There’s Something About Mary
My Journey - Year One
Mary Vance has been coaching me for 11 months. I have learned so much and changed so much as a result of her guidance. Any essay or list would not be comprehensive enough to convey the wealth of my experiences with her and choosing the “number one most important thing” wouldn’t adequately communicate what she’s done for me. My success in gaining health and strength and in losing 40 pounds has been because Mary has continued to teach, guide and encourage me in the following three areas:
KNOWLEDGE is POWERful
Because of her varied, extensive and unique education, certifications and skill set Mary was able to look at my body composition and identify that it wasn’t just excess fat I was carrying around. She believed I was also carrying around illness, inflammation and toxins. She directed me to get food sensitivities testing and other testing done to begin to identify the sources of inflammation. Those completed, she wrote my plan. I immediately eliminated the foods that were contributing to inflammation in my body and am now being properly treated for an autoimmune disease I didn’t know I had. This is knowledge that is ultimately saving my life.
MINDset OVERwhelmingly MATTERS
Until I met Mary, the prevailing fitness messages I’d received were along the lines of “Work out harder, be stricter, eat less.” If I hadn’t succeeded, it was because I’d failed in one or all of these areas. Feelings of being overwhelmed, disappointed, embarrassed, ashamed of what my body had become became loud voices in my “self-talk.” Mary showed me how destructive these thoughts were to healing and strength building. She directed me to set clear and specific goals for my health and physique and begin to SEE myself as healthy, strong, and beautiful. Her fitness messages are “Rest, hydration, eat more!” (Of the correct foods for MY body of course??)
Food IS Medicine
Through Mary’s coaching I came to understand that foods are not “good” or “bad.” But foods absolutely do EITHER contain elements that contribute to healing, building, and constructing of the body’s cells, tissues and processes OR contain elements that contribute to inflammation, degeneration and destruction of body cells, tissues and processes. Thus, foods can be viewed as good medicines or poisons by the body. Mary directed me to examine my attachments to foods and drinks. Through her nutritional coaching, I now make food and drink choices with greater awareness and intention. I purposefully consume foods that help my body repair, build, and function optimally and I avoid foods and beverages that would trigger inflammation or cause disruption in my body’s amazing self-healing processes.
So it is with increasing knowledge of my own body; a commitment to loving care of my body, mind and spirit; informed and intentional food choices; and eternal thanks to Mary Vance that I look forward to the rest of my beautiful life!
Erin Lee Johncox Hertz