Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Oof

Wow, has it been a month already? So sorry for the long silence again. So many changes! My husband and I got married again for the 3rd and FINAL (hopefully) time, so now we focus on our 20-week old fetus, right? Nope; we move to a different place this weekend, AND my husband leaves for an overnight business trip on Thursday! I have been trying my best to be more proactive than reactive (read: trying hard not to panic), and so far, I've been succeeding (yay)

On the baby front, the bump is definitely getting bigger, will try to get someone to take a picture of me..soon. 20 weeks is also the official halfway mark, so yay for that! We do not know if we are having a boy or girl yet, but we're working on that! I'm thinking of having a furry child in lieu of a rescued poodle sometime, too, though other friends who are parents are warning me against it. But I love dogs, and I miss having one, so we'll see. And of course after finding out the gender, we'll need to proceed to baby registries, which ARE fun, but also a whole new layer to this baby process. I AM grateful that so many people care for us, though, evidence in friends and family eager for this next phase. Ah, commercialism, ain't it grand.

On the IIN front, we are at Module 25, though I am still quite behind with my studies, what with wedding #3 and family visiting and now us moving, on top of preggo fatigue. Last week was also the IIN conference in NYC, which I was unfortunately unable to attend, what with our renewal of vows the week before, and family staying until last Sunday. You gotta take care of all the other stuff before embarking on the next thing, so this conference had to give for me.

On the blog front and my niche, with my pregnancy came some clarity but also some uncertainty: clarity on refining my niche but uncertainty on how to implement it with school and pregnancy and limited energy. However, after a conversation with a friend, I may have an action plan. So stay tuned, this blog may get a bit of an overhaul/rebirth sometime in the future!

For now, stay happy and healthy!

Friday, August 19, 2011

Still Alive!

Sorry for the long silence; the main reason for that is....drumroll.....I'm pregnant!

Right now I'm 15 weeks going on 16 this Sunday, and let me agree with most mothers when they say that there should a be a 3-month leave for the 1st trimester. SO TRUE! This pregnancy was actually a surprise, and just when was getting fit, drinking my green smoothies, getting into my nutrition program, I got LASIK, and noticed while I was recovering that I was...more tired than usual and craved more meat. My husband wisely suggested I go to the doctor, and yep, he confirmed that I was banged up, had a bun in the oven, PREGGO.

It honestly took me a while to deal with this, that plus my family has a different birth vision than mine. Theirs is the hospital model, whereas I want a home birth and a midwife. Eventually, we have settled into a truce of sorts. They don't want to hear much about it, but my husband's parents are pretty receptive. Also, in doing my research, I realized that there's not really a bunch of nutrition information for moms, and I think this is so crucial!

In the midst of all this, I was sleeping, resting....and not doing much else(!), so I got waaaaaay behind in my studies. There was a test looming, and I was so scared I wouldn't do it: I was ready to call the school and ask to be put at a later class, but classmates told me that meant starting over! Starting over?! That put me in high study-gear, with room for not much else. The test opened up last week, and we also did last-minute plans for our wedding renewal for my husband's side of the world. Talk about busy! I crammed the last two modules as I felt that was the only way to get everything done in time for the test, reassuring my methodical brain that I will go back to them later. So I took the test....and passed! Lesson learned: don't fall behind! Limit Internet time! At my husband's suggestion, I took the rest of the day off, but not really: I did some creative wedding stuff to be productive and creative, which was nice. I was too pooped to clean up, so I did that this morning. Now, I'm refreshed to do more!

So...studies, and wedding plans, and exercise, which has been in the back burner, yikes! Time to get moving again: my body will thank me! Yes, I have a little belly now, but must tone that with exercise! So much to do and think about, but as we are taught in marketing class at IIN, one step at a time.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Name Dilemma

SOS! I have a big choice to make...

So I have set up my health coach biz name as Happy Healthy Life Now, which I hope isn't a mouthful! But I am also debating between Therese Totten or Trissa Totten as my online name presence: I actually grew up with Trissa and thought it a bit kiddie, but in institutions and paperwork, I am Therese. I will admit I thought the latter was the way to go when I was growing up, but I would find that name a but bulky and my tongue would often stumble around it, so now I'm thinking of going back to Trissa, which also comes out clearer, pronunciation-wise for me. But I am on paper Therese, yet I feel Trissa is more me. I am told the former is more professional, but most of my funky cool friends tell me to go for Trissa. Yet how to get used to Trissa? Or should I just stick with Therese? Hence my dilemma. All help and advice is appreciated.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

A Late Update for Weeks 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. With my birthday and my mom and in-laws over and wrapping up work, and this past Friday, LASIK....let's just say it's been really busy. Let's keep it short this time around so I won't tax my lasered eyes.

