Thriving Health Reflections
With the launching of this new year, I shared with you 5 habits I plan to personally practice for 2020. Now it is time to reflect on and plan for Thriving Health’s growth. Within this article I want to share with you how 2019’s resolutions unfolded. Next time, I’ll fill you in on exciting goals for 2020. (You can peak back at my January 2019 Alfred Sun article or website blog to see my original resolutions and how they evolved.) ✔Expanded the RESTART* program: In addition to Alfred, I taught RESTART in two new locations--Wellsville and Howard. This was wonderful to reach new communities! I also added an element to the program; participants created and sampled RESTART recipes each week. Everyone loved the variety of new foods that this provided. It inspired creativity and made class that much more fun. ✔Published more live videos at Facebook.com/thrivinghealthNY: Many of you joined me in my kitchen as I shared nutrition tips and recipe demos. Then, once I moved to Kristina and Kelby Snyder’s homestead, Kristina joined the videos! We talked about gardening, nutrition, cooking, fermenting veggies, and more! This collaboration inspired us to plan and launch our new blog, Real Life with Maria and Kristina! ✔Grew “Nutrition in a Nutshell”: In addition to writing more articles in the Alfred Sun on various nutrition concepts, I produced bi-weekly recipes and nutrition tips. Not only did this provide you with more practical resources, but it also got me recording more of my recipes! ✔ Increased my focus on family health: While I did not offer classes in this area, I was able to take continuing education classes and began seeing more pediatric and prenatal clients. It definitely affirmed that family health, particularly women’s health and fertility, is my passion! I am so excited to continue to grow in this area. ✔Hosted “Nourishing our Family” and “How to Conquer the Craving” classes: These are two classes which I produced and taught in 2018. I taught “Nourishing our Family” in Howard and “How to Conquer the Craving in Wellsville”...then, in 2019, I went to Bolivia and taught them both multiple times! I am so thankful to have these classes as a resource. ✔Taught nutrition in Bolivia: Along with the above two workshops, I was able to work with a children’s home in Cochabamba, Bolivia to implement new menus and healthy habits for their home. It was such a rewarding trip! ✔Launched my “Meal Prep Workshop”: This workshop was supported by Alfred’s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” event and was hosted by the Rogue Carrot. Not only did I equip fifteen participants with principles to help them meal prep for their specific lifestyle, but I learned a lot about my own meal prepping techniques. ✔ Hosted a “Holiday Dessert Party”: This was a dynamic and delicious evening for the community. This event was held at the Terra Cotta Coffeehouse, where my guests enjoyed five courses of nourishing desserts, food trivia, door prizes and a relaxing environment to visit. Each guest also took home a recipe book with the evenings’ menu. It was such a joy to host! Following the event, the feedback was so positive AND my guests have continued to share with me how they are making the recipes at home. ✔Launched “Kid’s Restart”: This program was inspired by a young man--about 10 years old--who was eager to go through the adult “RESTART” program! So, I created a Restart for him, and launched it at the Alfred Box of Books Library. Along with the kids and parents, I also had so much fun! This 3-week class covered the topics of real food, hydration, and cooking skills. Included in each week’s lesson, the kids played educational games and made yummy snacks. I am very excited to bring this program to more local libraries and schools in 2020. ✔Wrote and co-hosted the workshop “Supporting Your Immune System with Nutrition and Herbalism”: Did you now that Alfred is now home to a clinical herbalist? Mark Tulk moved to Alfred this last year and I was so excited to co-host a workshop with him. We look forward to providing more education and services to the Alfred area. Thank you for journeying with me through the reflections of 2019! I hope you benefited from all that Thriving Health produced. I would love to hear feedback from you or ideas of how I can best serve you in 2020!
*RESTART is a 5-week nutrition program that includes nutrition education and a food challenge.
