It Is Official!!

I received my IIN Diploma in the mail today! I am so excited!!

Goodbye Snow, Hello Sunshine

2 weeks ago, during a snow storm, I boarded a plane and headed to the land of sunshine! I was headed to Los Angeles/Long Beach at attend the Mega Conference for the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. I was very excited to go as I would be seeing friends that I had not seen in 6 months! But it was a little nerve wrecking to arrive at the airport and then get to the gate to find that my flight was delayed and that I might not make my connection to LA!

When we finally boarded the plane, we had to be de-iced, which took forever, but it is better to be safe...
I love how once you are above the clouds it is so bright and sunny, but looking down, you could see just how heavy the clouds were and it was no wonder we were getting slammed with snow!
Because of all the delays out of Montreal, I missed my connection in Washington, DC by minutes. But it gave me some time to grab something to eat and prepare for the cross country flight. The flight was good and I was so excited to sunshine and palm trees when we arrived in Los Angeles!
How cool is this - they were doing dual landings on the runways at LAX!!
Hello LA!

It was nice to walk outside the airport and not be bundled up in a heavy winter coat! And it was so exciting to see all of my fellow Health Coaches and classmates from IIN! We had a great ride from the airport to our hotel and it was nice to catch up with everyone!

On Friday, we attended a Health & Wellness Expo. It was interesting to see all sorts of new products and get some ideas for my Health Coaching business. I soaked up the sunshine and some Vitamin D on Friday as well. It was so warm out - just perfect weather, I could get used to it really easily!

On Friday night, there was a big get together of many of our classmates at a local restaurant on the marina in Long Beach. We had a lot of fun and it was nice to connect with so many people!

Saturday was the actual start of the Mega Conference! The energy was so amazing and I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to attend the conference again. I was inspired and have so many ideas that I can't wait to implement! I was able to spend time with some truly inspirational individuals, hear from world famous speakers (David Wolfe, John Douilliard, Geneen Roth, John Robbins, and more) on health and wellness and make new connections!



After the conference on Saturday we still had some sunshine left to enjoy and then headed to a yummy dinner...
I am not a big soda drinker, but wanted something with a little fizz with dinner so I opted for a ginger ale...and this one was so good...it is from the UK and had real ginger in it! Note to self: I need to see if I can find it here in Canada!
Sunday was another day full of speakers and more energy! But before heading to the conference, I enjoyed the sun by the pool!



During the break on Sunday, we headed to Pinkberry (YUM!!) for a lunch of frozen yogurt! I had the blood orange with blood oranges and coconut and it hit the spot!
On Sunday afternoon, they had a graduation ceremony for those of us who had recently graduated - there is my name!
After the conference, we had time to network and enjoy more of the California sunshine!
Dan and I!!
Bonnie and I enjoying the sunshine too!


On Monday, Dan, Bonnie and I explored the area on foot and even went to the beach! It was a great way to spend my last day in LA - enjoying the sun and great friends. I had a great time, and am thankful for the opportunity to go. I am looking forward to the next conference already!




I know that Jay and Arabella enjoyed their time together while I was away, but I sure missed them and couldn't wait to get home to see them! The red eye flight from LA to Chicago was long and then I had to get a connection to Montreal. It seemed like it took forever to get home. And then I had to go through customs, but as soon as Arabella saw me and came running towards me, it made me so happy to be home!

For Me

I am not one to normally buy myself nice/expensive jewelry. But I am also not going to lie and say I never have, because, in fact I have. In the past when I have splurged, it has usually been on David Yurman - I love it's classic, clean lines and versatility. And when I do make a purchase like this for myself, it is usually for something that I have worked really hard at - for example, when I lost a ton of weight 10 years ago, I purchased my first David Yurman ring. When I finished my Paralegal Certificate, I bought myself a David Yurman bangle. And when the first reinsurance arbitration I worked on (which was a living hell for months)was complete, I walked from the law firm right to Tiffany's in Copley Place and bought myself the Elsa Peretti starfish necklace!

