I wrote a book?!

You may have noticed that things have been a bit quiet on the blog over the last few months. There has been A LOT going on behind the scenes and keeping up with blogging just got a little too overwhelming, You see, I have been writing, a ton! I have been writing a book!!

Giving up blogging over the last few months was a really hard decision. Sometimes following your dreams take sacrifices and I knew that I needed to give this book my full attention. I knew that in the long-run it would be worth it. Now that the book is about ready to launch, I am so thankful I listened to my heart and made writing this book a priority.

What started out as the idea for a small e-book on self-care has turned into a 75 page self-love guide on how to unpack your deepest desires, release your greatest fears, and propel you into living your most fulfilled life. This book shares my health journey, my story to finding self-love, and how to take tangible steps to build your confidence, face your fears, and live a life of passion and purpose.

I am so proud of these words. This is everything I have ever wanted to say to women and I can’t wait to share it with the world!

The book officially releases January 14th (next Monday!!!) but if you pre-order the e-book version, you will be sent the book a day early!! You can now pre-order the e-book version of the book which will be emailed to you on the 13th! If you have the $11, it would mean the world to me for you to pre-order the book. Pre-orders are so important for writers because it shows them what to expect as far as the success of their book! As I have been diving into the writing world, i’ve learned that pre-orders are EVERYTHING!

You can pre-order the book HERE

The paperback version of the book will be available on Amazon on the release date!

I want to just take a moment and say THANK YOU to all of you who have supported me on this wellness journey. I am so thankful to have the most kind and supportive online community. This book is truly a love letter from me to YOU! I hope it blesses you and encourages you to pursue a life with big dreams, passion, and purpose!!

xo, Lo

A Note on Thankfulness

I’ve got to be honest. I haven’t been very thankful recently. I’ve been tired. I’ve been stressed. I’ve been feeling burned out. I have a bad habit of putting too much on my plate and just like Thanksgiving dinner can bring on a food coma, i’ve been feeling that exhaustion quite a bit recently.

How did it happen? I love to talk about self-love and self-care and how it is so important that we take care of ourselves so that we are better able to love and serve others better. I even wrote a book on it that will be releasing in January! Yet, here I am. Totally pooped.

Maybe you are like me. Maybe this has been a season of go-go-go & hustle-hustle-husltle and it’s all starting to catch up to you. Maybe you are like me and you are so passionate about your work that you lose yourself in it.

I want to tell you, like I'm telling myself, it’s okay to take a breather. It’s okay to pull the plug for a minute to gain composure. You are no good for anyone if you don’t take care of yourself.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been focusing on intentional rest. It has been amazingly freeing to set aside all distractions, to-do lists, and expectations, and just be. I am no expert at resting, but i’m learning and I want to share my journey.

Maybe the holidays have you stressing out. Maybe you are stressing out about a lack of time, finances, or peace of mind, but I want to encourage you to intentionally find some peace in your everyday. Maybe it looks like 10 minutes of meditation or simply sipping a cup of tea while reading a good book. Whatever rest looks like to you, I hope that you can indulge in some true rest and rejuvenation in this season.

What I've found is that when we allow ourselves to rest, we begin to see the little blessings all around us. When we focus on the present, our mind goes to a more peaceful state. This sparks gratitude & thankfulness.

We all have so much to be thankful for. We just need to slow down a bit to see it sometimes.

I’m wishing you all an amazing & restful Thanksgiving!

Thank you for allowing me to be honest and vulnerable. I am so thankful for all of you, my internet friends & readers!

xo, lo

The Story Behind Live Well With Lo: Change the World by Loving Yourself

This is the very short-version of my journey into wellness and self-care. These ideas, stories, experiences, and so much more will be in my upcoming book coming soon…

Growing up, I was raised with the idea that I must put myself last in everything I do. Whether it was a goal, a dream, or an idea for dinner, I needed to put myself last in order to elevate other people. I grew up to be selfless in every aspect that I oftentimes would do things and not even realize that I was simply doing what I thought others would want me to do, not what I felt in my heart that I needed to do.

Self-Love has been such a foreign concept to me, it’s honestly hard for me to write about. I still believe that being selfless is such an amazing quality and I believe that selflessness is an important character trait to posses. That being said, I have learned that when you love yourself and make your well-being a priority, you can serve other’s in such a better capacity! I’ve learned that in order to serve others in a truly selfless way, you need to love yourself first.

