123: "Nobody's broken. We all have imperfections, and that's okay." Personalized meal recommendations and resilience techniques with Manda Lynn McVey

Jen Amos 0:00

litary spouse community since: 2013

Unknown Speaker 0:51

Thank you. I'm happy to be here.

Jen Amos 0:53

Yeah, absolutely. And I know we're talking a little bit about this offline. But you recently PCs, is that correct? Yes. Yes. And so you've gone from a background of a whole bookshelf and everything going on back there to this solid, simplistic background, which I like, well,

Speaker 1 1:08

I'm actually on my kitchen table right now, because my office is still in shambles. Because I would say a good third of all of our certificates and things were broken and the relocation and yeah, so that claims in progress.

Jen Amos 1:25

Oh, gosh, anyway, and I know that you recently PCs for the summer, so I'm sure you have some opening thoughts for mandolin.

Speaker 1 1:32

Oh, man, I do. I mean, my office is currently the only room in the house. That's completely done, because I have to be in here. And we, you know, but literally, everything else still has a box or something that needs to be put up. And I was going to say like, and that's our claim dot dot dot. Like we're still waiting on our claim to and we put it in? I don't know in July. And we're still waiting. Yeah. So good luck with getting all of your certificates free free. Oh, yeah, I know. Yeah. I'm just glad that we bought the initial frames on like a huge clearance sale at a store that was going out of business for like five bucks apiece. So if we're out of money, it's not as much money as it really should have been, because it should have been hundreds of dollars, but it's not. So if I had paid for them outright, it would be hundreds of dollars. So oh my goodness, they didn't even deliver my husband's motorcycle on the initial delivery and they acted like they didn't even know it existed. So that pretty much that event right there sums up the whole BCS on the military move side. Like you had a motorcycle, motorcycle. And he's like, I thought he was just gonna, like, grab a hammer and start smashing things. Ron is the most patient comb person I know. And I don't think I've ever seen him in so many shades of like, angry red and purple. Like he was a little bout to like blow his top.

Jen Amos 2:52

No, yeah, you don't mess with a man in his motorcycle.

Speaker 1 2:55

Yeah. And we got the liaison from the installation to come over. Because when we were opening the crates, the boxes were like smashed. And he was basically like, yeah, you know, just put in a plane. I'm like, No, your job is supposed to tell people this is not okay. Like, you're supposed to do something about this. And he's like, it happens. Like, no, no, that shouldn't be your answer. So

Jen Amos 3:18

yeah, thank you for opening up with that. And I feel like at a loss of words, and I'm just I just want to say I'm sorry. That, you know, sorry that you and RON are experiencing that. And you know, I'm sure a lot of military spouses can relate to just the craziness of PCs saying and you know, things going missing?

Speaker 1 3:36

Absolutely. Yeah, things getting broken things going missing. It's a challenge that we all face frequently. So, yeah, it was an experience. And Ron's had a lot of PCS is before we were married, and he's like, I've never had a bad PCs. Like, yeah, there's been a box that's gone missing, or, you know, but I mean, that stuff happens, even when you move yourself sometimes because you like, somehow just misplace a box, like get set outside the garage or something when you're packing, and then you drive away without putting it on the truck and don't realize it till you get there or something. So, yeah, I don't

Jen Amos 4:10

Well, a good thing to know that you are the holistic wellness practitioner that you are because I only imagine that there are ways that you have been able to you and Ron have been able to tolerate this situation. And I'm curious if you don't mind sharing, if you have maybe coached him on ways to you know, maybe find your zen in this moment.

