After getting pregnant with our second, I thought I wanted to cut back on a lot of things. I started putting our first son in daycare to help me out at work, but that quickly changed. I decided to cut back from work and stay home more instead. It worked for a while, but before our second son was even born I had the idea of starting Whole Health with Lana. I personally didn't like the idea of not contributing as much, financially, any more. My husband convinced me to wait until after seeing what having two kids was like before starting a brand new business, and I'm so glad he did! After a few months of getting in the swing of things with two kids, I revisited the idea of starting my own business. Our oldest son had started preschool two days per week, and I was only teaching up to ten group fitness classes per week. I could handle it!
I wanted to be careful with what I created for Whole Health with Lana. I wanted to start something for anyone in need of assistance in their physical health (food and fitness), but I wanted to include all the other parts in life that make up the rest of "whole health" too. I believe whole health is beyond physical health. From my experience, there are three pillars to your "whole health": physical health, mental health, and community.
Physical Health (the obvious): Everyone should find something that keeps them active and choose healthy foods that they enjoy. Not everyone likes running (me included), and that's okay! Personally, I love dancing for my cardio, and I love doing weight training with a group of people (whether it's in person or online). Also, not everyone likes kale or avocado, and that's okay! There are plenty of other green foods to choose from for a healthy diet. My point is that everyone is different and likes different things. Find whatever it is that makes you laugh AND sweat at the same time. Do that a few times throughout the week. Then, find some foods as colorful as the rainbow that you actually enjoy eating (and no, I'm not talking about Fruity Pebbles). Eat those foods regularly and splurge occasionally. We are all different, and that is okay... In fact, it's pretty awesome that we are all so different. Otherwise, this world would be pretty boring!
Mental Health: This has grabbed the attention of many here lately, and I'm so glad because it is a huge part of our lives. There are many subcategories under mental health, but I'm only going to focus on two. First, a spiritual foundation is key to living a healthy and happy life. Not only can finding purpose in life change the way you see the world, but it can shine a light on what is truly good and evil. You can find so much comfort in this! Shortly after creating Whole Health with Lana, I knew that there was an even greater purpose for what I was doing. Then, one day it just hit me; I needed to start a Bible Study group with our Whole Health tribe. So, we did! We meet together for the first time this month. Let me know if you want to join us. We'd love to have you! Second, hobbies are important. Yes, we need to be financially stable and focus on family and do this and do that... But what are we supposed to do when we actually have time to ourselves? A lot of people tend to fill that time with more work or watching TV, and if we're being honest, BOTH can add unnecessary stress in our lives right now. So, what I suggest is to find a hobby that brings you joy. For me, that's gardening. I hope that this hobby can one day be more, and our yard turns into one big edible cluster of vegetation! Another hobby of mine is reading; it used to be a much bigger hobby of mine, but kids have slowly taken over my life so... I decided to MAKE TIME by creating the Whole Health with Lana Book Club. Not only has it been great to start reading again, but it has brought together some awesome ladies for great conversations, which brings me to my last pillar, community.
Community: Everyone needs a friend! I'm not talking about the group that socially gets together for the occasional party; I'm not knocking that either because those friends are great and much needed. What I'm focusing on right now is the friends that, no matter what, will show up at the drop of a hat whenever you call. For example, one of my best friends stuck it out in the rain with her almost one year old, my 9 month old, her 6 year old, AND my 2 year old while I taught a group fitness class the other day. THAT is the kind of friend everyone needs. If you don't have that kind of friend, I'll be your friend! If not me, we have plenty of awesome people in our Whole Health tribe.
When I started Whole Health with Lana, I knew we needed to start small, focus on the important things in life, and advocate the "whole health lifestyle". We aren't fitness models. We aren't body builders. We aren't perfect, and we don't want to be. We like to sweat, laugh, cook meals together, enjoy a glass of wine, talk about life, and share ideas with each other. We are healthy and happy. Physical and mental health have been extremely important for me, but community has always been a huge part of my health and fitness journey. If you are searching for any of this in your health and fitness journey, I hope that our Whole Health tribe can be your community and that we can share a meal together soon.
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