“Healthy? Puh-leeze! Considering I have not been paid since March and have since eaten a million bunny cracker leftovers (give or take) from my 2-year-old, the answer is: not very much at the moment. I attempted walking in the evenings until the heat of summer and the fires suffocated me (excuses, excuses). Although the days of pampering via massages, facials and gym memberships are a distant memory, I have faith that they will appear again in the next fiscal year (or two). Yes, we still eat organic and love our Mother Earth, but closing the door to the bathroom and plucking a stubborn hair is the closest thing to peace and quiet I experience these stressful days.”

“As a nutritionist, coach, business owner, wife and mom of four, it would be easy to get caught up in the daily activities of my family and business and not make time for myself. Being in the health field, people just assume that you are ‘healthy and fit’ just by association—I wish that were always the case! But I actually do love to exercise and make sure that I spend at least one hour a day getting it in. Because it is ‘my time’ and the time that I get to be with my girlfriends, it is the first thing on Sunday night that I schedule in my mental calendar for each day of the week. It may be a 6 a.m. trail run or a lunchtime swim or an early morning bike ride before family activities on the weekend, but I always fit it in.

This is and has always been my means to keeping healthy…mind, body and soul. I rely on athletic friends, as we have run, swim, biked and hiked our way through marriages, births, divorces and death. These women feed my spirit and are truly my soul sisters.

As the owner of LOLA, I am now getting to teach other women and girls how to make time for themselves and their health. I continue to strive to be a role model for LOLA participants, and want them to be healthy and happy while achieving their own goals.

With a continually hectic schedule, I know the importance of nourishing my body and my mind with healthy food to keep up good energy throughout the day. When I leave the house each day, I always make sure I have lots of healthy foods from my kitchen. I don’t want to find myself without food at 3 p.m. and end up at the local coffee shop eating the first thing I see—this zaps my energy and becomes a stress to my mind and body. Many people end up in this negative cycle and don’t even realize the havoc it creates on their system.

With four kids, there isn’t much quiet time at our house, but I love the quiet evenings with my husband when we can get them. This time is about ‘us,’ which is so important in a marriage. It’s our way to truly relax and just enjoy being with one another—even if it’s just a quick cup of coffee or a walk around the block. I think it’s important to remember where it all began…with us.”

“My almost-2-year-old daughter has reminded me to stop and smell the roses. Instead of rushing from the car into the house on a star-filled night, she reminds me to look up at the sky at the shining moon. She reminds me as the sun is shining on the flowers in our garden to pause as we rush past a butterfly bush with butterflies flying all around it. And one of my favorite reminders to simply enjoy the moment is when she stops everything she is doing to feel a breeze blowing across her face. She closes her eyes and smiles. And these, really, are the things that keep my mind, body and soul well. We live in the moment and so we are alive.”