I have a major confession…you might be shocked!

Since one of my personal core values is authenticity, I’m coming to you with this message today in that spirit.

I wanted to share with you a confession that only people who have known me for a long time are aware of.

It was only about 12 years ago that I really ate a vegetable for the first time.  I’m 34 if you want to do the math.

My mom loved me.  A little too much.  So much, in fact, that she NEVER, EVER made me eat things I didn’t want to eat.  So until my early 20s I lived off of foods that were a shade of brown – chicken, pasta, french fries, pizza, sandwiches, and cereal…that’s kind of it for “whole foods.”  The rest was mostly sweets like cookies and candy or other snacks like chips.  The yogurt I ate every day with lunch was probably the healthiest part of my day growing up.​  (Also, am I the only kid who grew up in the 80s & 90s who doesn’t recall drinking water?  Seriously…it was sugary drinks or milk.  I don’t have any memory of drinking a bottle of water!)

My old friends remember me eating a bowl of cereal when they came over for dinner while they’d eat steak, vegetables, and potatoes.  My mom is also a trained chef & Culinary Institute of America (CIA) graduate.  I was just not that interested in food as a kid, so if I turned my nose up at something my mom would work until she found something I’d eat.  Though I know why she did it, I wish she’d have forced me to do otherwise!

This carried on into my early 20s while working in restaurants.  I stuck mostly with the same types of foods.  And I’ve never been one to consume a lot of food over the course of a day, so if I’d eaten a larger lunch, I’d order a dessert at work and call it dinner.  So needless to say, it’s a good thing I’ve always been really active and kept my food intake relatively small or there would have been problems!

So why am I sharing this with you today?  Honestly, it’s kind of embarrassing for me as a nutrition and fitness professional to disclose.  BUT I’m sharing it to show:

#1 – that fit pros aren’t all perfect
#2 – that this isn’t a way of life that just came naturally to me and
#3 – that you can make the choice to change

It was during my time working in a really busy restaurant in downtown Asheville, NC that I was constantly seeing everyone I worked with and everyone I served eat vegetables, so I literally flipped a switch in my mind and said “I’m doing this.”

From that day forward, from around age 22, I did.  It was a gradual process – learning to like things I previously hadn’t, choosing what I knew was better for me over what I thought tasted better.  The first time I tried kale I couldn’t fathom why anyone would try it more than once, but I kept trying and it grew on me…and now it’s actually one of my favorite foods that I would choose over most other foods any day.

So, if there’s some part of your lifestyle that you struggle with – your fitness, nutrition, energy, mindset – whatever it is – BELIEVE that you can change it.  KNOW that it doesn’t come naturally to those who practice the habits you want to adopt. UNDERSTAND that you can, at any time, choose to change.

You have full ownership of your life – how will you live it?

If you are ready to take ownership of your fitness & nutrition once and for all, be sure to sign up for my FREE 5 Day Reset! You’ll learn everything you need to know about how to eat healthfully in a sustainable way and how to exercise in a way that produces results!  Click here to read more and sign up – it’s FREE!

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