Speaker 1 4:30

As a family, we really just focus on breathing a lot. You know, like your breath is everything. And I think anybody that has tried to learn anything about resilience or calming or stress management of any kind, you know, the first thing you're always taught is your breath, pay attention, your breath, and it's really just three deep breaths. The deepest you can take them hold them for a couple seconds and then blow it all the way out. It really just brings more oxygen to your body. It gives you a chance to pause. It's like counting to 10 because It takes you about 10 seconds to take those three deep breaths, you're focusing on something other than just counting. And it just gives your brain kind of a chance to reset. And then you can try to reevaluate the situation and move forward. Sometimes it doesn't work, and you're just more oxygenated. But more oxygen is never a bad thing for your brain, especially in a stressful situation. So that's where I always tell people to start. And with this PCs, we used it as a vacation. Like we took a two and a half week vacation for a trip from Washington to Louisiana. And we stopped at a bunch of places we wanted to see, Ron and I both grew up in Phoenix, and we've never been to the Grand Canyon, which is ridiculous. You lived there for 20 something years, and you never go to like the one tourist attraction. But I think that's kind of a trend that you see with a lot of people is they don't see the tourist attractions and the places they grow up, because they're like, Oh, well, it'll be there next year, next year, next year, and then they never go, and then they move away. So we did that. And we met up with his dad and his grandma, who is still alive. So she got to meet her great granddaughter because she hadn't met Ellie yet. And we got to see my bonus kid Caden in Texas. And, you know, we just got to do a lot of things that we had wanted to do for a long time, and just made sure that we were using a lot of Airbnb instead of hotels that were within our price range. So it was like going home every night. And it was just a more relaxing environment to be able to like lay down on a couch and then go to a bedroom to sleep and have a refrigerator and a kitchen and those kinds of things. I think it really helped, especially when we started having, like we found out halfway through the trip that our stuff was getting delayed, and then that the delivery day got moved up again to before we were supposed to be in Louisiana. So then it got delayed for three more weeks. And so you know, like dealing with all of these things, we wouldn't have been having a good time. While we were getting that news, I think we might have all spiraled out of control a little. So it was helpful that we made sure to have a plan in place to have everything be the best that it could regardless of what the military did with our belongings.

Jen Amos 7:05

Yeah, and I really like how you guys decided to stay out of Airbnb, um, I have been living quite a transient life lately, myself. And I think that's the greatest and what most wonderful difference between staying at a hotel versus an Airbnb is edit. Like you said, an Airbnb, it feels like you're coming home, you know, and it's already furnished, you know, you have your own bed, and like you said, everything that you listed, especially when things feel so chaotic, it's just nice to have sort of what feels constant. You know,

Speaker 1 7:33

when we had to stay at a hotel because there wasn't an Airbnb within our budget, or there wasn't one around at all, we would make sure to find one that was like a king suite, or, you know, to Queen suite so that it would have an extra sitting space. So you weren't just like hanging out in the same spot all day from Wake until sleep if you you know, and it just makes it better. You know, it's a better way to travel, if you have to travel, that's the best way to do it, just get the most space that you can so that you have different spaces to be in with yourself and other people especially so that you can take that time away after you've been cooped up in a car all day, you can be like I'm going in the room and closing the door, leave me alone, and they're like, Okay, bye bye. Just find that time to give yourself a little bit of space and make sure that you have some kind of routine, even if it's everybody's 15 minutes in the bathroom to like, you know, brush their teeth, wash their face, do all of those things before bed, just make sure that you've got some kind of something that's consistent in order to help mitigate the like difficulties of the as you call that transient lifestyle that comes along with a PCS. I think that really helps. Yeah, absolutely. Especially having that physical space away from your loved ones. Because it's like as much as you love them. You can love them better when you have a little distance. Right? And so I'm glad I'm not alone on that.