When I lived my life based on other people’s opinions or desires, I never felt truly fulfilled. I felt like I was just going through the motions of life and I never felt inspired or motivated. I felt that having personal dreams and goals was selfish and so I opted to live small. I did what I felt I should do instead of what I felt called to do for the sake of selflessness. When you live your life like that, you aren’t truly benefitting anyone.

I believe that when you live into the calling and passion you feel on your life, you can serve others in a way you wouldn’t be able to otherwise. I also believe that this is true when it comes to self-care as well. I spent many years of my life going from obligation to obligation and keeping myself busy for the sake of being busy because I thought that if I spent all of my time serving others, I would be enough. I gave everyone else 100% of me and I gave myself 0%. That led me to a place where I was so run down that my body couldn’t take it anymore. I got really sick. I spent so many years of my life so stressed out and in service to others, my body just turned off. (I talk much more about this in my upcoming book.)

When I got sick, I was forced to take care of myself in a way I never had. There was no other option. I could either live how I was living and continue to get more sick, or I could change my lifestyle. I realized that I needed to put the oxygen mask on myself before I could continue helping others.

I learned a lot of lessons during that time but even though that season was dark and scary and full of bad days, I found myself in a new way. Since I was forced to slow down and say “no” to pretty much everything that was non-essential in my life, I realized past passions that had been tucked away. I dove headfirst into wellness and I haven’t looked back since.

When I started to feel better about a year later, I realized that I needed to shift my mindset and the priorities that I had carried with me for so long. I slowly began to re-shape my thinking until I truly believed that It is NOT selfish to take care of yourself. It is NOT selfish to make your well-being of utmost priority. I learned that nobody else is going to take care of you if you don’t take care of yourself.

As I started on this new journey to wellness and self-care, I began to see a passion stir up inside me. I knew that other people struggled with the same ideas on self-care that I used to have. I knew that other people were struggling and living on empty and I suddenly became extremely passionate about sharing my ideas on self-care and wellness with the world. That is how Live Well With Lo was created.

Since wellness and self-care is such a huge priority to me now, I have re-framed my thinking on the word “selfish”. Because of how I live my life now, I have been able to serve and love others in a way I never thought possible. I truly believe I am a better wife, friend, daughter, and business women because I make myself a priority and treat myself with the same love and respect I would give anyone else.

When you treat yourself like you would treat others, you begin to blossom in a way you never thought possible. When you take care of your mind, body, & soul, you are able to serve and love others in a way that comes from true love and joy. I truly believe that if we want to change the world, it starts with US. It starts with YOU. Put on your oxygen mask, girl, and don’t you ever ever be sorry for it!!!!

xo,

Lo

10 Easy Ways to Practice Self-Care

Hey, friends! Today I want to talk a little bit more about self-care, why it's important, and how to easily implement it into your daily routine! The topic of "self-care" is really popular right now and for good reason, it is so important to take care of yourself! In this age of hustle and bustle and the glorification of "busyness", it's so important to not lose sight on the most important thing, your health. 

From experience, I have learned that I can only love and serve others if I have loved myself first. This is not in a selfish way AT ALL, but it's in a way of treating myself with love and care so that I can love and care for others fully! 

I am naturally a people pleaser and I HATE saying "no" and so that is the hardest part for me in practicing self-care. I also love my people a lot. My family and my friends have my whole heart and when they need me, I will legitimately put my entire life aside to be there for them. I know that this is a good quality, but I have learned that I need to create healthy boundaries around my heart because oftentimes, I will take responsibility for things I shouldn't take responsibility for. I will also take in the emotions of those I love. If a loved one is hurting, I am hurting. It can make for an emotional roller coaster for me and so I have been learning how to love others in a way that is authentic but not debilitating to my emotions. I'm not sure if that makes sense to any of you but this is just something I am currently learning about myself in this season of life and so maybe some of you can relate! 

Anyways, back to self-care... I want make self-care simple. Self-care doesn't have to be an extensive list of to-do's, expensive, or extremely time consuming. Self-care can be 15 minutes of reading your favorite book or a five minute walk around the block. This week I am challenging myself to practice self-care in the form of unplugging. I know how freeing it can be to log-off Instagram or Facebook for a bit and so the week my goal is to "unplug" a couple hours a day. This may not sound like much for many of you, but for someone who works online, this can be life changing! 

