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With Thanksgiving just two days away, now is a great time to reflect on what you are grateful for as we gather around the table with family and friends.

And speaking of family, Jennifer’s husband and kids are her entire world. They support each other in every season, with every dream, and through every hardship. Keep reading for a little insight into her family and how they have played a role in her business and health journey.

What is your family like?

FUNNY!! We laugh a lot, we love real hard, and we always say ‘I love you.’ But like any other home with teenagers there’s also many arguments, a lot of talk about being a good person, making good choices, and trying hard at everything they do. My kids are active and have played sports since they were 4 years old, so we all enjoy outdoor activities together. My daughter is now at The University of Alabama living her best life – I can’t talk her into coming home! My son Tommy keeps me on my toes but makes me so proud! And my husband makes me laugh all day everyday! He works so hard for our family, and has worked in the oil and gas Industry since he was 14 years old. We have our struggles like any family does but we are all very close.

How do you encourage healthy habits for your children without commenting on their physical appearance or level of activity?

I worried about the example I was setting for my children (especially my daughter) when they were young. I worried that she would overanalyze how she looked, how much she weighed, or worried she would constantly compare herself to what she would see on TV. With this in mind, I was always very cautious how I talked about things.

When it came to food, I made it a point to say ‘we need to be eating healthier for our heart, to feed our bodies the food it needs to stay healthy and fight off disease,’ and I never encouraged my children to clean their plate. I would also say things like ‘we need to add some healthier choices this week because we’ve been busy and haven’t fed our bodies the veggies it’s craving. ’If they were full then I would allow them to be done. We kept healthy snacks in the house and I never bought sodas when they were growing up. Sodas were for special occasions such as birthdays, friends coming over, or because it had been awhile since they had it. Still to this day my children on their own will choose water or tea over a coke. They never felt like they were missing out because they never had it that often so then they never developed a taste or thirst for sugary beverages.

I was also very careful on how I talked about myself when she was around. I never said ‘I need to go on a diet’ or ‘I wish I was skinny.’ I made sure to compliment her strong legs, or mention how I was proud of my shoulders, or would suggest we all get outside and get some Vitamin D.

Being active was never an issue because they have played sports all their life and don’t know any different. My son of course plays Xbox, like all the kids his age, but even he will get to a point that he’s ready to get outside. Even though he is 15 and has friends that drive, he still gets outside and rides his bike often.

What is your favorite Thanksgiving memory?

I always enjoy the times that my friends and I have gotten together for Thanksgiving. We’ve done this multiple times through the years. A few years ago we hosted Friendsgiving at our home. My lifelong friends came with their husbands and their children. We had a house full. We each cooked our favorite sides and desserts, we ate, played games, ate again, laughed and laughed, did fun art projects with the kids, and then ate some more.

The guys weren’t real happy about the matching Thanksgiving shirts but it made for a lot of jokes and even more laughs. Thankful for my people.

We played records and listened to all our favorite music. We enjoyed coffee together that morning, cooking and baking for days! We joked and reminisced all day then spent all night playing games and laughing more!

Our friends stayed for the entire week. The kids played and my heart is always full when I have my friends and their families with us.

Happy Thanksgiving friends! May it be the best one yet – and dont forget, be ‘Thankful AF!”

You’ve got this, 

Mikayla