Jen Amos 8:55

Well, Amanda, thank you for just opening up with that and sharing us a little bit of a snapshot of your life right now and everything that's going on and more importantly, taking the time to chat with us in all this craziness. Like one thing that you know in my current transient life the one thing that has been the most stressful and yet most grounding is having conversations like this just being able to stop and check in with people and see how everyone else is doing and also just knowing you know that I'm not the only one you know moving around a lot. Yeah, and so it's just again it's great to have these types of conversations. So Amanda is so much has happened and so many good things have you know added into your life since we last spoke and first and foremost you added more credentials and more letters to the entity name. So why don't you tell us a little bit about that and and what your studies have been like in the last year that we haven't spoke

Speaker 1 9:42

so and March of: 2021

Jen Amos: 12:10

Yeah, I think the key word here, too, is, you know, the reason why you have all these credentials is to have that international credibility is to know that as a military spouse, you can take your practice anywhere, and make these recommendations. And I think that's, you know, really important. And, you know, I think a good tip for spouses who want to possibly get into the similar space is you to be able to keep in mind, you know, I actually never thought of that, I never thought that I wouldn't be allowed to give some health advice, depending on where I'm located. But it makes a lot of sense. I mean, just as with teachers, I know that teachers have to be, you know, licensed in a certain state in order to teach and you can't take that into another state, it sounds like the same thing as in your circumstance as well, to be able to get these credentials so that you can, you know, go up and beyond whatever state and wherever you end up PCSing to.

: 12:54

Absolutely, there's actually a lot of states that don't allow health coaches, like legally, you're not allowed to be a health coach within their state. So the way that some spouses get around that is, you know, they'll practice virtually, but then you still have that weird caveat of that gray area of you are physically present in the state that you're not supposed to be practicing in either your client or not. And so you have to be really careful about those lines. I know, a few years ago, there was a gal in Florida that was practicing as a health coach, and she got sued, because her client didn't like whatever the results were, or maybe the client got sick, I can't recall the details. But she actually ended up doing time in prison. Oh, gosh, because she was practicing virtually. And it was a person that lived in a different state, but she was physically present in Florida. And that's where her business was licensed. And she was like, Well, then why did you let me license my business here from my lack of practice? So and they told her it was her responsibility to understand the law. And she's like, well, it's your responsibility to not license businesses that are illegal in your state. So maybe if I misunderstood the law, then, you know, when I'm applying for that business license, you can say this isn't illegal business here. We're not going to license you, you know, and then she'd be like, Oh, why not? And so there's a whole, you know, Congress act going on about that in Florida, and all of these things. But yeah, it's complicated when you're in the wellness industry, way more complicated than I ever thought it was before I got into it, and it takes a lot of maneuvering. But if you get the right credentials, you're pretty safe, no matter what you do, as long as you're not like trying to actually prescribe and diagnose things to people. So yeah, yeah. Oh man, licensing and credentialing. Yes. I am glad to hear that you have some form of like board or something behind you that isn't state dependent because man what an uphill climb that is for spouses, like I mean that honestly that is part of my row. to being an outreach coordinator in mental health is that I started out as a teacher and was licensed in Virginia. And then we moved to Connecticut. And then we moved to California. And you know, to continue to keep up the licensing and the payments for that licensing and all the credentialing for the licensing, when you're not even going to be there long enough to really keep it up. It's really difficult. So I'm glad you have found like an option that allows you to do the thing that you want to do that you know, you're passionate about, and you don't have to reinvent the wheel with every PCs. It's Man, what a pain that is. And I mean, I am really glad that there are things out there like joining forces. Now that's really working on those things for spouses, because I mean, it really is a detriment to society as a whole, when they're those of us out there qualified for things that simply can't do what they're a passionate about and be qualified for. Because of the licensing issues. Absolutely. Yeah, I completely agree with you there. That's I was excited to find out there was a national credentialing board for my profession, I had no idea it even existed. And my school recommended that everybody as a student join the NA NP, because it's $99 per student per year for your membership. And they offer all kinds of different classes and CEUs and things and I knew I would need to have those going forward to keep my credentials. So I got the membership. And then I actually earned a scholarship to attend their conference that they have. So I got to learn even more about the NA NP and I got to get all of these CPUs under my belt. And then I got the professional membership. And then they sent me the invite to take these certification exams after I graduated. And I was like, Oh, I didn't know that was a thing. This is amazing. And so now I'm out there like pushing it all over the place and trying to tell everybody I know in the wellness industry that qualifies to go take those exams. And I know a couple of schools that do preparatory courses for them as well. So if somebody is a health coach, or a wellness coach, and they don't feel like they have the credentials to do it, or the knowledge, they can take the preparatory course. And then if they can pass, then they can still get the credential. So,

