it’s a new day. Are you ready to tackle your health goals?

February 7, 2021August 5, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / 35 Comments

Updated 8/5/2021

As I mentioned in previous posts I am revamping my coaching plans. I do this yearly to consolidate the plans and make them more targeted. As I continue to learn and grow they become better. I am also editing older posts to add my Mailchimp newsletter option and update any necessary info. This all takes a lot of time and new posts may be only weekly for a bit. I am looking at other options as well, such as creating some videos, especially for cooking with CKD. I think a lot of people just don’t know how to cook, or don’t think they have time to cook. I would say cooking and preparing your own meals is the #1 way to prevent and or get chronic diseases under control. Be sure to sign up for my newsletter so you never miss out on any posts. I am also working on different freebies for newsletter subscribers and special offers. I have tons of handmade items from my closed Etsy shop, just too time consuming when trying to get this going, and I may do some monthly contests for subscribers.

What does the It’s A New Day Plan look like? It’s a new day, and it’s time to meet your Health Goals, via tackling your goals head on and creating new healthier habits.

1- You can purchase the plan using the Paypal button below. You must live in the USA, at this time to be a client of Health Buddy Melissa. I need to read the laws of other countries before I can take that task on. You must be 18 years of age, or older. Please note my Paypal is old, and verified. I have had it for like 20 years. It is in my husband’s name, but it is completely mine. Once I receive notification of payment, within 48 hours I will send you a welcome email with an intake assessment for you to complete. All of my business emails are through Google Suite and are secure. If you use the contact form or leave a comment that goes to my Yahoo email. In your welcome email you will receive dates and times that I am available to review your intake assessment. You will need to choose one and put it in the return email with the intake assessment form. After I receive that we will meet via email, text, or via a phone call for us to review of your intake assessment. I don’t do video chats at first. You will need to decide the format. You will need to be on time for the assessment review. I will wait no longer than 15 minutes. The assessment review is completely free. You will have 48 hours after that to decide if you want to work with me to reach your health goals. If you decide yes we will proceed to the next step, if you decide no, your money will be refunded to you. All new one on one coaching customers must begin with the It’s A New Day plan. Your 30 days begins at the time of your first coaching session.

2- After the meet and greet, if you decide to work with me I will then send you a calendar of available dates and times for you to choose your coaching sessions. You will also receive privacy forms and a user agreement that will need to be signed and returned prior to the first session. Be sure to read the user agreement, which is your contract to do business with Health Buddy Melissa, carefully. It will contain all of the fine details.

3- You can choose between 1 session a week, 2 sessions a week, or 3 sessions a week. The prices for each will be outlined below. The sessions are done via email, phone chat, text or Instant Messenger. You will need to decide your platform. The very first session is where you will decide what goal you want to start with. Some examples could be better eating habits, better sleep, exercise, weight management, stress relief, pain relief, quit smoking, learning to cook, menu planning, time management, better food choices for your chronic illness, blood pressure, cholesterol, gut health etc. I will send one reminder before each session for your upcoming session. It is your responsibility to show up and be prepared for your session. Each session is 30 minutes long. It is your responsibility to respect this time frame. I can be flexible with dates and times because I also work out of the home 3 days a week. I understand not everyone can do a Monday to Friday 9-5 coaching schedule.

4- At the end of the 30 days, whether you have showed up for all of your sessions or not, the plan will end. You will be given the option to renew for another month, or terminate services. If you join my mailing list, below, I frequently offer savings on my coaching services. My target audience is middle aged women and men. If you would like to ask questions prior to purchasing a package, please use the contact form under the image. The questions will go to my Yahoo email.

Disclaimer

It’s A New Day 1 Day A Week Session

This is for one 30 minute coaching session per week, for 30 days.

$75.00

It’s A New Day 2 Days A Week Session

You will receive 2 30 minute coaching sessions per week.

$125.00

It’s A New Day 3 Days A Week Session

You will receive 3 30 minute one on one coaching sessions per week.

$250.00

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Social saturday: Share something interesting!

