When I started working out with Geneva in early 2016, I had an 8 week old at home and had just endured four years that included numerous infertility treatments, miscarriages, and two pregnancies that resulted in the births of my two daughters. Needless to say, it had been a very long time since I felt able to focus on health and wellness, and I needed time to allow my body, hormones, and mind to recover from the experiences of those years.

As an older (mid-40s), working mom with little extra time, I focused on manageable short-term goals and small changes that I could make to improve my overall healing, energy and wellness. With Geneva’s help, I set small goals designed to incorporate healthier eating habits (more veggies!) and movement (more walking!) into my routine. For a long time, I didn’t see or feel any differently, but I stuck to the plan.

As I got better at accomplishing small goals, I set bigger ones – I did a whole30 eating plan in September that completely changed my eating habits and relationship to food, I started to lose weight, and I started to feel and see the results of my ongoing strength and flexibility work with Geneva. Back pain went away. Energy increased. Sleep improved.

At this point, I feel stronger than I have in years, I have lost 20 lbs, I’m not obsessed with food, and I feel confident that I will be able to maintain the healthy habits I’ve worked on during the past year despite the daily challenge of managing work and motherhood.

I’ve learned through the last year that small changes really do add up over time, and consistency is key. As working moms, we should focus on what we can do to increase wellness without setting unrealistic expectations that can end up discouraging us or causing us to give up when we don’t see results overnight. For 2017, I’m looking forward to continuing this work in progress and making more small changes focused on mental wellness–such as incorporating actions to increase mindfulness and putting down the phone!