Jen Amos: 17:11

you know, this reminds me of our conversation back in episode 69, where you shared how much you are an answer seeker, and how much you love, like, you know, no matter your circumstances, like especially, you know, when you married Ron, and he was already, you know, acclimated in the military life, and he didn't know what to provide for you. It's like you sought that out anyway. And so here you are being able to fully function in your profession, because you were able to find a way to do that and to get these credentials. So I just want to say kudos to you, you know, and just your ever desire to, you know, grow and adapt and seek out, you know, the answers, you need to be able to fully function as the best version of yourself in this military life.

Unknown Speaker: 17:50

Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah,

Jen Amos: 17:53

it's always worth noting, I always think it's important to, you know, like, compliment people for their journey and how resilient Yeah, and keyword resiliency, which will I'm sure we'll get to a little more later here. So moving on, you know, last time we talked, our last conversation was really you describing, you know, what you did and how you help people. But since then you were able to come up with a new brand. And that is called the heel Attari spouse. And so tell us a little bit about this new brand. Has it changed the way you approach your business and how you chose a name and all that good stuff?

: 18:22

Well, so choosing the name was actually I think, it's probably been a labor of love since 2013. When I first took my initial health coaching program that I was enrolled in. I ended up withdrawing from that program. And I think I talked about this in the previous episode, but it wasn't quite right. For me it just like there was something about it. That didn't feel right. So I was on a long hiatus until I found sweetheart and went there. But you know, I had all these different names, I had nourish national stay, because I want people to nourish themselves. And I'm really into food. So that was the nosh. And I'm a yoga and meditation instructor. So that was the Nomis day, and it was a catchy name, but it didn't feel right. And then I did from the ground up wellness, because again, we're building from the ground up, right, always building from the ground up, you have to get grounded before you can move forward. And it's just like a tree, you have to get those routes before you can get the leaves. But that was still not quite right. And it was really long for people to type into.

Jen Amos: 19:21

Right, web browser,

: 19:22

all of these different things. And there were a lot of other companies called from the ground up. And I realized a lot of them were construction companies, right. And I applaud their name choosing but I didn't want to get confused with other companies. And I did find quite a few other wellness organizations of different aspects. None of them were wellness coaches, but they still had the same name in some capacity. So I just made a list of a bunch of names and I sent it out to like 15 of my friends and ask them all which one was the best and I had some really deep seated conversations with some of them about why they chose the name that they chose, you know in regards to me as a person and what they know about my practice and my journey. And one of them specifically told me, I would not choose the military spouse. And I said, why? And they said, it sounds like you're promising to heal people. And some people might take that as implying that maybe they're broken, or they need fixing. Oh, interesting. And I said, Okay, tell me some more, you know, and we talked about, and we talked for like an hour, and he's a really great friend. And he actually laughed when I told him that it was the name that I picked, he's like, of course he did. And his wife is one of my really good friends too. And she's in love with the name. And she was actually totally for it, which is just one of those things, that's, you know, the irony of coupling, right, and the Yin and Yang there, because she was like, You should choose this name. And he's like, don't do it. And those conversations were so separate, I don't even think the other one knew that I was talking to the other one about it. So it took some real deep reflection, actually, on my part. And I really wanted something that related back to being a military spouse, so that it was relatable to the community, but also just because that's who my clientele is. And that's what I focus on is military spouses and significant others, and military. You know, so didn't really quite sound right. So, spouse, and it is all about healing, right? Like, No, nobody's broken, nobody's broken. We all have imperfections. But that's okay. You know, like, we wouldn't be human. If we didn't, we'd be even robots have imperfections and can like glitch out, right, but nothing is perfect. So I think putting healing in the name is like, if you're ready to take that next step to improve your own wellness, and focus on yourself and find the healing that you need and deserve and want. I'm here to help you with that journey. And that's pretty much how I got there, it was a lot of like journaling and meditating and just listening to my friends go on and on about why I should or shouldn't pick whatever name and then kind of putting all of the things that I heard from them into my own little, like, lists of things. And then still unitary spouse came out on top after I listened to all the reasons of why they wouldn't pick the names, why they would pick the names. So

