Kellie Hill | The Right Plan's Blog

January 18, 2011 by Kellie Leave a Comment

The BIG Rocks in Your Life

At this time of year, many take the time to reflect on the past year and set resolutions for the upcoming year. I am one of these people. As I do so, I reread a note from Bill Huffman, a Board Member of an organization I worked with many years ago. I want to share his “Coastal Notes” that he gave to me more than 15 years ago. Reflect on this story as you prioritize for the New Year.

One day an expert on the subject of time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, he used an illustration the students will never forget. As he stood in front of the group of high powered overachievers he said, “Okay, time for a quiz.” He pulled out a one gallon wide mouthed jar and set it on the table. He then produced about a dozen fist sized rocks and carefully placed them in the jar. When the jar was filled and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar full?”

Everyone in the class said, “Yes.”

To which he replied, “Really?” Next he reached under the table, pulled out a bucket of gravel, dumped some of the gravel into the jar and shook the jar causing the gravel to sift down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then he asked the class once more, “Is the jar full?”

By this time the students were on to him. “Probably not”, one of them answered.

“Good!” he replied. Then, again, he reached under the table, and brought out a bucket of sand and began pouring sand into the jar, filling all the remaining spaces left between the rocks and gravel. For a third time he queried, “Is this jar full?”

“No”, the class shouted.

“Good!” he said. Finally, he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in, filling the once empty jar to the brim. Next he looked up at the class and asked “What is the point of this illustration?”

One student raised his hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit more things into it!”

“No”, the speaker said, “that is not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is – If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.”

So, as I (and hopefully you) reflect, what are the big rocks in your life? A project you want to accomplish? Time with your family? Your faith, your education, your finances? A cause? Your health? Teaching or mentoring others?

Remember: Put these big rocks in first or you’ll never get them in at all!

January 11, 2011 by Kellie Leave a Comment

Who Am I To Tell You About Nutrition (Part 5)

So, here we are at the current chapter. I spend my days and nights talking nutrition. Helping people find the path that will lead to their optimal health. My path was pretty crooked but it’s the road that got me here. The inflammation in my body from the low/no fat diet years is very high. But each test it’s a little lower. I’ve been cancer free for six years. My joints and muscles no longer ache. My nails look good. I don’t remember my past-friend “fatigue”. My bowel movements are regular. My liver is cleansed. My weight has been a healthy, stable 145-150 for years (with only a few fluctuations) with nice muscle tone but not over developed. The heavy metal toxins are being released from my body. My cholesterol is great. No diabetes on the horizon. It’s been an amazing journey so far.

Every year for my birthday I try to do something new – often it’s “simple” like learning to play bingo but other times it’s extreme like learning to sky dive. The day before my 40th birthday, I completed my first Olympic Triathlon, The Pacific Crest in Bend, Oregon. For those of you who do not know, it’s a 1.5 kilometer open water swim, followed by a 28 mile bike ride, followed by a 10 kilometer run. Even in my early modeling days, I never would have thought about such an adventure. I may have been thin then, but I wasn’t fit or healthy. Now I know it takes balance between my health – mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

I saw this picture taken just after I crossed the finish line and smiled to myself to see a happy, healthy me. It’s not perfection, and never will be – too much pressure there – but it’s satisfaction, in my health, my life, my accomplishements, and my possibilities. I wish this for everyone. Hopefully I can help clients find their own path to optimal health that will allow them to be happier than they ever imagined possible. It can be an enjoyable road, and no one has to do it alone.

January 4, 2011 by Kellie 2 Comments

Who Am I To Tell You About Nutrition (Part 4)

For over 10 years I worked serving fast food during the day while spending my nights learning about healthy food and cooking. The in congruency was too much for me. I decided to go back to school and get a degree in Nutrition, Health & Wellness. At the completion of my degree, I wasn’t sure what came next. I thought I wanted to become a Registered Dietician. Along the way I realized my thoughts didn’t allign with the American Medical Association. I became a Personal Trainer, incorporating nutrition and fitness.

