Howdy!

I'm Brandy Heflin, a certified health coach-in-training at Health Coach Institute, and founder of Holistic Health Management Online. I'm passionate about health and wellness, including fitness and nutrition for the body as well as nutrition for the mind and spirit. My certification will be complete in November of this year. I've practiced mindfulness meditation since January 2014. I've been on my journey toward being healthy in all domains of my life for far longer, since March 2009, learning healthy habits of body, mind, and spirit and turning them into a lifestyle. Personal growth, development, and transformation are what I eat, sleep, breathe, do, and LIVE!

By the age of 27, I was so overweight and out of shape that I would get winded walking up a flight of stairs. I am 5'1" and wore a size 20 jean. I had a quart a day soda habit--32 oz. of Cherry Coke with lunch--and at least once per week I'd follow that up with another quart at dinner (Mountain Dew). I ate "healthy" frozen meals for lunch most days, and fast food for dinner several nights per week, usually accompanied by iced tea. I felt awful physically and emotionally. I quite literally woke up one morning and thought, "I don't want to live the next 50 years of my life like this, if I even make it 50 more years." It was a sobering thought to realize that I was sending myself to an early grave. With that, I was done drinking soda, cold turkey. I started cooking for myself more and packing healthier meals for lunch, and I started being more conscious about what I chose when I did resort to fast food.

Within a week of quitting my soda habit, I took my dogs for an hour long walk, and it felt so good I decided to do it again the next day...and the next...and the next. Before I knew it, I'd gotten an hour of exercise every day for a whole week! I graduated to playing DDR Max at home for about half an hour per day, and then switched to some dance DVDs that were designed around 10 minute segments. I started at three of the segments in one session and worked my way up to being able to complete a whole 50-minute disc. I started adding some light resistance training using bands I'd purchased at a store that came with an instructional DVD. The weight was melting off of me, and I'd felt more accomplished and proud only on the day I graduated from Yale! A friend and I set a goal in June to run our first 5K at a locally famous race on Labor Day weekend. We ran together once a week or so and individually the rest of the time, and by gum, we both finished the race!

This kicked off the next seven years of cycles of completing outer work to feel better in and about my body, followed by inner work to feel better about myself, to gain self-awareness, and to heal past pain and my insecurities. I have had several ups and downs in that time, often losing my good physical self-care habits while in the throes of working through something emotional, and then regaining them when I'm feeling better again; however, I have never again weighed nearly as much as I did when I began or felt nearly as lousy!

Along the way, I've run two marathons--my proudest accomplishment to date!--two half-marathons, two Warrior Dashes, a duathlon, and some shorter races, including more 5Ks. (I wanted to add a photo of my medals, but SteemIMG is denying my request to upload that photo. The hanger is beautiful, laser-cut steel that reads, "She believed she could so she did.") I also have found a second home at Fit Body Boot Camp. The workouts are group classes with circuit training using a lot of body weight exercises and simple equipment--I treat them like adult recess, where I get to run, jump, play, and enjoy being in my body!

I have finally this year been able to hold both my physical self-care habits and my emotional self-care habits simultaneously, and this all has at last settled into my lifestyle and truly become a part of how I show up in the world. In May I heard my calling to become a health coach and to help other people change their habits too, permanently and without more of the struggle like I have been through myself. My journey has imbued me with a tremendous amount of compassion for the people who are struggling, who want to change their lives but can never quite sustain the habits for more than a handful of months, because that has been my road too. I feel thrilled to be learning the skill set to make this happen, to be a beacon for having healthy relationships with ourselves, our food, and our bodies, and to shine the light of love more brightly and more deeply!