To spend time with family and take care of some things in my birth country, Bulgaria. If you feel inspired to post something or comment on posts that are up, please do! That would help keep the community thriving while I’m away. And if you don’t wanna do that, that’s totally fine too! If you need to reach me for any reason, direct message is a great way to do that…I’ll be checking those periodically. Sending you a virtual hug from Eastern Europe!

I started this community as a support group for anyone who struggles with emotional eating or excess weight. These are the challenges that I’m passionate about helping to solve and have become very knowledgeable about as a result of my own struggles. As you may have seen via posts and announcements, I’m playing with the idea of making Thrive a place that’s more generally about all aspects of health and wellness. The idea is to make this a place where various health and wellness experts and professionals can share master classes and we can all up our health and wellness game in a variety of areas, and discuss concepts we may disagree about, and learn and grow. But, I put the cart before the horse. It would have been good to ask before jumping in and making changes. Better late than never, so I’m asking now. Do you like the idea of sticking to the core concepts we started with…focusing on overcoming emotional eating and letting go of excess weight? Or does it excite you to have this be a group that’s more generally about health and wellness and not specifically tied to just emotional eating? Regardless of which direction we decide to go, I will still be here talking about overcoming emotional eating and letting go of the mental, emotional, and physical weight that holds us back. Vote in the poll and share your thoughts in the comments. Please and thank you 😊

Check Calendar for all the Deets… www.skool.com/releasetheweight/calendar 2 Health-Expanding Events you might consider attending… 1). Join LA-Based personal trainer, Josh Haag, Saturday, May 16, 9-11 am MT For Bullet Proof Your Spine Masterclass- How to Fix Back Pain, Move Better, and Keep Pain Away for Life Know of someone who can benefit from this class? Forward this post/email to them! Back pain can be crippling, it can steal your workouts, your sleep, your confidence, and the simple freedom to move without fear. Bulletproof Your Spine is a hands-on workshop that teaches you why your back hurts, what keeps pain coming back, and what you can do immediately to take control. You’ll leave with practical pain-relief tools, mobility work, strength strategies, and a simple daily system to help you move better, feel stronger, and keep back pain from running your life. Class will be Live Streamed Virtually in the Thrive Community, https://www.skool.com/releasetheweight/about?ref=e57eed8e7140447fb756266b1f7e4a8f Joshua Haag is a former pro athlete turned master trainer who somehow blended science, sarcasm, and real-life coaching grit into a full health empire. As the CEO of Heroic Performance and Vybrant, he’s helped thousands sleep better, move better, and live bigger by turning complex physiology into simple, actionable habits anyone can follow. When he’s not building programs, writing books, or fixing your squat and your circadian rhythm, he’s probably reminding the world that feeling amazing is a skill—and he’s here to teach it. 2). The Tools of Transformation Health X Summit is coming up! Saturday, May 16, 1-5:30 pm MT It’s like a Ted X Summit, but for health and wellness! You can watch the Speaker Live Stream Virtually, 1-3:30 pm MT in the Thrive Community, https://www.skool.com/releasetheweight/about?ref=e2270eddf8484686ae1eb15d18bc3faf

Peacock the duck hatched some ducklings last night, right on Mother’s Day. She’s an amazing Momma. Shouting out all the amazing Mommas and caretakers out there. Whether you take care of humans, animals, plants, or all of the above. Your work matters. Thanks for all that you do!

I had the privilege of being a parent chaperone on my son’s school field trip to Catalina Island, off the coast of California. And for some reason, I couldn’t connect to Skool at all during my time there. I missed my community on Skool. And yet, REAL LIFE experiences are often under-rated and under-explored in our super techy world. If you have a chance to fast from any kind of screens and social media for a week or more, I would highly recommend it! We hiked daily, walked on the beach, kayaked for hours, some of us got sun burned, we snorkelled in super cold water day and night, saw lots of bright orange garibaldi fish, touched sea anemones and urchins, learned about marine life, ate a lot of healthy food, kissed a sea cucumber, saw a Buffalo wander into camp and drink our dirty boot water, played games, rock climbed, and more. I was grateful to get to know some of my son’s classmates and spend time with him in this special environment. Didn’t get much privacy, as I was often accompanied by teenagers everywhere I went. But, I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. It was truly awesome to get off screens completely, step out of my comfort zone, embrace cold water (which I typically avoid!), and support a bunch of sixth graders as they tried new things and explored a whole different world. Some of the kids we were with had never flown in an airplane or been to an airport. Others had never seen the ocean. It was truly epic. Hope you had a great week too last week, would love to hear about it in the comments! Have you stayed off of screens and/or social media for multiple days recently? Would you consider it? Why or why not?