So when I finished my final exam and graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I decided I should be able to reward myself for the hard work and dedication I put towards my studies this past year. Not only did I learn a lot about health, wellness and nutrition, but I also learned more about me. It was an adjustment going back to school with a toddler and a husband who travels, but I/we made it and for that I am very proud of myself. Not only have I grown and transformed, but how I raise my family has changed and that is amazing and inspiring to me! For my present to myself, I decided to pick out a few Pandora charms that represented my Institute for Integrative Nutrition journey. I took Arabella with me to the store and she picked out the bracelet...a very pretty pink braided leather one. I chose the charms and each one hold a special meaning for me:

The knot = the never ending journey for true health & wellness
The owl = the wisdom I have gained over the past year
The swirl = the swirl is the symbol of my school, Institute for Integrative Nutrition

American Association of Drugless Practitioners

One of the other perks of being a Holistic Health & Wellness Coach is that I am now a member of the American Association of Drugless Practitioners!

The American Association of Drugless Practitioners Certification and Accreditation Board was established in 1990. The AADP is dedicated to promoting an enhanced professional image and prestige among practitioners of traditional and non-traditional therapies and methodologies.
The AADP's national and international membership body is made up of MDs, NDs, DCs, OMDs, PhDs, DDs, RNs, Herbalists, and other "drugless" practitioners. The AADP does not cater only to one field or practitioner, but unites all professional holistic health practitioners. (http://www.aadp.net/about.asp)

So Excited!!!

I was asked to do a guest feature on the Eat Smart Blog and I am so excited to be able to share the link with you! You can check out the article and my receipe for raw cacao truffles here:
http://eatsmartblog.com/2011/12/12/raw-cacao-truffles/
It seems all of my hard work this past year is starting to pay off and it is nice to be recognized by another fellow blogger! Thanks Karen Welby and The Eat Smart Blog for allowing me to be part of the good food movement!

IIN Fall Into Action Conference

While Arabella was having fun in Boston with Uncle Mike and Uncle Jeff, and while Jay was attending back to back conferences in Peoria, I was attending my own conference in New York City.

I know I haven't posted too much about me going back to school. But what I can tell you, is that I LOVE IT! I am attending the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to become a certified Holistic Health & Wellness Coach. The mission of IIN is to play a crucial role in improving health and happiness and through that process create a ripple effect that transforms the world. I am currently about 25 weeks through the 40 week program where I am learning anything and everything about nutrition and wellness. IIN is the world's largest nutrition school and enrolls students from all around the globe. Through the IIN curriculum I am learning a wide array of skills in business, coaching, nutrition and lifestyle choices so that when I am done with my training, I will be able to coach people in all aspects of wellness. So of the concepts I am learning about include: bioindividuality, primary food, food energetics, super foods, over 100 dietary theories, nutritional science and much more. So much more that I can't name it all. I am also listening to lectures from experts at the forefront of health, nutrition & wellness. They include Andrew Weil MD, Barry Sears PhD, David Katz MD, David Wolfe, Deepak Chopra, Joel Fuhrman MD, and more. After each module I complete and each lecture I listen to, I am even more inspired. Even if I never coach clients individually, the changes that I am making in Arabella's life, as well as , mine and Jay's, are worth every penny we have spent on my tuition. I am learning so much and can't wait to share it with my family, friends and future clients. If I make a difference in just one person's life, my time at IIN will have been well spent. For those of you interested more in what I am doing, you can check out my website at http://www.balancedhealthwithshana.com/

So last weekend, I attended the Fall Into Action Conference. Over 3,500 fellow students and graduates from all over the world attended the 2 day event at the Javits Center in New York City. Not only was I able to meet fellow students in my March 2012 class - who by the way are AMAZING - but I learned so much. For 2 full days we heard from Joshua Rosenthal, MScED, the founder and director of IIN, but also from Deepak Chopra, Mark Hyman, MD, Dr David Katz, Dr Joel Fuhrman, Sally Fallon and we even had a surprise visit from Kathy Freston (author of the book entitled Veganist)!

My trip started Friday morning when I flew out of Boston and into JFK (remind me never to do that again)...the flight was easy...
(We flew right past Cape Cod...this is the tip) and I landed at JFK in no time. I had some time to kill while waiting for a fellow class mate to fly in from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan so I enjoyed a yummy Pumpkin Smash smoothie!

