Jennifer Villanueva, Wellness Coach

Buckle in, here’s where the story of where my grit and drive come from. Like I’m sure many of you can relate, I come from a complicated and mixed family background that has definitely helped in building the strong person I am today. However it has also created some negative mindsets that needed to change in order for me to thrive. I’ve always been an intellectual and artistic person but the closer I got to adulthood I started to loose my artful expression and instead steered all my attention intellectually. I was told my intellect would be my only way to success and be happy.  I had never been taught to how give focus to my physical health, or mental wellness, and as I got older I started to care less and less about  the way I saw and felt about myself, and instead, focused on what I could prove to the world through my professional success. 

From an early age I had always been locked in self doubt, buried in abandonment issues, and literally swallowed and eaten my way to a poor self image.  I’ve struggled with weight my whole life, but over a 10 year period I’d slowly gained weight to my max weight of 275lbs, honestly without noticing. Through counseling, I was able to identify some of the root issues in my mind and heart that were holding me back and contributing to weight gain. Around the same time I was told by my doctor that my cholesterol was high (at 30 years old) and I’d have to get my gallbladder removed to relieve the painful attacks I was having. These were the things that made me hit rock bottom and wake me up to make much needed changes. Not long after my gallbladder removal surgery, I was introduced to a Beach Body Coach and she started me on an eating and exercise program. With her encouragement and guidance it me started down a successful path that I had never been on with other programs. I started to realize that I needed to think differently about exercising and my body.  The unhealthy mantras that I had been taught in the past about what exercise meant and how your body should feel; they were wrong. I realized that for as much that I had to train myself in my eating and exercise habits, it was just as much about mental retraining. Working all together and each connected to one another: I’ve been able to successfully overcome a lot of the negative emotions and mindsets from the past by facing them and re-engineering them. I’ve rediscovered how to express and find fulfillment in myself through art, meditation, and exercise. I’ve been able to lose and keep off weight,  but my goals of losing aren’t over, and the journey will always be continual. 

 I’ve realized how vital it is to have a healthy body, mind, and spirit to be successful in this world including your own personal ventures and happiness.  With my mental well-being, weight loss, and personal strengthening journey, it’s helped me realize how important it is to have encouragement and a plan to reach your goals. It was only through the help of: counselors, an exercise coach, numerous alternative therapists, spiritual guidance, extensive research, and having the love and support of my family that I have been able to come this far. Through all of the help from those people, I realized how enormously beneficial  it would have been to have someone in my life at ANY point, that could have had a little bit of ALL those people rolled into one. It was after these experiences and realizations that it became very clear to me  how I wanted to help people.  Which is why my aim is to take the lessons I’ve learned through my own experiences, studies, and certifications in health and life coaching and bring it to you in all its splendor and support through your  journey.