My “WHY” for Healthy Living

/ Janeen / 3 Comments

Hello hello!

Instead of just jumping right in & sharing healthy living tips & info, I though it would be best to first share with you my WHY for this passion of mine! Long story short, I’ve had an unhealthy relationship with food & my body image in the past, which led to unhealthy habits, which led to an unhealthy body, which led to medical problems, which led to my journey toward healing (which I’m currently still on). That’s the short version. Stay tuned, buckle your seat belts, & get ready for a bumpy ride if you want the long version….

Let’s start with high school. I never really had body image issues in high school, probably because I was naturally fairly thin without having to worry about what I ate or how often I worked out. I was on dance team & played volleyball, so was decently active, which helped, but I definitely didn’t eat well at all! Let’s just say my favorite after school snack was Mountain Dew & Tostito’s Chips & Queso. Get the picture?

OK, so then there was college. They call it the “Freshman 15” for a reason. Too much booze, lack of proper nutrition habits, & minimized physical activity, led me to put on that dreaded 15 pounds. Well, it was really more like 10 probably, but all I know is that it was enough to freak me out & get my butt in gear! Luckily, I had a great friend, Robyn, who lived on my dorm floor who had excellent eating & exercise habits. I turned to her for advice, she started teaching me things about nutrition, & I’d go to the rec center with her to work out every now & then. (Sidenote: Robyn ended up becoming by best friend & still is to this day. She also ended up becoming a Registered Dietitian & is still my #1 go to for information. I remember prompting her to pursue a career in Nutrition & Wellness our Freshman year in her dorm room b/c she had helped me so much & I could definitely see her potential there). Anyway, back to the story.

Throughout the rest of my college career, I took the knowledge I had & slowly started eating better & working out more. I found my soul-mate workout in JAZZERCISE & was hooked! I went almost every day. I lost the weight I had gained my freshman year, plus some. Eventually, I discovered My Fitness Pal (an online calorie tracker) & became addicted to that too. Soon, my interest in these 2 things changed from a healthy habit to an unhealthy obsession. I would try to eat as little as possible, didn’t pay attention to the quality of food I was eating & only paid attention to the numbers. During this time, I remember being hungry … a lot. I also got to the point where I felt like I had to work out every day otherwise the world would end. Even though I weighed less than ever, I was still never satisfied & wanted to lose MORE. I was skinny, but definitely not in a good place mentally.

As you can imagine, the years of this stress I put on my body really messed up my metabolism. After my wedding in 2012, I slowly started to realize that I had led myself down a bad path & what I was doing was not healthy. I turned to Robyn again to vent about this, & the conversation we had that day was the starting point to my healing. I remember her telling me to STOP the calorie counting madness! At this time, she was going through her schooling to become a R.D. with a focus in integrative health & functional medicine, so I really trusted her (plus she’s my best friend, so obviously I took what she said to heart). She educated me on the importance of QUALITY food, rather than quantity, & listening to your body to know how much to eat, rather than the numbers I plugged into a computer. She told me to break up with the scale & focus more on how I FEEL & how my clothes fit, rather than being obsessed with a number. I remember ending that conversation ready to make a change. I stopped my  mad obsession with numbers cold turkey, & I remember it being the most freeing & liberating feeling! But then things got a little ugly ….

As I mentioned before, the years of under-eating & over-exercising really messed me up. My metabolism was majorly sluggish & I had trained my body to only be able to handle like 1,000 calories a day (plus I was exercising hard core, so probably less than that). Therefore, when I started eating more (even though it was healthy food), I gained weight. I seriously felt like I gained 10 pounds overnight. I started trying to compensate for this & increased the intensity of my exercise. This did nothing. I think I had reached this breaking point where my body had had enough. Besides weight gain, I also started experiencing other symptoms, like fatigue, & the most concerning one…no menstrual cycle for over a year. I felt like  my hormones had literally turned off (which is not a good feeling when you’re a newlywed). Long story short, I was a MESS, I was unhappy, I felt like crap, & I had no idea what to do about it.

