Starting Over.

Did you have a thought or a feeling when you read that?

Take a second with it. I’ll wait.

I’m in the midst of starting over myself, and I’ve been sitting with whether I even wanted to write this one. It’s a little vulnerable to admit when you’re the person who is supposed to have this figured out. But, here we are.

For the last couple of months, I have been building my business at the direct expense of my body. And I mean that literally. Like, I looked up one day and realized I had been running on stress hormones, Diet Coke, and sheer spite for longer than I’d like to admit.

You want the full rundown? Fine.

Skipped workouts. Wrecked sleep. Stress snacked or flat out missed meals. Drank Diet Coke like they’re actively sponsoring me, while drinking so little water you’d think I had successfully evolved into a desert animal. A very caffeinated, slightly unhinged desert animal who answers emails at midnight.

Here’s the fun part: this is literally my business. I coach people through exactly this. The cycle of running hard, the body quietly (and then not so quietly) falling apart, the moment you realize the wheels have come off. I know this cycle intimately. I built a whole framework around it.

And, here I am. Inside it.

Once upon a time, I would have looked at this moment and heard one word, loud and clear:

FAILURE.

(Anyone else picture that word in big Broadway marquee lights? Full production. Maybe a little dramatic sting from the orchestra pit.)

But, that’s not what this is. I know that now, even if the old version of me would have needed a minute… okay, several minutes… maybe a whole spiral… to get there.

This is data. Which is a hilarious word for me to use, given that I scored a whopping 1 on my AP Stats exam. To be fair, I have three Master’s degrees and only one of them made me retake statistics. So, I feel like I’ve been redeemed. Partially. The AP Board has not officially weighed in.

Here’s what I actually believe, and what I’ve watched play out in real life over and over again: patterns shift under stress. Sometimes they fall apart completely. That’s not a character flaw. That’s just how it works. The stress response is not subtle, and it doesn’t really care about your wellness goals.

Recognition is the beginning. Not the dramatic, tearful kind necessarily; sometimes it’s just a quiet oh. there it is. That counts.

So, what am I doing about it? I’m applying my own method to myself. I built a framework for exactly this moment, and I’m using it on myself right now: out loud, so you can actually see what it looks like in real life. Not in ideal conditions. Not when everything is going smoothly and the aesthetic is immaculate. In the messy middle, when it counts.

Honestly, before I could even start applying the framework, I had to get clear on which pattern was running my routines and where to begin. If that sounds interesting, the footer's got you. If not, thanks for being here, and stick around to see how this unfolds.

PS — when I’m not putting my own oxygen mask on, framework-style, I run The Re-Entry.

The Re-Entry is a 12-week strength + habit reset. Built for folks returning to fitness — including plus-size bodies, ADHD brains, single parents, and anyone whose schedule and attention are already at capacity. 20-minute workouts, 3 days a week, no fitness-influencer nonsense.

(Yes, I own a Diet Coke sweatshirt.)