Mental Health

Before I had a husband and children of my own, I was a very laid back, easy-going person. I’ve always been super routine and planner oriented, but I could still go with the flow. There are so many things that change after kids-your body, your hair, the bags under your eyes, wrinkles, etc. The biggest and most insane change for me has been the worry and anxiety that has come with having a family of my own. I recently had surgery under general anesthesia for the first time since having children. In the days leading up to that surgery, I fell into a rabbit hole of worry and anxiety. I thought things like, ”what if I never wake up from the...

March 2020 marked one year since I’d started a long and arduous weight loss journey. It’s never been about being skinny so much as feeling good and showing a healthy example for my kids. I’d lost 30 pounds between March and September and maintained that loss through holidays and vacations thereafter. There's No Trick There was no magic pill or colorful drink. There was no special diet where I could only eat four foods at any given time. There was no subscription service or MLM. I researched and read and got help from a nutritionist and at the end of the day it was simple – calories in versus calories out. Tracking, weighing portions, balanced diet. That’s what it all boils...

As a little girl, as far back as I can remember, I was a worrier.  I’d often crawl into the comfort and safety of my parents’ bed, in the sweet spot right between them that we’d affectionately dubbed “the hole,” in the middle of the night because I had worried myself sick and inconsolable because of one of the many, many intrusive “what-ifs” that circled in my brain.  What if I have to talk out loud in front of the class?  What if a black hole develops and sucks us in and we all die?  What if my parents die? What if there is nothing after we die?  Rather embarrassingly, I was in my late 20s before I realized that...

I remember when my youngest child came home from the hospital and my mother was trying to convince me that I only needed a couple of sets of clothes and a couple of sleepers for her.  Her reasoning was that she was a newborn and that she would quickly grow out of everything.  Besides, I already had a toddler at home and I SHOULD be doing laundry at least twice a week anyway.  Also, I only need three or four bottles because I'm washing them daily. *insert eye roll* Now, my baby girl is my second child but nowhere near only the second child that I have had a hand in raising. As I look back, I can honestly say...

In February 2018 I just landed an amazing job, bought my own house, just turned 23, felt the most comfortable I ever had in my own skin, and recently retired from competing for Miss Louisiana. I felt like things had fallen into place until I found out I was pregnant. I was scared, but not for the typical reasons someone young and not married would be scared about having a baby. I had supportive family and friends. That was no issue. It felt like a death sentence. I was scared because of everyone telling me “just wait”. Everything I was told and read made being pregnant feel like a death sentence. I was generally advised to hurry up and get married, quit...