After months & months of feeling like this, I decided to seek help. In July of 2014, went to a health care professional in integrative medicine (read more about what integrative medicine is here: http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/alternative-medicine-integrative-medicine) in Kansas City where Robyn was working. I had several tests done, including several blood tests, urine tests, a stool test (fun), & a gluten sensitivity test. In September, I received my results back, which indicated that I had low T3 (an important but often overlooked component of the thyroid), a sensitivity to gluten, & some deficiencies in certain vitamins & minerals. Therefore, my steps toward healing included the following:

– Cutting out gluten completely (protein found in wheat, barley, & rye)
– Daily regimen of supplements including a probiotic, magnesium, iron, zinc, vitamin D, vitamin B complex, selenium (brazil nuts), & iodine (kelp sprinkles)
– Limiting intense exercise (since this actually makes things WORSE for people with thyroid problems) & doing more slow gentle movement exercises (walks, yoga, moving more during the day, etc.)
– Eating REAL food (eliminating processed foods as much as possible) & paying attention to the ingredients list in foods (the shorter the better) rather than the calorie or fat content.
– Eating a balanced diet (CPF+ as Robyn teaches to her clients, which stands for Carbs (C), Protein (P), Fat (F), & the most nutrient-rich versions of those 3 things (+))

I also began integrating red light therapy, which I learned about through Ari Whitten’s Metabolism Supercharge program (learn more about that here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/MetabolismSuperchargeUpdate/Bonus+%232/Bonus+%23+2+-+Red+Light+to+Speed+Up+Your+Metabolism+4.pdf)

Within a few months after starting this regimen, I was seeing improvements in many of my symptoms. I had more energy, I was leaning out, my clothes fit better, I felt less bloated, & I was showing signs that my sex hormones were up & running again (I won’t go into any more detail here, but you get the picture). From the time I began this process in September 2014, I had told myself that I’d give it until January 1 before trying something else or going a different route. Well, God is good, because my “time of the month” (or year in my case), arrived ON January 1. What!?!?! I was shocked. I could feel that it was working the whole time, but that moment on January 1 was the final proof I needed to seal the deal. Sorry if this is TMI, but it’s a huge part of my story, so I feel like I must share! I’ve been “regular” in that area ever since, & I finally feel like myself again!!

This change in my health has improved all areas of my life, including my relationships (especially with my husband), self-esteem, productivity, spirituality, & just overall happiness. I’m still learning every day….I think our health is something that is very individualized & is definitely a lifelong learning process. Slowly but surely, I’m learning how to listen to my body to tell me what it needs. I feel 100 times better than I did a few years ago. I feel like my metabolism is finally working for me instead of against me. I have a stable weight without having to deprive myself or kill myself in the gym. Most importantly, I’m so so so happy!

So, there’s the story of my WHY. Long, I know, so PROPS to you if you stuck with it until the end! Looking forward to sharing more with you in this area, like healthy recipes (& maybe a few indulgent recipes every now & then…gotta keep a balance, right?), products I like, cool workouts I’ve found, etc. Hope you enjoy!

Live well,

– Janeen

Creativity

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Although I would not consider myself an artist by any means (drawing/painting is not my forte), I do have a creative side to me! I like to think I have an eye for design (decorating my new house was a treat!) & love to come up with fun & unique crafts & projects to create for decor, gifts, parties, etc. More to come in this area!!

Personal Development

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I have a strong interest in personal development & believe that everyone should spend some time every day in this area! Here I’ll be sharing with you my own personal development journey in regards to self-growth, relationships, spirituality, & more. Hopefully you’ll get some helpful resources & tips from this area of the blog. More to come!

Healthy Living

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I’m a major advocate for healthy, balanced, & simple living 🙂 More about my “WHY” for this passion, along with a healthy dose of recipes, fitness tips, & more to come!

My Melodic Journey

/ Janeen / 3 Comments

Hello all!

First of all, thanks for visiting my page! I’m totally new to this blogging thing, so thank you in advance for your patience while I learn how the heck this all works! 😉 I decided to start this blog as a way to express myself & share the things that interest me & give me inspiration. As mentioned in my “About” page, I am a pianist & love writing my own original piano compositions. My passion for piano started when I was 10 years old. I asked my mom if I could take piano lessons, she agreed, & immediately I was hooked! I played all the time. I flew threw the early “beginner” lessons & eventually started taking lessons for more advanced music. I had some great teachers throughout my piano journey, who really pushed me & inspired me to step outside my comfort zone.

