Focusing inwards

Believe it or not, self-care is a constant struggle for Health Coaches but is something that is tremendously important. How can you help others if you're out of balance yourself? What lessons can you share from personal experience to inspire and motivate the people around you if you haven't overcome your own struggles?

It is great that you've taken the bold step to try Dr. Amy Myers' protocol. It will help you further tune in to your body, listen to your thyroid, experiment more with cooking, and explore how you respond to dietary discipline. 

One thing I forgot to ask, did you have a blood test before embarking on this 30 day journey? In addition to simply seeing how you feel, it would be a good idea to compare your blood test results before and after this experiment to see if there is a change that affects your Hashimotos.

Don't forget self care

Great things are happening!

It's so wonderful to see you making such great progress, in both maintaining your own health and launching your business! Not only are you starting to work with clients but I can really hear your confidence growing as you go through this process. Just you watch, you're going to have to turn clients away because you're so busy!

For the next couple of weeks continue working with your practice clients and allow that process to guide your learning. Take gradual steps to make those website updates as well, and stay active on social media - not so much that it rules your life of course, but enough to stay at the forefront of people's minds that this is what you're passionate about.

Since it sounds like you're moving at a great pace and don't need additional resources at this time, I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite books in the health/wellness/inspiration realm. 

You're a fellow book-lover like myself so I thought you'd appreciate these (sorry if you've already read them!).

Inspirational/spiritual:

• The Desire Map
• E-Squared
• The Book of Awakening
• You Can Heal Your Life
• Frequency
• The 7 Spiritual Laws of Success 
• The Power of Kindness
• The Untethered Soul
• Daring Greatly

Mental health:

Almost open for business

Nicole, after meeting you I'm even more certain that you have everything it takes to make an incredible Health Coach. Honestly, you are doing everything right and it's just a matter of gaining the confidence and experience of helping others explore their own journey towards wellness, so you're definitely on the right track!

Let's start with the health component of your goals. It's great to hear that you're staying committed with avoiding gluten. As I thought back on how I said that it took me months of easing in to being gluten-free I realized that there is one big difference between me at that point and you now, which is that I didn't have a Health Coach! At the time, I was trying to navigate this on my own and didn't have a lot of support or inspiration to guide me through so it simply took longer, which is ok. But I hope that having the motivation and guidance of a wellness partner, as well as the friends you've made in the IIN community and your own wonderfully accepting friends and family are all making it much more manageable. So let's keep it up and kick gluten to the curb.

Here are some of the foods where it could be unexpectedly hiding, so be extra careful with these foods:

• Soy sauce (unless it is gluten-free, but either way it's soy so I would avoid it entirely - coconut aminos are a good substitute though)
• Worcestershire sauce - often used in cooking beef, stews, steak, and other meat dishes
• Other sauces and marinades - definitely be careful in restaurants and ask!
• Seitan - considered a vegan/vegetarian protein, this is literally pure gluten
• Processed meat - things like sausage, hot dogs, salami, deli meats use gluten as fillers
• Hydrolyzed plant protein or textured vegan protein - this doesn't even sound like real food but just in case you encounter such things, avoid them
• Creamy soups - these often contain flour to make them so creamy
• Things that are "wheat-free" - this does not mean the same as gluten-free
• Vitamins - sometimes, as always just read the labels carefully

Here are some of the other food-related things we talked about:

Fresh start for a new year

Hi Nicole, it is so great to see you progressing with avoiding gluten and getting your blog started. I think 2015 is going to be a great year for you!

Gluten

Continue with avoiding gluten as much as possible and, if you have to, go out of your way to avoid it. Meaning if you're going out to eat with friends then check ahead to make sure the restaurant has gluten-free options. Ask the waiters if you're not sure and change your menu choice if there's any uncertainty. Also be sure to read labels when shopping and look for the words gluten-free on the label for anything that's packaged. Most of the time being gluten-free isn't too hard these days but it does take persistence and motivation to maintain it. Imagine your thyroid smiling and saying thank you when you eat a meal you're 100% certain is gluten free!