Jen Amos: 22:21

yeah, well, I think that's amazing how you really took that time, because this is going to be the name that you're going to see all the time, you know, it's going to be in your face, it's going to be something you're promoting, and, you know, etc, etc. And I appreciate the work that you put into it. And the research even right now, my husband and I are working on this new campaign, and we're trying to come up with like, what is the name that represents this entire campaign. And just like with you, it takes a lot of like talking to people and researching and, you know, sitting with it, and you know, redoing it. And so I just want to acknowledge the you know, how hard that is to do and how much of it is a process because, you know, it's not just like something practical you're doing, it's kind of emotional, you know, like, this is something you're gonna stand by that you're passionate about. And so I just want to, you know, say kudos to you for being able to take that time. And I remember when you first messaged me that you finally had your new brand, I was excited for you, because I knew you were thinking about it for a while. And I think you were still sort of figuring out the early stages of it when we last spoke.

: 23:20

Yeah, I love the love that you pulled the community. I mean, one thing Jen and I, I think, aside from mental health, the other thing Jen and I love most is community. And I love that you went to your community, who are your people, and also the people you want to serve to like, come up with that name actually wrote that down, like community input, I think is awesome. And I'm really curious to know more about why your one friend was like, no, no like it like it's so implies broken that you should not pick this one because I've never looked at your name and ever, that's never been a thought that crossed my mind when I look at your name on the social. So I am curious to know like more about that. So the irony of it, too, is that so he is a veteran himself, right? And his wife is the military spouse obviously. So that's the difference in perspective, right? From a female military spouse and a male veteran looking at the words. So that right there kind of proves and with your own input that you just said it proves that my name is speaking to the community that I'm focusing on. And, you know, I mean, it was just a lot really deep down. It was a lot of him really just saying, you know, a lot of people have a hard time reaching out for help when they're trying to heal and seeing you know, like implying something that sounds like you're talking about you're going to heal them could really come off as them feeling like they need to be fixed because they need to be healed. And he's like and, and then also he mentioned a few things about because I obviously am not I mean I I'm a healer, yes. But I'm not a healer, right? Like I can't heal them, they have to do the leg work, and I can't heal them, I can guide them on a journey to find healing. And he said, you know, some people might misinterpret what I'm trying the message that I'm trying to get across. But he said he understood it, and that it made sense. But I think he was just trying to play devil's advocate for me, because I think it was the name I was leaning towards the most at that time, also. So I think he really wanted me to reflect and like, recognize all of the cons that could come with having that name and see if I still wanted to embrace it, or if it felt like something else was a better fit. What a great friend like I like that they're two of my favorite humans on the planet. Yeah, I mean, that's awesome. A The other thing that came up as you're talking is like, and man, does that speak to the stigma like that the military community still has to work on like, yep. As someone who works in mental health, we're constantly talking about and educating about, like, mental health stigma. And man, if that conversation doesn't speak to that, I don't I don't know. It does. Absolutely. Yeah, it definitely hit home for me on that one. But my like your name? Yeah, it was an alert on social media. I are very easy to find.

Jen Amos: 26:21

We like your name. I like it. Yeah, we like it, you know.