February 6, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / Leave a comment

Happy Saturday! It is raining here so I can’t do any of my outside stuff. But, that means I have plenty of time to work on inside stuff. Watch for my new and updated, It’s A New Day 30 day coaching plan. It should be posted later today. I hope to get some Valentine’s Day crafts done too. Next week’s menu plan is completed and you can get it by signing up for Meals With Melissa.

Today, if you want to share something interesting from a blog, or something you sell, you can do so in the comments. I will share all appropriate links to one of my social media sites. Appropriate means an item, or article that is not being sent to a spam site, or other malicious sites. I check and verify all links before sharing them. It would be nice if others shared my post too, but it is not required.

Today, I am sharing about the bird the White Ibis. Every year, towards springtime, and when we are going to get a lot of rain, flocks of these birds visit my yard, and the neighborhood. They roost in the trees and eat aquatic invertebrates. They make cute noises, too. Check out this page to learn more about this interesting bird. When I walk at one of my nature parks I will see the White Ibis roosting in the trees and searching for food in very large flocks. The all white ones are adults and the brown and white are juveniles. I love birds and nature. Taking pictures of them brings me lots of joy. See my pictures below.

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Lower Carb and Kidney Friendly Superbowl Appetizers

February 5, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / Leave a comment

Today, as promised, I am sharing some ideas for lower carb and kidney friendly Superbowl appetizers. The first video is Keto type recipes. I don’t do Keto, but I get great ideas for lower carb meal ideas. The very first recipe on that video is the one I will be making. I will change the sausage to ground turkey, and I will use Salsa instead of marinade. I will also half the cheese on top and it will be Mexican blend cheese. I will serve it with both tortilla chips and the bell peppers. I am sure I am the only one who will eat the bell peppers. My husband might have a few, and my daughter in law, but that is pretty much it. The second video is from Davita. I like what they did with the chicken wings as that is a huge Superbowl favorite. My husband has his own wing recipe, of which I only eat a couple, so I won’t try that recipe this time. The fruit dip looked good but I am thinking that is going to be a lot of phosphorus in there. As an alternative I personally would use just cool whip with cinnamon sugar mixed in. For the protein shake they offered a bottled variety. These are going to probably have a lot of additives and preservatives. They may also be high in phosphorus. I personally would make my own using Orgain protein powder, ice, kidney friendly fruit, a liquid of your choice, and a smidge of French Vanilla non dairy creamer.

Even if you follow a special eating lifestyle, or have Kidney Disease, you can still enjoy parties and events.

Have fun! Let me know if you make any of these recipes.

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Valentine’s day dessert idea

February 4, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / Leave a comment

Tomorrow I will share a video for lower carb Superbowl food ideas. I have not made any of them yet, but I will tell you which one I will be making and how I will adapt it to my needs.

But, today I am sharing this Valentine’s Day dessert idea I found on Pinterest. Puff pastry can be higher in sodium and obviously is not low in carbs, but it is better than chocolate. I would say you could drizzle chocolate or caramel over the top of this when it is done baking and that would be splendid. I will actually be making this and I will let you know how it comes out. I don’t have all of the ingredients on hand, and well obviously Valentine’s Day is not until the 14th. The video is self explanatory, though not in English. You can use the translate button for the ingredients and directions to English. You will find the recipe and video, here. Let me know if you make this.

I did not get any of my Health Coaching Plans updated yesterday, but I did get some clutter removed. I was asked to sit on a Board of Directors and learning about that experience took up a lot of my day. Today it is much warmer and I got some gardening done. I have peas, onions, broccoli, lettuce, carrots and basil coming up. I also got the pool partially vacuumed because I can not get in it yet. It has been a very cold winter and that water is 50 degrees right now.

I am considering a freebie or giveaway coming up next month. So, be sure and sign up for my newsletter so you don’t miss that announcement.

