HEADED TO WASHINGTON!!!

How can it be March already? Time sure does fly when you are having fun and boy am I having FUN! I am not even sure where to begin my excitement is so over the top right now. 

So let’s start at the beginning shall we? 

kale2

Depending on how long you have known me, you might not know that I have been plant-based for almost 23 years. Maybe not entirely 100% whole foods and oil-free plant-based for ALL of those 23 years, but definitely sans meat in anyway shape or form. 

With that said, despite my long history of being plant-based, I still seek out information. I don’t have a degree in nutrition. I am not a doctor. If I could do things over in life, I might have gone in a different career route but I don’t regret one single day of my college education. 

So despite knowing what I know, I always feel better when I can fully educate myself on the latest science behind the benefits of a plant-based diet. That’s why more often then not, you’ll find my nose in the latest book (just finished The Cheese Trap by Dr. Neal Barnard – a MUST read)…

Photo from www.pcrm.org
Photo from www.pcrm.org

 … as well as attending a conference or taking some kind of certification to further bolster what I know deep down inside is right for the human body. I just feel more confident explaining and advising others, when I can tell them that I know what I know not just from experience, but from thoroughly studying and educating myself on the topic.  

To date, I have taken T. Colin Campbell’s Plant-Based Nutrition Certification Program, graduated from Rouxbe’s Plant-Based Professional Certification Course as well has having attended countless lectures and seminars by some of the most respected physicians in the plant-based world.

Dr. Michael Greger's lecture in 2016
Dr. Michael Greger’s lecture in 2016

Just last month I attended The Healthy Taste of Sacramento and heard Dr. John McDougall speak as well as Dr. Garth Davis and countless others. 

Healthy Taste of Sacramento Conference
Healthy Taste of Sacramento Conference

In my spare time, I’ve gone and visited places like True North, attended cooking demos and let us not forget Plant-Stock, the Mecca of plant-based education!! 

Plant-Stock 2016 with Dr. Garth Davis
Plant-Stock 2016 with Dr. Garth Davis
Plant-Stock 2015 with Rip Esselstyn
Plant-Stock 2015 with Rip Esselstyn

I do this because I love it. I do this because I live it. But more importantly, I do this because I want OTHERS to live it and love it too and I want them to have faith in what I am teaching them. Am I an expert? No, of course not but I am living proof that one can fully function as an ultra endurance athlete, a full-time working mom and basically a real person eating a 100% plant-based oil-free diet. I am not weak. I am not wasting away from a protein deficiency. 

They are in it for the long haul, not generic viagra discount here-today-gone-tomorrow, so you can believe them with your business. Men, who suffer from low testosterone levels, usually experience low libido or recurring impotence at one time or other requires the company of a special someone purchase cialis online to share every bit of their feeling and emotion. The tablets are available at affordable price range so as to allow easy purchase sildenafil generic india and inhibition of the medical problems are exceptionally small in nature and leave by simply taking one pill. If we talked best viagra for women about the United Kingdom, obesity rate in the UK is extremely high.

I look sickly and totally unhappy don't I?
I look sickly and totally unhappy don’t I?

So it is with great excitement that I share with you, that I have been selected to go to Washington D.C. to become a Food For Life Instructor as taught by PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine), Dr. Neal Barnard’s organization. 

Screen Shot 2017-03-09 at 8.35.58 PM
Photo from www.pcrm.org

Way back in September I started the grueling application process. Application, resume, references, videos … followed by phone interviews and back ground checks etc. PCRM only selects 25-30 people a year (globally) to attend (100 or so apply) and this year, I am one of few selected!

This May, I will fly to Washington D.C. for an intensive 3 day training at PCRM. They will teach us everything that we need to know (8 different kinds of curriculum) so that we can come back and in turn, educate others. 🙂

Photo from here.
Photo from here.

You may wonder, “What does she do for a living? This must be part of her job then.” Well, the answer to that is no and now, yes … stay with me here. 

My full-time job is not in wellness. Not one bit. I do all this plant-based stuff (like my cooking demos) because I like to do it and want to do it.

Fast forward to early February wherein my employer’s CEO gave a speech in which he stressed that he wanted to focus on his wellness and the wellness of our company.

His message had great intentions and excited a lot of people but they didn’t sit well with me. So I opened my big plant-based mouth and sent him a long email. Long story short, we had lunch at his request. Just the two of us, in his office and we discussed his wellness, the wellness of our company and the wellness of our country. It was a long lunch.

Just in that discussion alone, he saw my passion. He saw it and he told me, he wanted to utilize it.

So I am going to Washington, D.C. to get certified even further in Plant-Based Nutrition and Education. When I return, I can use my new certification to teach all kinds of classes AND best of all, I can use my certification to help motivate my fellow employees!

I love my company, I do, but for a very long time I have been frustrated by just how unhealthy we really are (in varying degrees). I am excited to be able to share my passion at work with those I interact with on a daily basis.

Of course I have a full plate between now and early May. Races, birthdays, swim team among other things (like further developing my YouTube Channel). Yet, I wouldn’t change a thing. This is who I am.  I love being busy and I love helping others heal.

kale1

Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

Share This:

18 Replies to “HEADED TO WASHINGTON!!!”

  1. Congratulations, that is so exciting!! You’re getting my wheels turning and showing it can be done!!

  2. You got it! Congratulations!! AND -for the first time-your blog email didn’t go to my spam file. Guess i finally created a functioning filter. Yay persistence!

  3. How amazing!! You inspired me on Howard’s podcast to start running. I’m a mom of a busy 2 1/2 year old and really needed to hear everything you said on that podcast. I’m so happy for you and can’t wait to see what you have to share!

    1. Kristie, you just seriously made my day. 🙂 Thank you and good for you! Us moms need our ME time to help us be better moms. Everyone benefits when we can get a run in. 🙂 Keep it up!!!

Comments are closed.