I made this list of ways you can practice simple forms of self-care. I hope that it resonates with you and encourages you to spend some moments for yourself each and every day! 

Xo,

Lo

The Power of Positivity

This blogpost is a little more on the serious side but it is very near and dear to my heart. I wrote this post while on my flight from Hawaii to LAX and I spent a lot of time reflecting on my journey and how positivity played a huge part in that. It's a self-love letter from me to you. xo, Lo

For the past 3 years, I have had the privilege to lead a team of skincare consultants that has grown to be in the hundreds now. What started out as a team of just me has grown into a large and diverse organization of virtual franchise owners all across the US, Canada, and Australia. I am constantly learning how to be a better leader and better mentor and there are many lessons I have learned throughout the years that has made me the woman I am today. I truly believe that these past few years have primed me for the new ventures I’m embarking on now. Since diving into wellness, studying holistic nutrition, and sharing my passion for health and wellness with the world, I have realized that many of the lessons I have learned in my R+F business applies to wellness and how we create a positive mindset for yourself.

Positivity.

Positivity isn’t something that’s taught in school but I truly believe it needs to be. I truly believe that the power of a positive mindset is a force to be reckoned with. In leading my team, I have seen people’s skincare businesses completely explode and I have also seen businesses fall apart. What makes the two scenarios different? Mindset.

A positive mindset is like a golden ticket for life. Have you ever seen someone who just seems like they are gliding through life without a care in the world? The type of person that always see’s the world as providing limitless opportunities and never frets a roadblock because they know the best that is to come? That’s a positive mindset. On the flip side, I’m sure we have all experienced people who always have something to complain about, someone to blame for their failures, and they are never able to get ahead because they aren’t noticing any roses in their life, only thorns. What you think is what you become. Your mindset defines your life. Let that sink in.

I have seen that changing your mindset can drastically change the outcome of a situation. I will use myself as an example for this. I used to have a horrible mindset when it came to my health. As someone who has suffered many chronic health issues, there were many years where I felt like I could not get ahead. I let these trials jade my mindset. Instead of being my positive and encouraging self, I became bitter, fearful of everything that could harm me, and my health suffered further because of it. My thoughts became my reality. My fears became true. It was almost like I kept manifesting bad health to plague me because that was what I was focusing on. My focus was on what could go wrong, not on how I could heal my body. 

When I finally realized how I was self-sabotaging myself, I knew I needed to make a drastic change in my life. I began by investing into my health. Instead of being fearful of my health, I began to nurture it and speak positive affirmations over myself. I began to take added stressors out of my life, learn to say no to things that didn’t serve my body well (eh hem, gluten) I put blinders on. I had health goals, and I had the faith and the hope that I could heal my body. Instead of complaining about what I couldn’t eat or do because of my health, I rejoiced in what I could do. I began to focus on gratitude for the smallest of the things. I can walk, I can run, I have a brain that can think and a heart that can love. I am blessed beyond measure. It was these small changes that I intentionally focused on that began to heal me. Not only was I feeling healthier and more energized, but I kept making healthy lifestyle choices because I began to value the amazing body I was given, not ridicule it. I truly believe that health is a life-long journey and I know that there are ebbs and flows and good days and bad days but the reason I am able to handle the setbacks when they come, is because I have a mindset that supports me and doesn’t destroy me. 

This is the truth: If you are constantly filling your mind with negative self-talk, you are setting yourself for disaster. Reframing your mindset could be one of the most powerful things you ever do for yourself, and your future. 

I want you to think about something in your life that you have a negative mindset about. What is one thing you are always cursing about yourself or your circumstances? What do you wish you could change? Maybe you wish you were farther along professionally. Maybe you wish you had a six pack. Maybe you wish you could pregnant. Maybe you wish that you had better friends. Whatever the case may be, I challenge you to focus on what you DO have, not what you don’t. I challenge you to look at the roses and don’t get thrown off by the thorns. There will be pain in this life, I am very familiar with it. There is hardship, and trials, and hard times. I am not telling you to avoid those situations or those emotions. Rather, I am encouraging you to not let those hardships define you. You can rise past them. You can change your mindset, and in turn, change your life.