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Jennifer Pickett
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My Story
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If I was struggling, girl..you would never know it!! I had gotten so skilled at hiding behind a facade. A mask, firmly held, that said…..”I’m fine. I’m healthy. I have it all together!” It was just that. A smiling, fake mask. And let me tell you, it is exhausting wearing a mask.
Here’s the deal…. I know what to do! I’m a Dietitian with a Master’s degree and now I’m certified as a Functional Medicine Health Coach. But I reached a point of total frustration in my health journey. Feeling toxic and sluggish, holding onto extra weight, |
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not having enough energy, feeling bloated after meals, fighting the urge to take afternoon naps and just feeling that depression and anxiety pressing in. Yeah, I reached a point of complete and total frustration! The frustration was not just physical. The impact that this had on me emotionally, mentally and spiritually was all consuming. You see, in my mind, if I was struggling with my health then that meant I was a fake! A big ole phony!! So I kept up this big smiling persona so no one would see the struggle within. I was doing some of the “right” things but I was missing that harmony in my life.
Everything felt out of control! Stress management involved just numbing the pain with unhealthy behaviors. My emotional health was a mess as I refused to really address past grief from losing my sweet mama. I was hustling to grow a health and wellness business while losing my health in the process. As I sought to take care of everyone else in my life, there was very little taking care of me. In the busyness and craziness of life, I was losing myself in the process! The feelings of not being good enough consumed me. I was a girl
who knew something was off and I needed to pinpoint it. Not for anyone else but for me! I knew God did not intend for me
to live in captivity like this!
Seeking a solution, I asked myself, “WHAT AM I MISSING?!?”
I started to take a really close look at my life and my physical health, mental/emotional health and my spiritual health; I just started to see some really big obstacles emerge. Barriers that I kept running into yet refusing to do anything different. God gently started to reveal some areas in my life that needed work and some areas that I needed to give to Him.
I also started on this path to see how body, mind and soul works together. For me, it started with recognizing that everything was all out of balance, out of whack. There was NO body, mind and soul harmony. I had really been taking what I call a lopsided approach or a one sided approach. Just focusing on one thing, like taking great supplements or eating right, but neglecting to recognize the impact of unhealthy habits. Not thinking of these habits as barriers or obstacles in my health journey. I was too wrapped up in this feeling of “I’m doing everything right, why won’t my body respond?” So I made a decision. To dig in, to self reflect and identify my obstacles.
I firmly believe that you cannot move forward until you identify what has been holding you back.
I identified 3 key areas, 3 barriers that were affecting my whole body, mind and soul health.
1). My spiritual health was lacking. My soul wasn’t nourished.
2) Poor stress management and Numbing the pain. When times got tough and I was stressed,
what would I turn to to numb the pain?
3) Emotional issues. Let’s call it what it is!! And yes, it is emotional issues when you are a shover downer like me and push all of those tough feelings and emotions deep inside hoping they will disappear. I firmly believe that these unresolved emotional issues
were truly affecting my health.
Those were my biggest obstacles. Not all my obstacles, mind you! Self reflection can be tough!! But I realized that self reflection without action meant nothing. Recognizing where you are and where you need to start is step 1. And I had gotten stuck at step 1 before! So, I knew it was time to do something different and truly take a holistic, whole body approach!!
As I started to address these obstacles and take action to overcome these obstacles. I ran into another one. OVERWHELM. I’m a Type A personality and I want to just get it all done. But let’s get real…..you can’t change everything at once. You cannot take these repeated poor habits and tendencies that have developed over years and just change it all in a few days. When I get overwhelmed, I tend to shut down. So I found myself doing that several times. Shut down. And then feeling guilty and ashamed that I could not tackle my own health obstacles. I mean I’m trained for the love!! So again, time to pivot and use a different strategy. One that I now refer to as small and sticky changes. It’s involves making small changes and trying to get some momentum going instead of trying to change everything at once. Small meaning the changes are so little that almost seem insignificant and sticky meaning…. those changes are so small they are easy to stick with! As I started implementing these small and sticky changes in my life, I started to gain a little momentum and see this harmony across my physical health, mental/emotional health and spiritual health. Harmony! There’s a word. I love that word. By definition, harmony is a pleasing arrangement of parts; it is the quality of forming a satisfying and consistent whole. Another way to define harmony is an internal calm or tranquility.
YES!! This is what I had been looking for! HEALTHY HARMONY!! It just feels good. It feels right.
Now I would just love to end here and wrap up this story with a nice big bow and tell you that I conquered my obstacles, found that healthy harmony in my body, mind and soul and everything was just peachy for ever more.
But life doesn’t work that way, we all have a tendency to go back to bad habits, we all get off track and that has certainly been the case with me. Some days are great. I’m kicking it! Managing stress, eating healthy, exercising, ensuring that my soul is nourished. Good days! Other days, I swear I forget what I’ve learned. I’m an anxious mess making unhealthy choices and then feeling all the guilt
and all the shame that goes with that.
My goal is to be a healthy-ish warrior!! Our health is truly a journey. It’s not a destination. We will fall down and then we will pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and start again. If we want harmony, we have to be intentional!