: 26:26

And my official name is actually he'll Attari spouse, LLC. I am an LLC, but he Oteri spouse is me. And then Ron is actually he's studying exercise science. And he's already got his personal trainer certification. So when he retires, we're going to open like a wellness clinic somewhere. That's our long term blood. And we already have like a practice name, but I'm going to be the military spouse, and he's going to be like the military coach. So veteran or something, yeah.

Jen Amos: 27:00

I also did

: 27:03

this well, I teach people how to eat and how to meditate. Because I don't want to teach people how to exercise. I'm with you on that. I'm much more I eat well, and meditate. Do some yoga exercise, not really my strong suit. I'm like, I should exercise.

Jen Amos: 27:19

Yeah, I'm definitely there with all of you as well. It's kind of like, oh, I mean, I know how to eat well, if I really want to, but like, lifting weights? I don't know, I think I'm fine. Although I need to get into it. But anyway, that's what I always say, and I don't get into it. So I should just stop lying to myself.

Unknown Speaker: 27:34

Yes, me too.

Jen Amos: 27:36

Yeah. Well, speaking of which mandolin, you hinted at us that, you know, with the military spouse, what you do is, you know, create personalized meal recommendations and resilience techniques to your clients. So tell us a little bit about what that looks like. Give us an example. Even you know, you don't have to mention names of clients. But what that looks like if a client is to work with you.

: 27:56

So what I do is at my first phone call for, as with most wellness practitioners, the first call is like 30 minutes, it's complimentary just to see if I even have services that can work for the client. And we think that we can work together with the goals that they're trying to meet. And then once we establish that I can actually serve them or that I have the potential to the first appointment is really just taking a deep dive into their goals, to find out, you know, if they're wanting to focus more on spirituality or nutrition, or just, you know, stress management and resilience techniques, or you know, where their goal of wellness needs to start so that they can then go into the other areas. And based on that I do different exercises at every visit like worksheet exercises that I have, that are different forms, you know, different questionnaires that helped me evaluate where they're at some of them Jennylyn would even be familiar with I'm sure because they're not the Depression Scale rating, but they are close to like the Depression Scale rating so that I can make sure that my clients are also in a mentally fit frame of mind for me to be working with them and that I don't need to be referring them out for maybe professional help that's outside of my scope. And I obviously have a list of people that I refer people out to when that is a practitioners I refer people out to when that is necessary. But then we just for meal planning, I really like to make it fun. And I try to find a day during the week that my client doesn't have a lot going on. I do not focus on like weekend meal prep because weekends are actually usually the busiest place in most houses. If you think about it, everybody's home. There's a whole bunch of stuff going on. You're trying to have family time. So if you've got like Tuesday afternoon and nothing's going on, then Tuesday is your meal planning day, right? So get in the kitchen and do your prep on Tuesday afternoon. I focus on like sheet pan meals, crock pot meals, things that you can cook off once and then freeze a bunch of it and have it later. Like I'm not a big fan of like cook once eat three times because I am not a leftovers. eater. So I get that people don't want to do that. But I am a fan of batch cooking and making enough food to feed 12 people and then freezing 10 portions of that. So then throughout the month, I can just pull stuff out of the freezer after I've done that a few times, and we just kind of have like a rotating cycle where I'm usually only clicking two or three times a week. And that's if I want to make fresh food. Otherwise, I'm just pulling something out of the freezer, and maybe like having a fresh salad with it or you know, having some fruit for dessert or something. And that's what I try to teach my clients is how to do that, it really makes your life a lot easier. Because you just literally are like heating this up in a pan, I don't even own a microwave. So I won't teach you how to heat things like cook things that you have to have in a microwave, I don't even own a microwave, then. So the sessions are usually about 45 minutes. But if somebody needs meditation or yoga, then it becomes an hour and a half. So they can also have 45 minutes of the meditation and the yoga Incorporated. And that's just based upon their needs. I'm actually studying a trauma informed yoga certification right now. So that people who might be triggered by common words and phrases that are used in regular yoga practice or different poses can have an alternate version of yoga, that still gives them the same benefits, but is not going to be triggering for them. Hopefully, due to the traumas that they may have been through in their life, it's warriors at ease. And I think most people in the military community have heard about that at some point in time. And I'm also studying Irest, yoga nidra, which is just a form of meditation and relaxation. So I mean, I can really like literally curate anything that my clients need to help them with their wellness, if they need spirituality, then I can help them find books or different resources in order to, you know, maybe an online community for their religion, maybe they study Buddhism, or you know, Judaism, and there's not a community in the area that they're currently in, then I can help them find the online resources to be a part of a community again, so that they can get that connection that most of us want. When we're you know, doing a religious study or a spiritual study of some kind.