During this same time frame my health required some careful consideration too. Pre-cancer cells were found on my uterus just as my father was having a stem cell transplant to try and keep his terminal cancer at bay. My joints and muscles were hurting. My nails had ridges. Fatigue was my new best friend. And you don’t even want to know about the constipation. My liver completely shut down during labor. My cholesterol was too high and I was pre-diabetic. My weight was around 170, with a lot of muscle thanks to regular heavy weight lifting. How could I be falling apart when I was eating so “healthy”?

Something wasn’t right!

I started a new course of study based on the Weston A. Price Foundation and Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions. If you don’t own this cookbook, go get it, it’s a life saver. I came to realize that low/no fat dieting wasn’t helping me, it was hurting me. It wasn’t about the amount of fat I ate, it was about the type of fats I ate and the quality of food I gave my body for fuel. Finally, I was introduced to the Nutritional Therapy Association and the Nutritional Therapy Practitioner Degree Program. Here I found people that really believed food can be therapy. I found the next step I had been looking for and knew I could do what I loved!

Now, I’m putting it all together . . .

December 28, 2010 by Kellie 3 Comments

Who Am I To Tell You About Nutrition (Part 3)

One evening I looked around my kitchen at the number of take out styrofoam containers sitting around and then took a long, hard look at myself. Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Who was this person I’d become? There might have been a smile on my face but it was a mask. Time to get serious.

I dieted (still back to low/no fat though) and exercised for almost a month before I had the nerve to step on the scale. Ultimately, I don’t know how heavy I really ended up – the scale that day read 182 pounds! I joined a gym and “took it to the next level”. Over the next couple of years I returned to 135 pounds including muscle tone and somewhat better health.

I met the man who is now my husband and went to work in his family business, McDonald’s Restaurants. Yes, now we were the King & Queen of fast food. I was proficient enough to become my own Owner/Operator and made a name for myself in the business. In the beginning, with 12-14 hour days all on my feet plus continuing at the gym, I was able to gain only a bit of weight. As the job morphed so did our eating habits and some of my weight. But, as our relationship became more serious so did our desire to eat at home. As I started wanting to prepare meals for him, it became obvious that I only knew my mother’s cooking. As a single person, eating peas from the can while standing in my kitchen seemed acceptable, but not now. I wanted more. Note dear reader, my husband’s mother is a gourmet cook who has studied in multiple cities, so boxes and cans weren’t gonna cut it. Here, he bought me cooking lessons, but for both of us. Every Tuesday night we’d go learn our new techniques and spend the rest of the week honing our skills. It seemed romantic . . . little did either of us realize it would send me on a whole new path.

December 21, 2010 by Kellie 13 Comments

Who Am I To Tell You About Nutrition (Part 2)

Even with dieting and exercising, my agent explained that I was “filling out too much” and needed to have surgery in order to stay in the business. Yes, finally, in my early 20’s I was becoming a woman. Washed up in the modeling/acting world by 24 years old. Luckily I still had a day job.

My next big move, included a geographic change, a vocation change,and a relationship change. I bought a 7-Eleven Store. I was now the Queen of junk food. Having been on a low/no fat diet for quite a while, my first taste of squirty nacho-cheese-type sauce with “chili” on chips made me sick for three days. Slowly though, my body adapted and I could eat an old out-of-code corn dog washed down with beer with the best of ’em. As my six plus year relationship came to an end, I found solace in chicken fried steak and gravy. I knew how every diner in the area prepared theirs. I might have been a connoisseur? I contemplated that gravy might be a beverage?

It probably doesn’t need to be said, but my weight hit a new high and my health hit a new low. Again, full disclosure, I’m including a picture from this time period. I know this wasn’t me at my heaviest, but like many people uncomfortable with their size, I wasn’t a big fan of having my picture taken.

Kellie Hill | The Right Plan's Blog

The BIG Rocks in Your Life

Who Am I To Tell You About Nutrition (Part 5)

Who Am I To Tell You About Nutrition (Part 4)

Who Am I To Tell You About Nutrition (Part 3)

Who Am I To Tell You About Nutrition (Part 2)

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