consulting in the food product space and felt the education would be helpful there, too.)

My Wellness Awakening

Getting my coaching certification was extremely rewarding. Yet, it also reinforced that your wellness is more than just what you know. It’s also about taking the time to implement a plan.

As a working mom, my own self-care and wellness plans had gone in the tank. Instead, I prioritized ‘Life’ (family, home, pets, etc) and work, but never myself.

This was most evident after we lost our home in a wildfire.

Any sense of calm or comfort we’d built was scorched and stress levels were constant. Any sense of “yippee, I’m doing self care” disappeared. My world was spinning.

Managing Self-Care: Finding Light in the Dark

Coming out of the fire, everything seemed to be a priority. We needed a home. Work was shifting. Our kids needed school stability. There was truly no end in sight.

Initially, I just let myself spin. I was strong for the family, but then cried in private. Things were moving so fast, yet so slowly. All prior plans had evaporated.

Funny thing is there are just two simple things that helped me get back on steady ground:

Compartmentalization & Prioritization: I finally grabbed a notebook and divided it into three parts. Me. Life. Work. Then, I started scribbling down what needed to get done for each, followed by prioritizing each section. This action allowed me to clear my head and focus on what needed to get done each day.

Setting Aside ‘Me Time’: It may sound crazy, but I started doing mini 15 minute ‘me time’ sessions each day. Just 15 minutes. Away from everything. I’d watercolor, go for a walk, meditate or even stare at the wall. You wouldn’t believe how much this practice helped me!

To this day, I leverage those two activities daily. Sure, I may fall off the horse and stop taking care of myself now-and-then. Yet, I thankfully have a system that I can always rely on to get myself going again.

 If you want to learn more about my programming, head over the my homepage. It includes links to courses, blog posts and recipes. Cheers!