Play Hard Get Fit

1. Hydrate hydrate hydrate!!
Dehydrated skin will give you an appearance of years beyond your age. Hydrating with coconut water adds back in necessary nutrients your skin needs to glow. Kick the coffee in the morning and substitute with Sun Goddess Matcha. Forgo your nightly booze with an adaptogenic mushroom elixir and your skin will thank you for years to come!

2. As we age, our body produce less collagen, boost your collagen production with collagen, helping to promote hydration and skin elasticity.

3. Exfoliate! I love Activated Charcoal Scrub. Removing the layers of dead skin will help promote cell turnover and prepare your skin for absorbing topical oils, like the Blue Tansy or Argan Face Oils - or choose the sample set to see which is the right regimen for you.

4. Energize and help your skin detox through gua sha and lymphatic drainage! has the most incredible traditional Chinese facial tools to up level your skin care routine. Check out Dr. Yang's tutorials for how to use your facial tools appropriately, as this practice is more than a beauty trend. This self-care regimen helps enhance blood flow to the skin, increasing delivery of oxygen and nutrients while improving lymphatic drainage of fluid that may lead to facial and under eye puffiness. It's also one of my favorite ways to pamper my skin, in an act of self-care, feeding my mind, body and spirit.

If you have a feeling your thyroid isn't functioning as it should, looking at your symptoms is the first step to understanding what might be at play.

With hyperthyroidism, your body is feeling the effects of increased circulating thyroid hormone. You may experience more energy, weight loss and anxiety.

Hypothyroidism is when you have low circulating thyroid hormone or poor conversion of thyroid hormone at the cellular level, causing symptoms like weight gain, fatigue, and depression.

Although hypothyroidism is more common than hyperthyroidism, it’s not uncommon for someone to start at one end of the spectrum and end up on the other after conventional treatment (or lack of treatment). There is also some overlap in symptoms , i.e. hair loss can occur with both hyper and hypothyroidism, so the whole clinical picture is important.

Finding a skilled practitioner who can clearly link your complaints to their underlying physiology is important. Comprehensive thyroid labs are not just "nice to have" - they're the bare minimum.

If this is you, my door is open.

Are you like always talking?
Yes.



Like not really. I do a ton of listening. It is an active effort of mine (personally and professionally). But ask a teacher or coach how it feels when you looks at 20 athletes, doesn't matter the age or activity, and you are explaining the activity and you see no lightbulbs, no wheels turning, something is not clicking. So now you explain it a different way, add in demonstrations, answer 7 questions, re-demonstrate, explain it again, mix in buzzwords for memory recall, add in 4 metaphors, 2 puns and a knock-knock joke until you've got everyone on board!!!

Why do I coach? There's layers to this answer, like ogres or parfait (everybody like parfait). I had GREAT coaches. Basically, I want to be that great coach for both the kids and the adults that I train. I coach kids at a sport that I've played and loved since I was 8. I train adults to move well, listen to their bodies, improve their lives through movement. Confident Movement. There is so much overlap for me: I want my adults to know they can still improve, train for their 'athletic' endeavors, golf, grandkids, gardening, getaways... and I want my student athletes to find their confidence, in and out of their sport. I know what it has meant for me to have coaches that care. Break things down so I understand it. Build things up to help me improve. Challenge me. I have pulled from childhood coaches, my parents, my hs and college softball and soccer coaches, my professors (I was a PE and an exercise science major... I called half of my professors 'Coach.' One of my classes freshmen year my softball coach WAS the professor, most of my professors WERE athletes.) I surrounded myself with great examples of who I wanted to be. The work was on me but I have amazing people to reference in the coaches including the ones I work with and train with today! One of my favorite trainers, I interviewed and was my coworker! I had a soccer coach who knew what I did and didn't know and worked with my strengths. I had a softball coach time after time take their chance on this walk-on player and start me. One of my favorite coaches made me lift super heavy, properly, accurately and I was already in my 30s when I started working with him! One of my favorite coaches is the softball coach I'm working along side currently. Always learning. Playing hard. Finding fun. Observing and absorbing all these experiences because I know they're helping me grow. Woot woot! (Onions have layers too but they stink and they make you cry.)