I had to trek from terminal 5 to terminal 3 at JFK to meet up with Twila and we were then on our way into the City! We ended up getting stuck in traffic...typical for NYC but also worse since we were going into the City from Long Island (it took us over an hour to get to our hotel and don't even get me started on going back to JFK on Sunday afternoon...1 1/2 hours to get there...good thing I had time!)
Twila had never been to NYC before so she was nervous and excited. It was great to be able to share the car ride in with her - we had a great time getting to know each other (even though it feels like we have known each other forever, we just met that day in person, otherwise it had just been over Facebook). We stayed at the Dream New York - which is a change from my usual stays at the Drake and the Melrose when I was working in the City. This is what I saw when I opened the door to my room:
And I was quickly reminded that NYC hotel rooms are tiny, hence the reason my bathroom wasn't much bigger than an airplane bathroom and only had a shower:

On the other hand, Twila had the best room ever...not too huge, but it had a terrace that overlooked Times Square!

I crashed in my room once I checked in and then decided to venture out to see what I could find to eat. I wasn't really hungry but it was 8:30 and I knew if I didn't eat something I would wake up at 2am ravenous! So I just started to walk and I found a great store, Westerly Natural Market, 2 blocks from the hotel. I was in heaven or so I thought...so much I wanted to try and it was all crammed into a tiny store. The aisles were floor to ceiling - filled with natural, organic, raw, vegan food!
Kombucha - so many to try, so little time!
I ended up having a wonderful tomato avocado salad and a quinoa salad. I also picked up some Kombucha (if you haven't tried it, you should) and a fun new drink (at least for me) called Mamma Chia - YUM!

I was so excited about the store, I took Twila back the next evening...we don't have places like this in Canada...at least not near either one of us. I also picked up some stuff to bring home - Fig & Hazelnut spread, Kale Chips, and some new nutrition bars for Jay & I to try. I hope I don't get hooked on anything I brought home since I am sure that either (1) I won't being able to get it here or (2) being able to get it but the cost will be double.

I was up early Saturday morning and ready to meet some new friends and get inspired. I met up with Twila, Dan and a few other people staying in our hotel for breakfast and then we jumped in a cab and headed to the Javits Center. As soon as we walked in the door, you could feel the energy and excitement. We were lucky enough to be close to the front of the room on both days. It was so inspiring to be so close to speakers who are changing the face of nutrition.

After listening and learning all day, we went back to the hotel to get ready to have dinner at Caravan of Dreams http://www.caravanofdreams.net/ an Organic Vegan Restaurant. It was out of this world. I had the Lovers Salad (avocado, olives, mango, pine nuts, vegetables, dried berries with balsamic shiitake dressing) and the Live Quesadillas (I can't find it on the menu to tell you what the ingredients were, but it was so good!)
We also enjoyed Blueberry Lavender Sangria - Twila was the designated pourer!
After our dinner, we went back to the hotel and relaxed. We enjoyed the view from Twila's terrace and then it was time to hit the hay for another busy day on Sunday!
The whole gang - Twila, Debbie, Dan, me, Nancy & Tracy.


Sunday was another great day! So many great speakers and so much information to take in. I was enthralled when Deepak Chopra took the stage.
I have never read any of his books or listened to his meditations, but after Sunday, I am a believer in his work. He led us through a short breathing & meditation exercise and I was so relaxed, I could feel my heart beating in a different way. I was intense. I can't wait to do more of his techniques but can't decide which meditation to download from iTunes.

The afternoon flew by and before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye. I didn't think it would be hard to say goodbye to people I just met, but it was - after hugs and tears - I hopped in a taxi with 2 other classmates for the 1 1/2 hour trek to JFK. By the time we got to the airport, I checked my bag (thanks to the Fig & Hazelnut spread I bought for Jay), got through security and bought a bottle of water, I had just enough time to get on the plane...they were about ready to give my seat to a stand-by passenger! I was sad to be leaving the City that I love so much but happy to be going back to Boston to see my Little Bean that I missed so much.
It was a wonderful weekend and I am so happy I had the opportunity to attend such a exciting conference. I learned so much in 2 days time but what resonated with me the most is that:

1. There are no coincidences;
2. I am changing and it is for the better; and
3. People who I just met, have inspired me and will always be a part of my life

Thanks for a great weekend IIN and NYC! I am IINspired!