Jen Amos: 32:07

My mind is still thinking about how you encourage people to, you know, prep their food, when they have downtime during the week, which I think is clever, because like you said, most people recommend on the weekends or like Sundays, and then putting it in the freezer. I'm like, Oh my gosh, like that is so smart. Like rather than just kind of like dig around the pantry and see what's there. And it's usually something carbs related. You know, it's like, oh, just pull something out of the freezer and put in a pad and warm it up and eat it. You know, with the salad. I think it's quite genius. And now it's giving me ideas for how to get back into good health. Yeah,

: 32:38

I really love listening to mandolin, talk about how she curates things for clients. Because I know, as a friend of mandolins, that she curates lots of things like fun pencils and notebooks because we have a constant Instagram thread going through all of our favorite products. And so I just wanted to mention that out here that in addition to all of the wonderful spiritual and mental health resources, she curates, she could also probably provide you with a great planner to keep track of all of this. A side note, I am working on a collab with a certain pencil company to my name on some. So yes, I'm so excited like my inner nerd justed. We have the same love of pencils.

Jen Amos: 33:28

Oh, man, they do everything digitally.

Unknown Speaker: 33:31

I better get a first edition. That's all I'm saying.

Jen Amos: 33:34

Yes, it's been recorded.

: 33:37

I just really had to throw that in there. Because we literally talk about it probably twice a week on Instagram and send each other things. And so I thought the podcast world should know that. If you're looking for like writing instruments or paper or notebooks, mandolin, I got you covered and a very long list of excellent things. Yes. Yeah. Anything you need. I know how to curate it.

Jen Amos: 33:58

Yeah, backed. I also just really, in addition to everything that Jenny Lynn shared, I really like how much of a student you are mandolin, with your practice and making sure that you do curate, you know, the right things for your clients. I remember one thing I really liked about our conversation last time, which kind of stuck with me is when you said like, you know, just just incorporate more plants in your food. Like could you just do that, like just just add more plants more green? And I was all like, and I remember he said something like, oh, everything else is fine, but just add more green. And I was like, I like that that is an easy dietary tip to do is like finding anything green for my food. And then I'm good. I mean, obviously there's more to that. And you know, it shouldn't be taken as like, actual professional advice, but it made me feel good thinking like, oh, like Yeah, if I just even start there. You know, I'm doing some of that. Right?