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Updates from health buddy melissa

February 3, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / Leave a comment

Happy Hump Day! I am in the process of my 30 day home/declutter purge challenge. I am getting a lot done, but my blog, computer, email all needs some purging too. That will be next month’s challenge I guess. All this week I will be working on updating my Health Buddy Melissa plans. I do this every year revising and making them more targeted and with just better wording. This is just a natural process of growth. But, as this takes up a lot of time it doesn’t leave much time for doing new posts. So, this week will all be short posts targeted to things that might be popular on Social Media or in the News. Obviously, the most important Health topic right now in the news is Covid. My husband got his second dose of the Moderna vaccine yesterday. He is very tired today. While he was able to go to work he needed a nap when he got home. I am due for mine on the 24th. The doctor below explains the mRNA vaccines in a succinct easy to understand way. Be sure and check it out if you are wondering how these new vaccines work.

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you have just been diagnosed with kidney disease! now what?

February 2, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / Leave a comment

Happy Healthy Tuesday! Yes, it is even more cold today than yesterday. But, I do feel for all of my family and friends in the Northeast dealing with blizzard conditions.

Today, I want to talk a little bit about the stages of grief specifically in relation to being diagnosed with Kidney Disease or any an chronic illness. The video below goes through the stages in relation to a death, but loss and grief comes in all forms, not just death. Working through these steps and finally getting to acceptance which will help you move on with your life in a healthier and more productive way, is paramount when getting a new diagnosis. I am going to walk through how I dealt with it, and maybe it will help you too. If you are newly diagnosed. I am an AKF Kidney Coach. I do the class online and by appointment. We can work out how to do it via chat, FB, Zoom etc. You can read about that here. It is completely free.

Let’s walk through the stages of grief:

1- Denial. Some people never get past this stage and therefore never can make the changes necessary to live a healthier lifestyle with a chronic disease. I became super sick on Christmas Day 2016. I was officially diagnosed in February of 2017. I moved through this stage very fast, because, I knew for years something was wrong and could never get a diagnosis. Plus, I am a facts person and there was no way to deny the facts. My kidneys were failing, well one was. I have to add a note here. If you have persistent migraines with no explanation offered, ask your doctor to please run a Renal Panel. Had someone done that when I was having a migraine every 10 days failure may have been avoided.

2- Anger- That last part takes me right into the next stage, anger. I revisit this stage sometimes, especially as I learn more about symptoms I had for years that were overlooked or poo pooed. I have had a notion to be mad at my mother, any doctor that ever saw me through the years, myself, God, you name it. Anger can serve a very good purpose. It can put a fire in your britches to get you motivated to learn and make the changes needed. But, it can also take you to dark places and you will get stuck and never move past anger. This is a hard stage, but use it to your benefit not your retraction.

3- Depression- I didn’t spend much time here either. I don’t believe in being depressed and I don’t think I ever was. A little sad, maybe, but not depressed. There are so many things to be depressed about when getting a new diagnosis. Such as loss of a normal life, loss of normal eating, friends, jobs, money, etc. But, you have to consider what you will gain, not what you will lose. Normal is a label we humans put on things to fit ourselves into particular stereotypes or groups. Your normal will be your own unique normal and it may not look like anybody else’s and that is completely fine.

4- Bargaining- I would say this is the stage I spent the most time in and I do visit here sometimes. If I do this then my kidney function will return. That doesn’t mean it won’t, but reversal of Chronic Kidney Disease, because the nephrons are damaged and do not regrow, is most likely not ever going to happen. However, I do read studies that say nephrons can regenerate and that gives me hope and motivates me.

5- Acceptance- This is the stage you need to get to. I am here now. It doesn’t mean I don’t revisit the other stages here and there. But, I fully accept my diagnosis and all that comes with it. Acceptance brings peace and power. What power? I am healthier now than I was in my 30’s. I have learned, and continue to learn, everything I can about Kidney Disease and how the kidneys function. I am knowledgeable, empowered, and persistent. I take all of those things with me to every doctor’s appointment, social event, family event, meals, eating out, exercise, and anything else that can effect me in a negative way. I approach everything through the eyes of my kidney function. Yes, I have Kidney Disease, but it does not mean the end of a normal and fruitful life. It is chronic, but it is not the end of the world, and I refuse to all it that kind of strength over my life.

If you would like to use my Health Coaching services to help you get to acceptance, use the contact form after the video to message me for a free email assessment and then a meet and greet.