Can you relate to my story? Have you felt the same? Now I take all my training and my personal struggles
and help women just like you!
Everything felt out of control! Stress management involved just numbing the pain with unhealthy behaviors. My emotional health was a mess as I refused to really address past grief from losing my sweet mama. I was hustling to grow a health and wellness business while losing my health in the process. As I sought to take care of everyone else in my life, there was very little taking care of me. In the busyness and craziness of life, I was losing myself in the process! The feelings of not being good enough consumed me. I was a girl
who knew something was off and I needed to pinpoint it. Not for anyone else but for me! I knew God did not intend for me
to live in captivity like this!
Seeking a solution, I asked myself, “WHAT AM I MISSING?!?”
I started to take a really close look at my life and my physical health, mental/emotional health and my spiritual health; I just started to see some really big obstacles emerge. Barriers that I kept running into yet refusing to do anything different. God gently started to reveal some areas in my life that needed work and some areas that I needed to give to Him.
I also started on this path to see how body, mind and soul works together. For me, it started with recognizing that everything was all out of balance, out of whack. There was NO body, mind and soul harmony. I had really been taking what I call a lopsided approach or a one sided approach. Just focusing on one thing, like taking great supplements or eating right, but neglecting to recognize the impact of unhealthy habits. Not thinking of these habits as barriers or obstacles in my health journey. I was too wrapped up in this feeling of “I’m doing everything right, why won’t my body respond?” So I made a decision. To dig in, to self reflect and identify my obstacles.
I firmly believe that you cannot move forward until you identify what has been holding you back.
I identified 3 key areas, 3 barriers that were affecting my whole body, mind and soul health.
1). My spiritual health was lacking. My soul wasn’t nourished.
2) Poor stress management and Numbing the pain. When times got tough and I was stressed,
what would I turn to to numb the pain?
3) Emotional issues. Let’s call it what it is!! And yes, it is emotional issues when you are a shover downer like me and push all of those tough feelings and emotions deep inside hoping they will disappear. I firmly believe that these unresolved emotional issues
were truly affecting my health.
Those were my biggest obstacles. Not all my obstacles, mind you! Self reflection can be tough!! But I realized that self reflection without action meant nothing. Recognizing where you are and where you need to start is step 1. And I had gotten stuck at step 1 before! So, I knew it was time to do something different and truly take a holistic, whole body approach!!
As I started to address these obstacles and take action to overcome these obstacles. I ran into another one. OVERWHELM. I’m a Type A personality and I want to just get it all done. But let’s get real…..you can’t change everything at once. You cannot take these repeated poor habits and tendencies that have developed over years and just change it all in a few days. When I get overwhelmed, I tend to shut down. So I found myself doing that several times. Shut down. And then feeling guilty and ashamed that I could not tackle my own health obstacles. I mean I’m trained for the love!! So again, time to pivot and use a different strategy. One that I now refer to as small and sticky changes. It’s involves making small changes and trying to get some momentum going instead of trying to change everything at once. Small meaning the changes are so little that almost seem insignificant and sticky meaning…. those changes are so small they are easy to stick with! As I started implementing these small and sticky changes in my life, I started to gain a little momentum and see this harmony across my physical health, mental/emotional health and spiritual health. Harmony! There’s a word. I love that word. By definition, harmony is a pleasing arrangement of parts; it is the quality of forming a satisfying and consistent whole. Another way to define harmony is an internal calm or tranquility.
YES!! This is what I had been looking for! HEALTHY HARMONY!! It just feels good. It feels right.
Now I would just love to end here and wrap up this story with a nice big bow and tell you that I conquered my obstacles, found that healthy harmony in my body, mind and soul and everything was just peachy for ever more.
But life doesn’t work that way, we all have a tendency to go back to bad habits, we all get off track and that has certainly been the case with me. Some days are great. I’m kicking it! Managing stress, eating healthy, exercising, ensuring that my soul is nourished. Good days! Other days, I swear I forget what I’ve learned. I’m an anxious mess making unhealthy choices and then feeling all the guilt
and all the shame that goes with that.
My goal is to be a healthy-ish warrior!! Our health is truly a journey. It’s not a destination. We will fall down and then we will pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and start again. If we want harmony, we have to be intentional!
Can you relate to my story? Have you felt the same? Now I take all my training and my personal struggles
and help women just like you!
Why should we work together?
REALISTIC
I’m a busy and struggle just like you. The last thing you need is unrealistic advice! Reality with humor is what you get here!
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ENCOURAGEMENT
Have you struggled? Feel defeated? No guilt or shame given here. Just education, encouragement and empowerment!
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EXPERIENCE
24 years of working in the health field. I know what works and what doesn’t work. I use that experience to help you!
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SIMPLE
Confusing health info surrounds us. You need simple science & easy to understand health info. Who has time for complicated?
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HOLISTIC
Body, mind and soul needs to work in harmony. Let’s bring it together so you are an empowered warrior & equipped to fight your daily battles!
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STRATEGY
Time for a personalized approach. Together we will look at the obstacles that have defeated you and map out a specific battle plan that works for you!
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