When I was about 14, the creative bug hit me & I started to compose my own melodies. I remember the first song that I wrote, “Reflections of Joy,” I came up with the melody as I was taking a shower … I guess singing in the shower has its perks, right? 😉 My first composition set off a domino effect, & I wrote 11 more songs in that year. Since they were all in my head, I remember being terrified that I would wake up one day & forget them all! So I played all the time. I remember playing my songs until my fingers were sore! Eventually, my wonderful mother had the brilliant idea to get me a tape recorder. It was the old school kind. I finally was able to record my compositions so I didn’t have the constant fear that I’d forget them! This gave me a lot of peace of mind. All it took was a quick reminder of how the song went, & I could bust out the whole thing. It’s like riding a bike, I always say! 😉

After writing those 12 songs, my parents & I decided that it would be cool to record my songs on a legit CD. We contacted a recording studio in Yankton, SD (near my hometown of Hartington, NE) & arranged an appointment. When I arrived to the studio, I was disappointed, because he only had an electric keyboard (which didn’t have the full set of keys) in the studio. When I expressed my concern, he said that he had a baby grand piano in his house, so could take his recording equipment & record in his house instead of in the sound-proof studio. This took careful planning, because we had to work around traffic noise & other outside noises, but he lived in a rather remote area, so it didn’t have too much of an effect. Before we started recording, I asked him if he was able to edit the songs afterword & splice in certain parts that I made a mistake on, or if I had to play it perfectly how it was going to sound on the final copy of the CD. He said he was able to edit, so I just started to play, with no worries at all! I played through 9 of my songs straight & he recorded it all.

A few weeks later, I went back for my second session, & he told me that because of the complex nature of the grand piano, he wouldn’t be able to splice out certain sections or edit the tracks like he could do with all other types of music. This took the wind out of my sails a bit. I have never been great under pressure, & as a 14 year old girl, it felt like this was a massive undertaking. I’ve always been a bit of a perfectionist too, so this seemed like an impossible feat to play the songs EXACTLY how I wanted them to sound on the final recording. Honestly, that information took all the fun out of it for me. I remember shutting down in a sense. I kept messing up in that session & having to start over. I was way too uptight. I just felt way too much pressure & I remember thinking, “This isn’t how this is supposed to feel. This feels like a job.” That experience took away a little of my passion, to be honest with you. I suddenly felt this massive amount of pressure to keep composing music. In short, it became something that I felt like I had to do for everyone else instead of for myself. Because of this, my CD was never finished & I didn’t write another song through the rest of my high school career. I have a copy of the original recording session of those 9 songs. It’s by no means perfect, but it’s something! It has always been something I’ve wanted to finish…to finally get all my songs recorded on a CD that I was comfortable sharing with the world.

OK, time to get to the happier part of the story. When I went to college, piano was put on hold for awhile, since it’s obviously hard to have access to a piano while you’re living in the dorms or apartments through your college career. However, it was always something that I was happy to come back to when going home for break. Again, it’s like riding a bike! It never really leaves you.

After graduating college in 2012, I got married to my wonderful husband, Brandon, & moved to Valentine, NE, where we both work at The Prairie Club Golf Resort. Brandon had already been living here, so I moved in with him in his duplex. My parents gave me the best housewarming gift of all…my piano. I started playing more… playing for church, playing for weddings, playing for anyone who wanted to listen to me. I found my passion again. Over 10 years after writing my first set of songs, I composed another, which I named “The Echo.” I was hesitant to share it with people at first. Since it had been so long, I wasn’t sure if I still had “it” or not, & was nervous, wondering if it were as good as my original compositions. I eventually shared it with family & friends, & they loved it! That reassurance was all I needed to keep going. We just bought our first home this year & I joke that it has good mojo, because I’ve already busted out 2 new songs in 2015, “New Beginnings” (fitting title, huh?) & “The Road to Triumph.”

Wow, I didn’t really anticipate sharing that whole story in such detail, but I guess it was kind of the main motivator behind starting this blog. Since beginning writing what I like to refer to as my “second set” of songs, I’ve really found myself wanting to share them with people! I’m still on the road to discovering how to get all of my songs recorded, so that I can officially share them with all of you. I don’t want to go down the same path as I did when I was 14, going to a professional recording studio who bills by the hour & costs an arm & a leg. I know myself enough to realize that pressure would suck the joy out of the experience for me. Therefore, I’m toying with the idea of purchasing my own equipment & recording my songs in the comfort of my own home, on my own time, & exactly how I want to do it. I’ve just started researching this & there’s A LOT to learn! So stay tuned! Oh, and if any of you have any advice for recording piano music at home, I’d love to hear about it!

Although my passion for music was my main motivator behind this blog, I also have a passion for MANY other things! Therefore, I thought this would be a good platform to express my interests & share with you the things that make my heart happy. Honestly, I don’t know exactly everything that this blogging journey will entail, but I guess we’ll find that out together! Again, thank you so much for visiting & following my melody 🙂

Until next time,

– Janeen