Wellness Words
Clean beauty,
nourishing routines, and
everyday wellness.
A New Year, A New Bloom: My 90‑Day Reset
A New Year’s Journey Toward My Final 25 Pounds
This past year has taught me more about my body and my strength than any season before it. When cancer entered my life last winter, everything I thought I could count on shifted. My routines, my plans, even my sense of control dissolved overnight. The only thing I knew I could do was nourish myself with intention, so I turned to a whole‑food, high‑fat way of eating and held on.
Since then, I’ve lost 65 pounds and for the first time in my life, kept it off for more than a year. I didn’t chase thinness; I chased energy, clarity, and the version of myself who could run after my kids and look in the mirror and see a woman rising, not a patient.
But after six steady months on a plateau, I’m ready for the next chapter.
I’m ready to finish what I started.
For the first 90 days of 2026, I’m committing to a clean, consistent ketogenic lifestyle, layered with intermittent fasting, gentle movement, and emotional honesty.
This isn’t about vanity. It’s about health, longevity, and reclaiming the body that carried me through cancer and motherhood. It’s about honoring the woman who fought so hard to stay alive. It’s about showing my children what it looks like to rise.
This is my next bloom: a season of discipline, clarity, and hope.
And at the end of these 90 days, I’ll share the transformation: the lessons, the shifts, and the quiet strength that comes from choosing to rise again.
I Didn’t Moisturize. I Didn’t Exfoliate. And My KP Vanished.
I didn’t expect keto to change my skin. A year into the diet, I was running my hands over my arms to admire the new muscles from strength training when I realized something astonishing—my lifelong keratosis pilaris was gone. No scrubs, no lotions, no elaborate routines. Just smooth skin for the first time since I was a teenager. My blood work shows lower inflammation than ever before, and somehow, that quiet shift seems to have rewritten the story of my skin. It feels like walking through ashes and finding wildflowers—an unexpected bloom where irritation used to live.
Coffee, Ashes, and Wildflowers
There’s a particular kind of quiet that arrives with the first sip of coffee—a small ceremony to begin the day. For survivors, this ritual carries extra meaning: warmth in the hands, steadiness in the body, and a return to what feels familiar.
Rituals don’t demand drama; they invite presence. The kettle’s whisper, the bloom of grounds, the inhale of steam—each motion signals that you are here, and the day is beginning.
On the back porch, sunlight meets the warmth of the mug. This isn’t multitasking—it’s a pause. A sanctuary. A rhythm that honors both healing and hope.
Let this moment welcome the day.
Room to Bloom: Clearing Space for Healing
During the three weeks I waited to learn whether I had kidney cancer, I spent nearly all my free time decluttering. It was December, and the house smelled like cinnamon and pine. I remember sitting in the boys’ closet, boxing up toys they’d outgrown—feeling a mix of sadness and relief. Letting go of what no longer served us gave me something I needed: peace, clarity, and a sense of control when everything else felt uncertain.
Decluttering wasn’t just a coping mechanism—it became a form of healing. And it’s a rhythm I continue to follow, not through strict rules, but through gentle steps that support our family’s wellbeing. One drawer. One corner. One breath at a time.
Exercising After Cancer Recovery: My Journey Back to Strength
After cancer treatment, even simple daily tasks felt impossible—but slowly, I discovered the power of movement in healing. In this post, I share how exercise became a lifeline in my recovery, from gentle walks to strength training, and why rebuilding fitness is about more than muscles—it’s about hope, resilience, and investing in future health.