New Moon Health And Nutrition-Who, What and Why?

Hello friend!

My name is Hannah Garland. You may or may not know me. That is totally ok!

I thought my first post here would be a short introductory to who I am, why I wanted to start this blog, and what I want to accomplish with this page in general.

Please, forgive me. It has been a while since I have had the chance to freely express my feelings to someone I hardly know in a very public space in the form of writing! But I am so excited to be here, and I am even more excited for you to be here too!

So let's start off with some simple information about me. My name is Hannah and I live here in Austin, Texas. Initially, I came down from Dallas, Texas to attend school in San Marcos at Texas State. Originally I was attending Texas State to gain my Bachelors in Psychology with a minor in Anthropology: I love people and I knew my calling was to help them. Of course, like a lot of other people, life, including myself, got in the way of that. I wasn't too far off from graduating, and am grateful for the time I spent there and all of the knowledge I acquired. If there is one thing you should know about me, it is that I LOVE to learn. From there, I worked around town at numerous places, building my skill set in baking, cake decorating, line cooking, food prepping (I love being in the kitchen), along with retail experience (dogs included) and sales. (Fun Fact: I attended the Culinary Magnet at my High School! I knew the kitchen was a safe and fun/creative place to be!)

Fast forward to 2014- my father became ill with cancer. Being in a bad situation financially, my lovely parents allowed me to reside with them. I was able to be with my parents during all the different stages of his illness (of which I am eternally grateful for because it gave us the chance to become very close). However, all of the chemotherapy and radiation was having a very large impact on his quality of life and food, what he was putting in his body, became somewhat of an obsession. This is when I connected the dots: What we put in our body is medicine. This changed my whole perspective on the field I had come to love. So, naturally, I became obsessed. I transitioned to being a vegetarian, and later reapplied to Texas State, specifically Nutrition and Dietetics with my minor in Psychology already completed. After a year in the program, I simply couldn't afford to go. I also realized I didn't want to work in a clinical setting and made the choice not to return. However, the knowledge I absorbed was so important, and I continue to educate myself in any way I possibly can, reading anything I can get my hands on, talking to anyone I can about this field, etc.

In August, I was hired at a Health Coaching and Weight Management program to do Business Development: my superpower is being able to connect with just about anyone. Then, an opportunity to become a Health Coach at the company was made available to me, and of course I jumped right in! I have been coaching ever since, and having some experience under my belt, I know this is my true calling.

In January, after having dreams of attending for a while now, I registered at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in order to receive my Health Coaching Certification. It is a year long program that is centered around Nutrition, but really focuses on lifestyle as well (something I feel really passionate about). There are many different reasons why this program means so much to me, but we can get into that later.

So that is sort of my education/experience/passion background.

Some other facts about me that you may or may not find interesting are: I love photography, dogs, cooking, baking, working with my hands, printmaking, painting, reading, crafts in general, yoga, walking, and just being creative in any way possible. I love learning, and I am what some would call a forever student (something I am personally proud of). I love making people laugh. I love learning about and connecting with people on all the levels. I love helping in any way I can. I am into zodiac (cancer/gemini cusp), and like to read tarot cards (but I am a beginner). I love being outdoors (hiking, being in the water, beaches, mountains, camping, etc). I am newly vegan (as of November 2019) but have been vegetarian since I can't remember? (If I had to guess, 2014). I am 31! I am really into living in a sustainable way, and trying to have a really small carbon footprint. My love languages are quality time and words of affirmation. I am half tomboy (even though I dont like that term), and half super feminine. I am right handed. I have 2 lovely older sisters and a younger brother (he lives here too!) Family is really important to me! I am constantly trying to better myself in whatever way I can, I know this is a lifelong process, and that feels really good to me.

Why? I wanted to start this page in order to share a different perspective on health, and what that means in this new decade! I wanted this to be a place that feels safe. I also wanted a place that I can share what I am learning, so that you can learn too! Also, I really like projects and this seems like a really good one to invest my time in.

What? I plan to share mostly things that feel relevant: trends, things that are actually affecting my life or friends and family in a health and wellness area (this is a broad topic), things/products I recommend/that work well for me (no sketchy sales tactics, just things I like), fun factual articles, etc.

I am always, always open to feedback. Please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences, as well as things you would like to know more about.

Thank you so much for showing up! I hope this is as enjoyable, helpful, and informative for you as it is for me!