Right now your pattern probably looks like: Inspired → all in → busy → tired → restart. Our deepest desires create goals. Habits create results that LAST. So listen ... motivation is great but it tends to spike and then plummet. Habits compound! For 14 days, I’m doing the summarizing for you. This is where cliff notes and book club combine! Each day: One 20 second concept + One micro action homework we'll actually look forward to! Built around minimum effective dose. Built around 1% better every day. Built by penny deposits that compound. This is how muscle gets built consistently. This is how fat loss stops feeling chaotic. This is how you stop negotiating with yourself or feeling the slow drain of procrastination. Inspired by James Clear's Atomic Habits: 14 Day Habit Builder Challenge. We start Friday Feb 13. This is just the beginning. Who's in?

I offended someone this week. As a recovering people pleaser, this would normally send me into a spiral. My brain’s survival mode would take over—ruminating, trying to fix things immediately, or place blame. In 2025, I had the privilege of learning how to regulate my nervous system—not just for my own health, but to meaningfully support my clients’ wellness journeys as well. While nervous system regulation includes rest, hydration, and sleep, its deeper work is teaching the brain and body to exit survival mode and enter thrive mode. Feeling misunderstood isn’t dangerous—it’s just uncomfortable Social friction perceived as "danger" directly affects cortisol and it's ability to return back to baseline resulting in disrupted: - Sleep - Digestion - Blood sugar - Recovery - Fat loss and muscle gain The shift that matters: Survival mode: “Make this feeling go away so I can feel safe.” Thrive mode: “I can feel this and still be safe.” Switch away from survival mode: “I caused discomfort” → “I am bad or unsafe” Re-establish thriving mode: “Someone experienced discomfort. That does not define my character or intent.” Pause before fixing. Stay with the body sensations. Slow the breath. Drop the shoulders. Treat this as nervous-system training, not therapy. Notice where this shows up for you this week.

I’ve never been a great sleeper, even as a kid. Part personality, part wiring. About eight years ago, I weaned myself off prescription sleep medications. Then perimenopause, along with my enjoyment of wine, added another layer of complexity to my sleep quality. Recently, I was talking with @Zona Lord and @Michele Hunt (Michele- Nicola also takes Magnesium Threonate in her sleep stack) about sleep and HRT, which prompted me to revisit some educational content- an interview with Mary Claire Haver and brain and performance specialist Louise Nicola. I am noticing women in their 70s who are not only under-muscled but also experiencing signs of dementia. This is sad. I would like to believe this is mostly preventable. Using NotebookLM, I created an infographic summary for you all. I double checked the accuracy. AI error Note: “BONF,” it should be BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). I had to dig back into my pharmacy school biology brain for that one. Curious if any of this feels relevant to you right now. Let me know.

Last year, I deepened my understanding of how breathwork and posture support strength and nervous system regulation. Thank you, @Lori Crowley , for being such a big part of that education. This is a foundational pillar of health. I’ve recently started incorporating transverse abdominis activation into my training and recovery to protect my lower back, reduce chronic back pain, support my organs, and build strong, functional abs. Youtube link to back lying TVA activation and strengthening that inspired this infographic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5GsE6ZHn_E Take a look at this infographic for a basic understanding of the TVA and its function. As always in this community, a little knowledge—and a whole lot of action! 💪🏽❤️ Drop a comment about your TVA below!

Growing up, fitness for me meant a certain look. Thin. Toned. Strength wasn’t the goal. External approval was. In my late teens, immaturity mixed with a need for control turned into an eating disorder. In my twenties, when I found weight lifting, I built muscle quickly and took the “manly” comments as criticism. Instead of feeling proud, I learned to make my strength smaller so I wouldn’t draw attention. I lost out on a lot of joy that way. After kids, I came back to lifting purely for aesthetics. I got leaner. Stronger. I hit what many people call the goal. Around 20 percent body fat, perkier glutes, visible abs. And I was still unsettled. That’s when I realized the stress I was carrying was a learned pattern. Years of overthinking and trying to control outcomes had been grinding me down. Perimenopause, shifting hormones, and poor sleep made it impossible to ignore that something deeper was off. Many women tie their sense of worth to performance. They believe they have to earn rest, confidence, or self improvement by doing more for others first. That belief is what keeps them stuck in cycles of starting and stopping. When I started working on nervous system regulation, learning how to move between stress and recovery more intentionally (therapy, introspection, meditation/prayer, etc), things began to change. My lower back pain eased. My sleep slowly improved. Eating well and exercising stopped feeling like chores and started feeling like a privilege. Weight loss, strength, and feeling better in your body are solid goals. Goals that last when the stress patterns underneath are addressed. Just like we clean our homes, offices, and cars, it can help to clear out outdated stress responses and beliefs too. What are you in a season of cleaning right now? Let me know if this resonates!💪🏽❤️