I didn't announce this with too much fanfare, but I took my final certification exam to be a holistic health coach last week. I am super excited to be working on a couple of exciting ways to share this experience and knowledge with all of you, with my focus continuing to be on helping moms feed their families well on the busiest of days. (Because really, can we busy moms ever have enough help when it comes to mealtimes?!)
I must admit that I am a sad that the program is over. Each week, I was exposed to a variety of dietary theories, and thoughtful ways to balance out our busy lives. For me, the beauty of this integrative nutrition program was that I could expand my knowledge from home, and continue to be present for my children when they were home from school. While I am always looking for ways to learn, grow, help and inspire, I've made a conscious decision to be a "stay-at-home-mom"... so anything I do on top of that can augment, but not take away from this special time in my life. It was sometimes tricky, but I found pockets of time to listen to my lectures, and fit time for my husband, friends, volunteer work and writing around my schoolwork.
Even this weekend, I made the juggle work. IIN was having their conference in NYC. So close... and yet so far. My husband was out of town on a ski weekend with college friends, and my children had a variety of classes and fun things to do queued up both weekend days.
So, I decided to spend the day with my kids up at the mountain... snowshoeing (in some much-appreciated solitude while they skied with their groups), and then skiing with my little one in the afternoon.
I got to be present for my older son's ski awards ceremony, and then we all headed home, tuckered out and content. A quick family dinner, then they agreed to read to each other before bed so I could start listening to a reply of the conference at 7pm.
And now I am sitting here in front of the fire, enjoying (a replay of) the conference, smitten that I also got to enjoy the day with my kids. For any of you busy moms whose interest in this nutrition program might be piqued, I am more than happy to describe my experience and share my feedback. Feel free to send me an email and you can ask away! And in the meantime, if you want a sneak peek at what integrative nutrition is all about, you can download this free ebook about health and wellness, which I found hugely inspiring a year ago, when I began my studies.
Congrats, Eila!!! I did a little recap of IIN on Friday on my blog. I feel the same way you do--sad that's it's over. It went by so quickly, and I feel like there were so many extra resources that I never got to. But I know I'll keep researching and learning on my own, I just can't believe the year has already come and gone!
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