It’s been over three years since I started this blog. I can hardly believe it. I remember sitting at my kitchen island writing the About Me page when my husband came up behind me and asked what I was doing. I had woken up that morning with such a burden on my heart to share my health story. I had suffered for such a long time simply because I did not know that diet and lifestyle changes made any difference in my health.

After living on the Paleo diet for a few years and experiencing the freedom that came with good health, I knew I had to share. That’s why I started this blog. That, plus the fact that I love to cook and I love to eat and I knew that if I could make food that would satisfy my own picky tastebuds, I could make food that needed to be shared. 

To be completely honest, this hasn’t always been easy. If I want to actually make some money with this website, I need to spend a lot of time on social media. I don’t want to do that for two reasons:

1. It doesn’t feel genuine to me. I don’t enjoy being on social media personally and every time I work on Facebook or Instagram, I feel like I’m not being true to myself. And

2. I don’t want my kids to see me spending my time that way. They are my biggest and most important audience. I know what social media is doing to the adolescents these days and I want to protect my kids from that as much as I am able. (For what’s it’s worth – I have a 12 and a 14 year old. Neither has a cell phone. Yet they have plenty of friends whom they see almost daily and they have the ability to look someone in the eye and have a conversation. So it is possible.)

All that to say, I haven’t put the time and effort into making this blog a business. I realize that if I were to spend a lot of time marketing myself on social media, I could have thousands of followers and friends in the internet world, which would translate into reaching more people with this message and contributing to my family budget.

Because all of that marketing and social media stuff (technical term) feels very icky (another technical term) to me, I sought out another avenue for sharing this information. That led me to the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy. You’ve probably heard me talk about that a few times this past year. I’m finishing up my year-long health coach training at the end of this month and am so excited to begin coaching. My hope is that I will really be able to go deep with each and every client, addressing their concerns specifically, rather than throwing information out on the internet and hoping it strikes a chord with someone. Anyone.

I would be disingenuous if I didn’t also mention the financial aspect of this. Running the blog is actually pretty expensive. And those kids whom I’m trying to influence positively, will hopefully be heading off to college in a few short years. Even though my husband and I have been saving faithfully for that day since they were born, we will have a shortfall when the time comes. (Unless the colleges all of a sudden decide to charge a reasonable price, which I doubt is going to happen!) So my hope is that this new coaching gig will tick all the boxes:

• share my message and the knowledge I’ve acquired with more people
• help support my family financially

This blog isn’t going anywhere. I still have my messy, food-splattered recipe notebook by my side jotting down recipe ideas and tweaking ones I’ve been working on for a while. I will continue to post recipes for you as regularly as I can. I will continue to bring you educational content and updates on how my family is making all of this work day in, day out. BUT – you knew there had to be a but, right? I can’t promise any sort of regularity to my postings. I am really up to my eyeballs in coursework, studying for the international certification exam, coaching clients, setting up all the business aspects of this venture, in addition to my regular duties as wife, mom, teacher and friend. 

I so appreciate your support of this blog. Thank you for reading, for sharing the recipes, for commenting, for watching the associated YouTube videos. All of that stuff helps because when you watch, read or share, it helps others see this content and genuinely, that is my motivation. I don’t want anyone to suffer like I did.

If you’re in a place where you’re feeling stuck or maybe you just need a little motivation or accountability, you would be a good candidate for health coaching. I like to say, “A health coach can help you change when change is hard.” It’s really that simple. Except when it isn’t and we can go there too. 

For health coaching, you can reach out to me through email: elizabeth@totalwellnesshealthcoaching.com

phone: 919-622-5003

or through my website: totalwellnesshealthcoaching.com

The website is still under construction – that’s a lot of what has me up to my eyeballs right now! But feel free to pop over there and let me know what you think of my home page design. There is a pretty picture there with my logo and phone number, but no real content yet. For now, if you’re interested in coaching, just call, text or email and we’ll go from there.

But wait…there’s more! Just today I published a Keto Instant Pot recipe that is so easy and delicious – Spaghetti Squash Mac and Cheese! So see, I will still be publishing recipes and videos as regularly as I can. 

There are blogs I read that post every single day. I just can’t do that. But I do still care about you and I want you to be well. As always, I’m here for questions, suggestions, and comments. 

I wish you all well. Please check back often for new recipes and other fun stuff. 

P.S. I would be remiss if I did not mention Beautycounter. I am still working with them as a sales rep. It’s not my main gig by any means, but after a full year with the company, I can honestly say I have more respect for the company and more love for the products than ever. If you have yet to start cleaning up your personal care products, I’d love to talk with you about how Beautycounter can fit into that plan. The products are beautiful, clean and work well. I’ve had to put this side business a little further to the side for now while I get my health coaching business up and running, but it’s still an important part of my life. You can find my personal Beautycounter website here. They have a really great promotion going on right now. See below.