Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

  This picture fills me with a lot of emotions. First off, Campy is just over a year old. Look at the golden pup! Secondly, my dad - so positive and a lover of life - was only five years away from being diagnosed with stage 4 terminal cancer - which sadly ended his life 10 months later.  It makes me so happy that Campy is still here. At 15 years old, he is 76 in human years - which is what my dad would have been today. But I'm sad that my dad didn't get to experience life after the age of 67. What would you do if you only had five years left to live? I often think about this. My dad was waiting for retirement to travel with my mom. He was just a year away from making that decision. While he loved his job as a VA optometrist, he also had a lot of other hobbies - running, working in the yard, fixing things, making things, listening to music, collecting stamps, taking pictures, and so much more. I wonder if my dad knew that he didn't have a lot of years left, if he would have ...

  For the past seven years, Father's day has been hard for me. This year is no different. But then again, today is no harder than any other day. After losing my dad to cancer, every day is Father's Day - I think about and miss my dad every single day.  At first I wasn't going to write a Father's Day post. Acknowledging this day and not being able to show my dad how much I love him, makes today very hard.  Today is not my first Father's Day without my dad. Since the age of 32, I've had to remember my dad instead of being with my dad. But I know I'm not alone. Others are missing their dad and Father's Day without a father is just plain hard. I have so many wonderful memories with my dad. At swim meets, running events and triathlon races to academic accomplishments like graduating from college, earning a Master's degree and becoming a Registered Dietitian. And then there are milestones like starting my own business, getting married, adding a dog to our ...

Dear dad, It's been six years since I last saw you, spoke to you, touched your hand and hugged you. Six years ago I had to say good-bye to you. The time we had together wasn't nearly enough. I only got to spend 32 years of my life with you as my dad. There are still so many questions that I need answers to and you are no longer just a phone call away. I miss your words of wisdom. I miss your sense of humor. I miss your knowledge of everything. Not a day goes by when I don't think about what life would be like if you survived your 10-month fight with cancer. When I find myself in a situation or scenario that leaves me confused, concerned or worried, I imagine what you would say or do if you were still here. I wish you were here to share in the happy moments and to help me through my struggles. You left this world with so many great memories and you left people with a lot of great memories of you. You liked people and people liked you. You made people laugh. You a...

Today marks four years since my dad passed away after his 10-month fight against cancer. Some days it feels like just yesterday when he left whereas other days it feels like forever ago. I miss him every day. My dad was an incredible human being and I was so lucky to call him MY dad for 32 years of my life. I miss his guidance, his jokes, his support, his positive attitude and his love for me as his daughter. Some days are harder than others but my dad taught me so much in life, especially to never ever take a day for granted. After his passing, I found it important to honor his 67 years of life by staying strong and living my life to its fullest. My dad taught me to.... Always smile See the positive Be nice Never stop learning Help others While it's very hard to live life without my dad, I know he looks over me and shares every life experience, obstacle, setback and high-moment with me. If you would like to learn more about my dad, here is a tribute that I wrote abou...

One year ago today, the world lost a very special man.  This man was a mentor, an educator, a great story teller and the chief optometrist of the New Port Richey VA clinic.  He was a husband, father and son. A lover of life and someone who lived his entire life happy, patient, kind and supportive.  This man was my dad.  When a friend looses a family member/spouse, it is within our heart to be compassionate, sympathetic, empathetic and loving.  When you are the one who loses a family member, your heart becomes empty because someone so very important to you, that you see or talk to all the time, is no longer sharing your life with you.  Life presents many challenges but nothing was as hard as saying good bye to my dad one-year ago today. My dad lived his entire life as a strong, hard working, determined and busy man but sadly, he could not win on his 10-month fight with cancer.  But as a lover of life, he sure fought hard....

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I realize that my vegetarian lifestyle isn't best well suited for this holiday but for me, it's not about the food.  When I was growing up, we always celebrated Thanksgiving together as a family. My brother, my mom and dad and any relatives who could drive/fly to be with us. Sometimes we would go out of state and sometimes we would be at home in Lexington, KY.  When I was in college, I really looked forward to being with my family because I didn't see them all the time like I did growing up and throughout High School. As a high school and collegiate swimmer, the holiday season was often our high volume time of the year so  my carb-rich heavy feast was very well enjoyed (and useful) for my active body especially when I looked forward to a 8,000-10,000+ yard swim session the day after Thanksgiving.  After college, I moved to Florida for graduate school and luckily, my dad got a job in Florida as well (at the VA clin...

It was three weeks ago when I had my last conversation with my dad on the phone. My dad was at the hospital in Tampa because he had not been feeling well and I had discussed with my mom about flying home to help her out in the next week. While living in Jax, I was only 3.5 hours away from my parents and Karel and I would visit often, driving there at least once a month. Although Karel and I moved 10 hours north of my parents just 4 weeks ago, it was part of the big plan that my parents would move as well, so we would all be together.  Throughout my dad’s heroic 10-month fight with his stage IV cancer, my dad never complained, never had any self-pity and never asked anyone close in his life to stop what they were doing just because my he was ill.  If anything, my dad wanted to live so badly because he wanted to share life with his family. Even with so much going on in my dad’s life over the past 10 months, my dad never stopped being a great dad, no matter how much pai...