Counting down the days until we can be BACK on the field, together, competing. In Virginia, the 3 sports seasons, Fall, Winter and Spring were shortened, rearranged and pushed back this school year. Spring sports for 2020 were, as many know, completely cancelled. So we will be on a field starting in April 2021 for the first time since March 16, 2020. We had our winter sports play thus past Dec/Jan-ish. Then Fall Feb/Mar- ish. And Spring sports will finish out the year Apr/May-ish!! I feel like softball and baseball has some natural social distancing in it's set up (considering our outfield fence is over 200 ft bahahaha). I'm just so excited! And I know the kids and parents are too. This warm weather feels like softball weather and it's such a tease that we should've started 2 weeks ago, under normal circumstances. Competitors want to compete. Kids want to play. Coaches want to coach!!

Picture it: You're in your livingroom, foyer, kitchen... sneakers on, laundry in the dryer, full sink of dishes, coffee brewing. But you open your laptop, log in and spend an hour looking at this coach, teacher, athlete, nonstop wearer of sweats and a smile. The laundry can wait. The coffee smells great but it will have to wait because you've got a hott date with yourself and some weights!! 🏃🏻‍♀️🏃‍♂️🏋🏽‍♀️🤸‍♀️🏋🏾‍♂️🤸🏾‍♂️ I love being accessible to my athletes and clients who want to continue moving, training and the schedule flexibility!! Side note: what exercise am I demonstrating!?

Connecting with my athletes and clients while not being in contact or proximity of them has proven to be a chance for growth, adaptation and frustration. With that frustration though came problem-solving, more fluidity on both of our parts and my growth as a teacher and coach. Explaining and demonstrating combined with coaching and correcting, I have that DOWN -in person. How would that translate over a live, digital, 2 dimensional platform? Well, my jokes still land, personality still shines through the screen and my level of caring and attention is still there even if my face is 6 inches from my screen so I can see your movements... sorry about that up close shot of my nose freckles. Interruptions from kids, dogs, delivery ppl, a smoke detector, are all par-for-the-course in an at home setting. I have figured out which way to demonstrate, explain and re-demonstrate certain movements, I've been very creative with household furniture, stairs, space, xmas trees, sports equipment etc. This year has definitely been an adventure. I've also been keen to be flexible with my time. Cancelling and rescheduling as ppl have needed, being understanding, expecting odd circumstances, being flexible with payment days and styles and being accessible. Which has included, sometimes very long, involved chats unrelated to sports of fitness. Trust that my athletes and clients have helped me as much as I them.

POV: What my clients see during workouts from home!!! Digital workouts with social distance and the occasional intermission from babies and puppies!!! We are still going and moving!!

I am committed to working out anywhere... and everywhere. I used to say I wouldn't workout in my livingroom, not a fan of sweating on carpet, and I'd rather be outside. But then quarantine, gyms closed, equipment is out of stock, I dream of my future garage gym but that's not what I'm working with. A jump rope, a few dumbells, a varietal of bands, some time and 4' of space, I gotta work something out. It hasn't been easy. These last few months my motivation and energy levels have been fleeting, I've gained weight on top of weight I was already rocking, I'm concerned about my consistency and my health and I know I'm not alone. I alsi know what adjustments I need to make, firstly taking things 1 day, 1 meal and 1 workout at a time. Keep the motivation without getting that overwhelmed feeling.

Back in March, when the pandemic first shut down Virginia, the only fitness equipment I bought was a jump rope. From there I've tried to order dumbbells and kettlebells for my little make-shift at home gym and they are more rare then toilet paper. I am very aware that my space is limited. I dream of my future garage gym and drool over friends yard/basement/garage workout bunkers. But I need to be strategic. So here it is: • speed ladder • bands • jump rope • tabata timer app • mapmyrun app • softball gear • some outdoor space.
That's what I'm working with and I'm making it work aka making ME work!!

"She remembered who she was and the game changed." -Lalah Deliah


This year has sent me back to my basics. What are my foundational needs? Where do I go when I strip back the busy, the jobs, the schedule, the routine? I come back home. Home within myself. All these hats we wear are the visual representations of who we are at a visceral level. At the core of our being how we show ourselves to those around us. My safe spaces, my places where I have found strengthand comfort have included: The B E A C H (peace and calm) , S O F T B A L L (a base hit), R U N N I N G in Circles (so many miles, I'm basically a Golden Retriever), W R I T I N G (random, energetic journaling) , G R O W I N G (a garden, my headspace), T A L K I N G (with family, friends, athletes, clients, neighbors, strangers... I've been talking to everybody!) Combine these with the desire to be a good person, a contributor to society, to help people, to stand up against the bigots and the bullies. I have so many questions of where do we build from here. Where do I build from here? Well, we start with the foundation. The basics. What we are all building off of. You got this!!