: 34:47

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that is literally like the first few things that I tell most of my clients, you know, like drink water, right? Make sure you're drinking water. I have to have this My hydro jug, okay, lemons, I will drink this in a day. Or if I have a 16 ounce bottle, I will drink that in a day because I monitor my sips and like meter them out based upon the size of the beverage and like I'm lazy, I don't want to get up and refill my water a lot of times throughout the day. So if it starts getting low, I start taking smaller drinks. And I just know that I do this. I don't know why I do it. I know I need to drink water. But I'm aware of this ridiculousness in myself. So what do I do, I address the problem, and I get a large enough vessel that holds how much water I'm supposed to consume throughout the entire day. And then that way, I know it doesn't matter how big or small drinks I'm taking by the end of the day, as long as that's empty, I drink enough water. And I don't have to worry about where I'm at, I take it with me everywhere. I don't have to worry about remembering to bring an extra water bottle when I go out of the house because I'm not going to like buy some disposable bottle of water unless I've completely like gone an hour away from home and less my water at home. And I'm like, oh, I need hydration. So I just Yeah, I don't use single use stuff whenever I can avoid it, because the planet needs our love, right? So I do what I can to stay healthy. And like you said, you know, just incorporate the greens, get the vegetables in there somehow swap a sweet potato for a regular potato when you can, you know, there's just a friend, that sometimes it's okay to have just a regular potato leave the skin on me scan, you know, there's nutrients on the skin, it's not fiber, like, there are different ways that you can take the things that you eat every day and just make them a little bit healthier for your life.

Jen Amos: 36:37

So, yeah, I appreciate the reassurance and that it's not as hard as I think a lot of us make it out to be it almost feels like health and wellness is kind of an event or it's like this big marathon that you need to prepare for, and therefore you don't want to do anything, or at least at least that's me. So I'm awesome. Well, Amanda, you know, it's so great to have been able to catch you at this time, get a snapshot of your life and where it is today. And now in talking about you know, your new brand, the heel Attari spouse, are there any call to actions that you want to share with our listeners today.

: 37:08

And before we go, well visit my website, the heal Terry spouse.com. You know, let me know what you think of my website, sign up for the newsletter. I haven't started an official newsletter yet, I'm still trying to work on what that's going to look like. But I do have an email and a sign up on there, you can contact me with any questions, you can sign up for a 30 minute free consultation on there. If you're interested in getting a session from the military spouse or learning what that looks like. I also offer like, one off sessions to do things like recipe makeovers. So if somebody found out that they have a food intolerance, you know, for example, and they have like their favorite Christmas cake, they can't have it anymore, I can help them remodel that. And I will keep working on it until it tastes like the closest that it can to their original recipe. So they can continue their family traditions. So you don't have to be an ongoing client if you wanted to sign up for a session like that. Also, I have an Instagram page at the military spouse, Facebook, the military spouse and LinkedIn, he would every spouse. So that's me. And yeah, I'm super excited to be here again. And I always love chatting you guys. So thank you very much. Yeah, thank

Jen Amos: 38:23

you mandolin. It's been great to follow your journey on social media, especially as you rebranded to the military spouse and to you know, catch up and see what that means now in practice and how you're helping your clients. But kudos to you again, to everything that you've been doing. So far. It's been great to have you back on the show.

: 38:40

I am equally as excited to have watched her business and her grow and continue to follow the journey and trade and helpful resources back and forth. It's it's fun. I love that this podcast brings people like mandolin to us. It's my favorite.

Jen Amos: 38:58

Yeah, and pencil and pencils. Yeah, I think I'm missing out on you are you are I do one more. Go ahead mandolin.

: 39:07

Um, I'm actually, I think at about 990 followers right now. So I'm getting ready to do a one kg giveaway. So just if anybody wants to know the details about that I have collaborated with some seriously awesome military spouse and veteran owned organizations to get some amazing wellness products put out there. And it's going to be a huge care package for one winner when I hit 1k. So people go over there, like and follow. And I will be posting about the giveaway on there. You'll find the instruction. Awesome.

Jen Amos: 39:42

Fantastic. Whoo. Awesome. Well, mandolin once again, it was a pleasure having you back on our show. Thank you so much again for joining us. Thanks. And genuine thank you for CO hosting with me as always,

: 39:53

of course. Thank you for working through all of my technical difficulties today. Just like

Jen Amos: 39:59

yeah, this is We get this edited so Thank you Dennis shout out to you and yeah and to our listeners of course thank you so much for joining us we hope that you got a lot of value from today and we'll chat with you in the next episode tune in next time