Dear friend,

I would like to take the time to thank you for being a faithful reader, for always opening my emails (or coming directly to my site) and reading my latest post.

Thanks to you this site still exists today. Without you, my loyal reader, I would have stopped a long time ago. But you showing up for me made me show up for you. And for this I am forever grateful to YOU.

Yes, it’s true! My business and site are turning 4 today. It feels like I started them a long time ago and in the same time it feels like only yesterday I was writing my first blog post and taking my first food photo.

What a big difference 4 years make. This is my first post and this one of my most recent posts. One is a tiny, cute baby and the other one is a more mature child (still cute though). But I love them both dearly and I could never chose one over the other.

One symbolizes my timid start, my first steps in this new career as a Holistic Nutritional Consultant. The other symbolizes growth and progress. I couldn’t have the latter without the first. I am so grateful for both.

Many good changes happened in the last 4 years in my business and life. I learned from my mistakes, I made new goals (link to goals post) and I moved on. Always looking forward.

I started teaching at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. I LOVE teaching! Challenging and rewarding. I used to be afraid of public speaking and now speaking (or teaching) in front of a big audience is one of my favourite things.

I organize nutritional workshops. The next session starts on April 5.

I am working now not only with parents who have constipated kids and picky eaters, but also with adults who suffer from various chronic diseases (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high sugar level, weight gain, heartburn, etc.). Both sides of my business bring me great satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.

I am also writing an e-book on constipation and kids that will give parents a practical step-by-step guide to help their children have easy and pain-free bowel movements.

I became more present on social media over the last year. This might not sound like a big deal to you, but it’s a huge deal for me. It helped my business grow. You can find me on Facebook here and on Pinterest here.

On a personal level, I am learning how to ski. Talking about literally learning how to fall, get up and keep going. I used to say that I will learn how to ski when my youngest will learn. Well, she learned this year (she is using the chairlift too), so there were no more excuses for me now to start learning.

This is me being taught by my kids how to ski.

Learning how to ski

I am also learning Spanish. I am very excited about it. I LOVE foreign languages. My birth language is Romanian and I learned French and English in school. I also know a bit of Italian and Spanish, but just a bit (they are very close to Romanian and all three are Latin languages). I know a bit of German too, as I did 1 year in university.

I also fully embraced budgeting. After almost a year of reading lots of books that teach how to be smart with money (to save it and not waste it) and after a few months of trying to have a budget, it finally clicked for me.

Since the last 2 weeks of December last year (so 3 months now) my husband and I have a good budget and we are sticking to it. It’s mostly me who needs to stick to the budget as my husband’s expenses are less than 10 dollars a week. I am the one who buys food, books, clothes, activities for kids, gas, etc. (basically everything that our household needs). I am so proud of myself. I never thought I would feel so empowered staying on track with our budget. This budget allows our family to pay for our fixed expenses, pay for emergencies and it still allows for 3 medium holidays a year (or a big one oversees). We also have a big goal of buying a place for my parents in the next 5 years. We’ll see how this will unfold.

I still have many, many things to do and learn. My notebook is full of hopeful plans. But I am excited. Excited for the future, although I am ready for setbacks too as they are bound to happen. I know I will pick myself off the floor and keep going.

So today I want to take the time to celebrate my progress and success so far. I often don’t give myself enough credit and although I experienced progress in many areas of my life throughout the years, my high standards didn’t allow me to fully feel the joy that comes with accomplishing goals.

Until this year, 2017, when one of my goals is to look back not only at my failures, but also at my successes and celebrate them. Truly celebrate and enjoy them. This letter to you allows me to do just that.

Thank you for being here for me. I am here for you too. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with me anytime you have a question or comment. My “door” is always open for YOU!

I hope me sharing this with you will help you do the same for yourself. If you struggle to enjoy your achievements and if you mainly focus on your failures, please allow yourself to stop that non sense today. Be gentle on yourself. Take the time to feel the pleasure that comes from an accomplished goal.

You are worth it and you should be proud with your progress in any area you strive for progress. Experience satisfaction from progress, not perfection, and your life will be better for that. I know mine is!

In health and happiness,

Alina

I didn’t forget about the gift for you! How could I?

Picky eater no more

I am offering a 1 hour counselling session with me at 47 CAD (over 40% off) to the first 20 parents who contact me.

  • Do you have a picky eater and are feeling stuck? Do you wish your child would eat more than the same 5 foods all the time?
  • Do you have a constipated child? Have you tried everything and anything to help them poop, but without success? Do you want them to poop without pain and tears?
  • Is your child getting sick frequently and you wish there was something easy and not-time consuming you could do?
  • Do you feel that your entire family’s nutrition and health could use a make-over?
  • No ideas on what to plan for your family’s meals and snacks anymore? Are you stuck in a rut and you feel that your family is not getting the nutrition they should be?
  • Do you want to pick my brain about which specific foods and supplements you should be feeding your family to stop them from getting sick so often?

You ask the questions and I provide the answers. We can discuss any topic about your family’s health.

I usually have spots available in the morning. But I also have a few spots some evenings.

Write me here if you have any questions. Or, if you know exactly what you need help with and are ready to work with me, click here and let’s do this! You and I can work together and solve every problem you are struggling with.

Here’s what parents say about working with me:

“I wish I started working with you sooner.”

“Communication was great and very organized.”

“It was great to be able to contact you during stressful times. You were always fast to respond.”

“My 6-year old son was such picky eater. He would not even want to eat a bread butter and cheese sandwich. He was stuck on cereal, pasta, and dairy. Now he eats quinoa, chia bread with butter, mozzarella and turkey breast sandwich, a bit of mayo, lettuce, lemon and mustard. Even smoothies and strawberry and blueberry jam. All of these are new foods for him and I can tell he is now willing to actually try new foods. He is proud of the experience and even asks me what Alina thinks after he tries a new food.”

Constipated child no more