The app I mentioned that shows you gluten-free restaurants wherever you are is called Find Me Gluten Free, looks like it's only for iPhone but that's their website so you can still check it on the go or from home.

Nuts

Healthy food routines & writing tips

Hi Nicole, great speaking to you again and I'm thrilled to hear that you're taking steps to both stay on track with your health and launch your business. 

Over the next two weeks continue to avoid gluten as often as possible. Explore the eateries near your workplace that offer gluten free options, read labels carefully, and don't hesitate to state your preference when dining with others. Also, go ahead and finish setting up that new blog! The most important thing there is to get started, so don't get bogged down with the name or design at this point.

Your new recommendations until our next call on January 6th are:

1. Begin meal planning and get more proactive with making your lunches at work.
2. Drink more water.
3. Write at least 1, preferably 2, posts on your new blog and share them.

Here are the details for each:

Welcome & first steps

Hi Nicole, and welcome to your private custom blog! This is the place where all your recommendations and session notes will live.

I'm thrilled that you've decided to take the next step in your personal and professional wellness journey. Over the next few months we'll focus on the following:

1. further balancing your health so that you know which foods make you feel your best and how to prepare them.
2. making sure your Hashimoto's is appropriately managed, which will include both physical body and primary food elements.
3. helping you find a new rhythm with incorporating your healthy habits into your work schedule.
4. creating a strategy to launch your health coaching business and build up your confidence so that you can apply all your knowledge, skills, and talents towards helping others find health and happiness.

So let's get started!

Here are your recommendations for the next week until our call on December 20th at 9pm:

1. Do your best to eliminate gluten completely from your diet.

You've managed avoiding it 80% of the time and that last 20% could either be really tough or a total breeze, so let's see what happens when you apply more concentrated effort and conscientious food choices. Here's an article by Chris Kresser to explain the connection between gluten and hashimotos and why it's beneficial to avoid it completely.

Here are a few tips to help you go all the way:

-when you're having meals with others, tell them you're now gluten-free. Sometimes simply vocalizing your intention helps solidify it in your mind and stay committed to your decision, and it allows friends and family to support you and accommodate your needs.

-read ingredient labels and look for stamps that say foods are gluten-free. It'll take some time to remember to do this all the time so don't worry if you eat gluten without realizing it, just get into the habit of being more aware of what you're consuming.

-aim to eat more foods that aren't grain based at all, like vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds, legumes, organic meats, some dairy, and eggs. Or stick to grains that you know are definitely ok, such as quinoa and buckwheat.

It takes a while to transition all the way so don't worry about perfection at this point and don't deprive yourself if you're hungry and options are limited. For now, set your intention and do the best you can. We'll talk about your specific challenges on our next call and I'll help you gradually resolve them so that this transition gets easier over time.

2. Start a wellness blog. 

You said on the phone that you hadn't set up your website yet and that's totally fine. So why not take the first step now? You can use the IIN website or one of the many other blog platforms out there, I recommend Wordpress because they have many templates to choose from and this will allow for an easier transition to a more professional website down the line.

When we spoke I recommended that you focus on the 20 something client rather than the autoimmune element at this stage but after giving it some thought I don't think you even need to choose this just yet. Simply starting a blog and writing about the things that interest you the most will help reveal your true calling in a more authentic way.

Your blog doesn't have to have any bells and whistles and shouldn't take much time to set up. By next week, simply set it up and write at least one post about any wellness topic that interests you at this time. It could be a personal story about your own wellness journey or hashimotos diagnosis, or something geared towards educating others.

We'll build upon this in the weeks and months to come!

Instagram is also a fantastic platform to get yourself out there and start building an audience based on the real you, walking your talk, learning about balancing your own health while inspiring others along the way. Plus, it's a great place to connect with like-minded people and get inspired by them, so have fun exploring it and finding people to follow who interest you (you can follow me @livingbodywellness if you like).

That's all until we speak again!

On our next call we'll dive deeper into your diet so I can provide additional specific recommendations, resources, recipes, etc.

Talk to you soon!