The last call I had with my health coach was a bit harder than usual as it was my birthday, which meant I was out and with my Mom, so it was harder to focus! We talked about my insufficient hydration, then the juicy part was when we talked about me asking for money which was related to going out there and talking to people. I am terrified of doing that. Yes, I don't think I am not qualified enough yet, which is why on top of IIN, I am doing other programs and looking into some products. And she said by doing that, I am capable, and *I AM WORTHY AND VALUABLE.* But she also said I have to realize this, because if not, I will attract people who won't think I'm worthy and that they're not worthy, either. My assignment is to ask for things, which I hate to do! As I was mulling over this, I saw this blog post from my friend Cora Poage and thought it fit perfectly. Now to do it!

Week 13 rolls in tomorrow. With work done, I will have more time, yes, but to plan for wedding #3 (to the same man, promise!), for IIN and for other programs, etc. Woohoo, we can do this! I am grateful for this extra time: now to make use of it wisely. Oh, and I am grateful for my laptop being fixed this weekend, among other things. Woohoo! Now for more efficient work! Yes, it is ok to ask for things. I am worthy. I am important. I am valuable.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Week 5, 6 and 7 (yikes!)

Oh, wow, have 3 weeks gone by already? Whoa, time sure flies. I can see where my Dad comes from for haranguing me on not to waste my time; I'm so glad that I'm studying at Integrative Nutrition to be a health coach...

So blessing of blessings, we were given a respite last week from the modules as it was Easter weekend. I had grand plans of getting ahead, but sadly, that did not happen. However, I was still able to keep up my exercise regimen. What did happen was my husband and I going out to visit his family, which went pretty well. BUT this week wasn't so good. I started out sick and out of sorts, on top of extra stress from work, which led me to being frustrated then led to a huge crying jag. But now it's better, and I'm getting back on track. I haven't been able to exercise much too due to everything going on, but I'm hoping tonight's the night! I still have a ton of stuff to do, but I am going to BREATHE, then function from a CAN-DO attitude. And when I exercise, my energy's up and everything just looks and feels better, so gotta gotta gotta!

In other news, I believe that as holistic as we are, that we can also have the products we use work for us. Thus I've been meeting great people who share the same mindset, and adding a lot of products to my "bag of tricks."
So far, I have Zrii, Usana (assoc. 5528296), Natural Zing, Mila, Sacred Chocolate and Gnosis Chocolate, E3 Live, Natural News, Her Future and Raw Food World. I recently signed on for doTerra and Simply Divine Botanicals, as well. As my husband puts it, I get into things full force (like 150%), then pick and choose later. True enough. So we'll see what I'll stick with. The way I see it, there's no harm in being open to trying things out, then to find out which works for me, so I can confidently tell my (future) clients about it, and (hopefully) benefit from it, too. When I was getting overwhelmed and worried about all these, my health coach for the program said it's good to be open, versus allopathic, so I'm good with that :)

Apart from that, it's full steam ahead with health histories and various other requirements or optional stuff for IIN. I have tended my resignation at my primary workplace effective June 3rd, which is also when I plan to get LASIK (!), plus my Mom and my in-laws are coming for my birthday, which happens to be when my next health coach call will be. Oh, and did I mention that my husband and I are having our 3rd (and hopefully last-- it's a long story) wedding in September, so planning for that too--invites need to be sent out soon! So yeah, lots of stuff going on: one can only imagine how overwhelmed and pressured I felt this week. But breathe, baby, breathe. Still figuring out my target market, as well, though I am forming an idea around women with digestive and skin issues, though I may still need to narrow that down, not sure yet. The time we spent visiting my in-laws, I was able to look at holistic stuff with my husband (God bless him)-- always my interest, now for "research" purposes, and I chanced upon W3LL and Global Girlfriends. I saw them, thought of them with regards to my target market and my inner voice seemed to stir and nudge, and I got goosebumps. So hopefully I am on to something!

I haven't been this excited about stuff since...a while! There's this quote I love that got me into IIN and the idea of health coaching in the first place, and it goes, "Whatever you choose to do in your free time you should do as a job.” -Amanda Brooks, Barney’s New York Fashion Director, fromme-toyou
And now, study is like going through the tunnel toward that beacon of light. Work and play are melding, and I think that's an awesome feeling. I hope this works, and I hope I succeed in this endeavor, and that this is it for the long haul.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Week 3 and Week 4

Hi everybody!

Yikes, I was too busy last week to post, so before the month ends, let me slide with one! Incidentally, tomorrow is April Fool's, but I do not suffer fools, and this is not a prank post, promise.