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is society obsessed with body size?

February 1, 2021September 6, 2021 / healthbuddymelissa / Leave a comment

Welcome to Monday, and February! I hope everyone finds themselves well on this freezing cold day here in Florida. I am seriously starting to think I really don’t live in Florida.

So, what do you think, is society obsessed with body size? I say absolutely and if you watch the video below you will see that throughout history it always has been. However, what makes it different now is social media. 24 hours a day, seven days a week people can post their likes, dislikes, judge, give rude comments, project from their own flaws onto others, etc. A lot of what society has found body size attractive through the years has been based on men and their fantasies. Why would women care, especially after the Women’s Movement, what men think of how a woman should look? But, it is way beyond that now. Women are shaming women now, both for being too thin, and too fat. Why are women doing this to other women? Is there a shortage of viable partners that we have to cut each other down based on our opinions of what is attractive, beautiful or perceived health? The fact that we have all these hours in a day to bring people down, rather than raise them up, doesn’t say much for society and productiveness. But, I think it goes even farther than that. People do this in part because there is the potential to get attention and also to make money. Now people don’t have to look at it, obviously, but there is a kind of addictive behavior attached to social media it seems.

That brings me to a question posed to me on Pinterest. I get interesting messages both here and on Pinterest. Most of the time they are spam, or strange men looking for some kind of strange relationship that has nothing to do with Health Coaching. That is another good question to ask. Is any attention better than no attention? I don’t know I have to think about that one. So, I was asked why do I want to lose weight? I am still not sure exactly why they were asking as that was all the question was, in reference to my Lose Weight With Melissa subscription plan. Maybe they were going to refer me to some product they were pushing to sell I don’t know. First of all let me say that plan is meant to be encouragement to anyone struggling with weight loss, or who has CKD and wonders about losing weight. What works for me may not work for others, but it also might. It might give them the encouragement they need to begin a weight loss journey. It may help someone to see that one on one coaching may be a better fit for them as well, to lose weight. 1- I am not body insecure. Yes, I have some jiggly bits that I would like to see go away, and that is why I set exercise goals. 2- losing weight is so much more than body image. I choose to lose weight because actual studies with facts show that losing weight can improve my kidney function. Since a main goal of mine is to get back to stage 2, losing weight is a huge part of that objective. 3- Actual studies with facts show that anybody who is obese has an increased risk of chronic diseases in their future. BMI is not a perfect tool, nor is it meant to be the end all be all to measuring someone’s overall health. But, it is a tool, and a good tool. It is a frustrating tool as well, especially since most doctors do not even consider other tools in the shed to monitor overall health. I can understand that frustration that many people have. 4- I find most people don’t want to know truths and facts they want to feed their denials and fantasies instead. 5- Eating real food and changing our eating lifestyle is a major goal for me and my family. 6- I have no interest in people promoting Fad Diets, herbal pills, or other whacky weight loss gimmicks to me, or my readers. I work in facts and I know that real sustainable weight loss takes time and effort. It is a marathon not a sprint.

No one likes to be body shamed, told they are fat, or too thin. Neither do people like to feel they have to answer for every single decision they make in life. I suppose some people like that or they wouldn’t put their personal life out there for the whole world to see. Having a weight issue, whether too much or too little, is hard enough on the psyche as it is. Unless you are an expert on the topic, which most people are not, then you are just passing your opinions, beliefs and projections onto others, then you should probably just say nothing and worry about your own issues. We all have issues, by the way. whether you believe it or not. If you think you are free from flaws then that is an issue. On the flip side no one likes to be told they are ignorant, or stupid. None of these tactics work for most people. You have to approach these things with love, kindness and actual facts. Then you have to provide a way forward that will actually help. If you can’t offer that, or you only offer things that make money and don’t really work in the long run, then you are part of the problem not the solution.

We are all different that is what makes us all beautiful. Reach out a hand in loving support rather than pointing the finger of shame. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

There is so much more that goes into this very broad topic. Self image and self confidence are such a fragile part of humanity. Think how much more humane we could be if we just accepted each other as we are. Be Mindful and think before you speak about people.

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