This is my first blog post!

One: THANK YOU for reading this! Two: WELCOME to all things Plant-Powered Wellness! And three, I better introduce myself…I’m Caitlin and I LOVE ice breakers (I think I may be the only one on the planet who has ever said that). I’ll go the “say one fun fact about yourself” route to start us off.

I have a permanent dent on my left thigh from a paddle boarding incident in the ocean. It certainly was, in my book at least, a near death experience.  As terrifying as the incident was for me (and for the sweet grandpa playing with his grandchildren who looked up and saw me emerge out of the waves clearly looking very lost, in disbelief and extremely disheveled) I still like to paddle board, but on much calmer waters.

Second icebreaker: “Why did I start this whole, Plant-Powered Wellness thing?” (I know this is not a common icebreaker question, I sort of made it up so I could segway into the next part).

I am also a mom, a wife, a pet mom, plant-based nutritionist, personal trainer, business owner, and maybe most importantly someone who is painfully empathetic, which is probably why I feel such a strong calling to work closely with people on improving their state of health. It is truly an honor for me to be included in such an intimate journey of finding one’s happiest, healthiest self. That is why I started Plant-Powered Wellness, so I could reach as many people as possible and share how living a plant-based lifestyle can benefit anyone and everyone from infancy through our more “seasoned” years. I also wanted to support and encourage anyone who wants to learn about or transition to plant-based! So BOOM, Plant-Powered Wellness was born!

My goal with this blog is to talk about health topics and plant-based eating in an easily digestible, informative, interesting, FUN way that helps readers view health as “part of everyday life,”  not just something we know we need to work on but keep putting it on the back burner. Our health ebbs and flows, has challenges and successes, and all of that is okay! I want to be very inclusive and I hope you feel connected with me, rejuvenated and maybe inspired after reading the Powered by Plants blog. And of course, I plan to sprinkle in my own stories as well about plant-based parenting, outdoor adventures, recipes and really anything I think might tickle your fancy. This first topic happened pretty organically, but I think it’s an important topic to chat about: How  consistency effects our health.

In the photo above, I’m trying not to navigate my way out of this beautiful sunflower field in Iowa. A completely picturesque scene, straight out of romantic comedy, that anyone would love to frolic through. Any way, what you do not see is that I was on the seventh day of taking sort of a hiatus from my normal workouts. I have read other fitness professional’s content about how taking a few days off was a helpful reset and they were surprised at how great they felt. I thought, well I’m sure I will feel wonderful after completely throwing my normal exercising routine, that helps me keep my sanity and feeling my best, out the window. Side note, even when I am traveling I stick to my normal way of eating and exercise. Living in this body for 32 years now, I know that when I stick to my health habits I feel mentally and physically in a balanced, Zen like state. I jokingly refer to my body as a temple but in all honesty, that is how I see this vessel I am living in and I really try to keep everything in a state of equilibrium. This helps my mood, digestion, sleep and everything in between.  Okay, back into my story.

By the time I am in this sunflower field, it was exactly 7 days after I ran a very hilly, quad killer seven mile race (it’s actually my all-time favorite road race!) and afterwards my legs were sore so I took the next day off, a very normal thing for me to do. But then I ended up taking three days off, which I NEVER do. (Another quick side note, I do take our dog for a forty-five ish minute walk every single day but I do not count that into my regular workouts.) I did an upper body workout on the 4^th day and then the 5^th I did a leg workout where I ended up with some pretty sore inner thighs (LOVE IT!). And then I took the next two days off…and you know what…this may not come as a surprise to you but I did not feel good at all!

My body experienced whatever the scientific word for “completely out of whack” is, I physically and mentally felt different, and not in a good way. I felt less motivated, I was slightly more irritable, I cared less about what I ate and I physically just did not feel good in my skin. I also felt like the months of training I had done to shave off time and prepare for that 7 mile race was wasted.

Needless to say, I certainly did not have the experience other health and fitness professionals have boasted about on their social media pages. I do think it is a wonderful idea to take a rest day but I learned, for myself at least, that when I stick to my daily exercise and normal diet (plant-based!) I am able to function optimally. This means I have energy for a full day of being a mom, home schooling my daughter, cooking, cleaning, running a business, working with clients and everything else the day throws at me.

What I have found is that maintaining a consistent exercise schedule and eating pattern makes a huge difference in my mental and physical well-being. Treat your beautiful bodies like the temples that they are (give yourself a hug, maybe a high-five, booty wiggle or however you want to celebrate YOU!)…oh and eat plants!