Hello friends and fellow Wellness Warriors! Now that everyone is settling into their 2025 routine, I want to address some changes around these here parts. My returning readers will have already noticed some things and if you are new here, feel free to skip this post and check back next week for the regularly scheduled hype.

So, the most noticeable change is that I’ve done a bit of a rebrand. That seems weird to me as I have exactly zero training in marketing and PR and I will be doing pretty much what I have always done here. Sharing my knowledge and thoughts on exercise and fitness in hopes that I can help you make more informed decisions. I have no intention of changing that, although the more laid back spacing I adopted last year will stay. The every other week posting schedule more suits the season of life I happen to be in currently.

Part of the reason for that is that I have picked up a new position training in person at a local gym. As many parents (especially moms) tend to do, the needs of our families come first, especially when our kiddos are young. My OGs (I see you and I salute you) know that this blog originally started as a project I could do to stay on top of the goings on in my field when my little guy was a tiny guy. Now that he’s older, I felt the need to get back into working more.

Part of the reason for the rebrand is that I had moved away from some of my core knowledge base. Mental Muscle Wellness implies a lot more focus on Mental Health. And while I will always believe that our Physical and Mental Health are tied, it had become much easier to write about the mental aspects of exercise. I still intend to talk about mindset, motivation, and the connection movement has with Mental Health, but I am a trained Exercise Physiologist and it’s time to talk more about the movement piece. The new name and logo reflect more about what I stand for.

Part of the reason is purely practical. In my new in person role, I am an independent contractor. Having a new business will affect taxes. But more importantly for all of you, rebranding the site and bringing it under the new umbrella offers me a better opportunity to bring programs and services to you. These are moves that I have wanted to make for awhile and was unsure about. It’s true what they say, though, one change can often spawn more.

What does this mean for you? As I said, I still intend to publish a post every other week on a Tuesday. I had intended to get a site reorganization finished before the start of the year, but my schedule didn’t allow that to happen, so that is something that will be coming shortly. The plan is to make things (like the Wellness Toolbox) easier to find and navigate; everything will remain, it’ll just be more straightforward.

I intend to introduce some self-paced programs that you can purchase if you wish. I want to try to offer options for virtual workouts or even one on one training as well. All of these will be based on my guiding principles: practices that reflect current science and research, a variety of movement options, a common sense approach, an emphasis on longevity and mindset, and a body neutral method.

I love my job teaching and I love what I do here. However, they both can feel cyclic. How many times can I talk about the benefits of walking? I was struggling because, to me, it felt repetitive and I thought I had to be coming up with something new and amazing all the time. Me. The one who preaches about consistency and the value of the basics all the time. The fitness influencers go to me, too, just in a different way.

Returning to in person training reminded me of exactly why it is important to keep talking about the basics. Especially as (ironically for me) social media makes up more  and more of the content we consume. It’s also unlocked my creativity after a long dry spell, which will hopefully translate to you here.

I’ve updated my Meet Melissa page to reflect the rebrand and to offer a more official look at my credentials. The URL will remain as mentalmusclewellness.com for the time being. There’s a lot going on and I am not the most tech savvy girl, so one thing at a time. The handles for my social media accounts (Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube) have changed to melissa_moves_well. I post related, but different content on these platforms, so come say hello there, too.

Thank you again, for being here and being patient through my growth as a person and trainer. If you’ve got an idea for something you’d really like to see, let me know in the comments!