Truth to tell, I had a gajillion webinars/etc to do today, some for IIN, some not. Not only am I enrolled in IIN, but I am going to try out green juicing sometime, I also signed up for Zrii care of Lorraine Miller, an IIN grad. I applied to be an affiliate at Gnosis Chocolate, I'm going to try Sunrider care of Jessica, a fellow classmate, and Shakeology from Shannon, another fellow classmate; on top of all the other IIN grads' websites/blogs I try to follow, my favorite so far being Nisha Moodley's, product maybe Arielle Fierman's. Now these are all great, but yeah, WHOA time and concentration and focus, and WHOA money! (On top of launching myself into doing these things for my betterment, my wallet's telling me to kinda give it a break, oops) I actually had to step away from the computer and regroup 'coz I was seriously stressing and getting upset. I just canceled doing the webinars tonight and I am going to take care of MYSELF, maybe even work out a little, mayhap have some Sunrider Fortune Delight, or try to finish Module 3, 'coz that's where we're at now, baby!

Don't get me wrong, all of these opportunities are blessings, but yeah, it is nice to breathe every now and then! I also think it adds to the frustration and upset that in trying to balance all these things, I forget some details, which gets me annoyed, and then it becomes a mini-mad and vicious cycle. So yeah, this is me at Week 4, still loving it, but I may take the rest of the night off for some self-care! I've submitted three health histories and done give or take 7, so I'm plodding along! I'm trying to catch up, but definitely need to do it one step at a time. Meanwhile, life goes on. As much as I'd like, I am not in a little IIN bubble, which is nice, too, I think, to see the more practical side to things, that we all have to do anyway, which is to balance our lives! So I had a dental appointment today (which may be a part of my stress and fatigue and general crappy state of mind), have a Tibetan yoga workshop this weekend to a studio I've never been to-- again, FUN, but also trepidation as I will be doing something totally new! I will meet the Houston IIN chapter on Sunday after the yoga workshop, I may see a friend tomorrow and another on Monday, which might mean less study time and less exercise time, and exercise is my de-stressor. So life goes on; just gotta roll with the punches. And if we drop one ball, I guess, nay, I hope, that we can pick it back up, that there is room for error and redemption.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Week 2, checking IIN

So we've done Modules 1.1 and 1.2 by now, and it's also spring break for me as I presently work in a public school. Incidentally, I'm down with a bad cough that left me voiceless for 3 days(!), but now I have my voice back, albeit hoarse; hooray :) I've been trying to catch up with webinar open sessions and fundamentals, not to mention the OEF (online education forums)...and did two Health Histories. Yes yes I did :) I was nervous, but I am hoping it's getting better. We are constantly told to trust in the process, so I am trying. I still have 1 more Health History coming up, not to mention my first session with my health coach. So whoa whoa! Not to mention we're looking at a house that's up for lease, need to file our taxes, and I am considering LASIK in the summer. So many things to do. But you know what? I feel that in the middle of it all is my continuing education at Integrative Nutrition, giving me purpose. It does help that I got some raw vegan chocolates from a promo when I enrolled ;-)

In light of the recent catastrophes that have been occurring in Japan (an earthquake, a tsunami, and three nuclear reactor meltdowns), I was listening to a teleseminar by Dr. Christiane Northrup last night, and she talked about divine love-- that there is no room for emotions as that is human, but instead, action, or "a force to do good." In that light, I guess I can also link that to my future as a health coach-- divine love: doing good.



Thursday, March 10, 2011

Week 1 of my education with IIN

So here we are in the first official week of IIN class of March 2011. I'm still in the job I do not like and am itching to get out of. I still don't have a job lined up after, not to mention that I'm sick and am not "allowed" to take sick days off because I've "taken too much time off," even if it was my wedding overseas.

I am, however, enrolled in a course that I am so enthusiastic about, throwing myself into it with such passion I haven't felt for something (barring my husband) in YEARS, like since I went to a nature camp when I was in junior year of high school (with diving, propagule-planting, bat cave-sightseeing, hiking, all in an island with no running water and solar panels!) and thought to myself, this is what I want to do. And here I am, with people I feel at home with, where I don't feel like a weirdo, where I feel I am safe. So hopefully that's a good sign. This course allows me to get through crappy days, and for that, I am grateful. We are asked what we want to do with this education, and for me, I'm kind of looking at moms and kids and/or people with hormone issues, because I had hormone problems and mild hypothyroidism and polycystic ovaries, not to mention asthma in turn affecting my allergies...yeah, LOTS. If/when this works, I want to to pair it with some form of healing exercise like yoga or something like bar method.

I still don't know where I'm going, but I'm trying with all my might.