The story behind BalanceBoost started with my own quest to become healthier and live at my best. Growing up in a household of chain smokers and unhealthy eaters wasn’t easy, but as a former athlete and someone who was very involved in school activities, I was concerned with performance and appearance.

In college I studied Kinesiology and Marketing while also working for the Dean of my school at the University of Michigan Health Management Research Center (UM-HMRC), a world-wide leader in studying how health choices influence total health and productivity, quality of life, vitality and health care economics throughout a lifetime. At the time, I had no idea what Wellness was, but during my 3 years with UM-HMRC, I absorbed valuable information on Worksite & Population Wellness.

After college I met a good friend who was Personal Trainer with extreme eating habits, which at first I found to be ridiculous, but then his ways became integrated into my lifestyle. To my surprise and unforeseen luck I began my commitment to myself to always want to feel good, look good, and be healthy.

It all started with searching for information on how to change my lifestyle, but more importantly searching for the source of the issues to see how I could make changes to avoid these challenges altogether. Because I wanted immediate answers, my research was done on the internet.

Quickly, I came across a book called Ultra Prevention that changed my life! My life was controlled by allergies and the medications to relieve the symptoms. After reading Ultra Prevention, I learned that my allergies were a result of the food I was eating and the main culprit were dairy products - so I stopped eating cereal, drank my coffee black and cut out 99% of ice cream and other dairy treats, but not cheese (can’t get that monkey completely off my back). Within in 2 months I was off my daily double dose of allergy medications! YEAHY!

I realized there were many little things I could change in my daily routine that would keep me healthier, looking younger and feeling amazing! They say when you find something great you share it with the world and that’s what I started to do. Because of my changes, the people in my life could see the results and wanted to know what I was doing so they could do the same. Also, when someone would tell me about an issue or if I would see them doing something or consuming something that with one change could give them better results…my mouth was not shut.

With all of these findings I had ramped up my lifestyle to such ease that it did not take effort anymore to live at the level I wanted to, but then…I moved!

Yes, I moved from New York City to sunny Miami, Florida and had to start all over with finding the best places to get food, the best gym and alternative fitness activities, recycling policies, alternative therapies, spa services, how to make my apartment environmental friendly, etc. So I did what I had done years before.

I got online and starting searching, but to my surprise it was not as easy as it was when I lived in Manhattan. A lot of the wellness businesses were not listed online. The weeks and months were going by and it almost became a full time job trying to keep up with my “Well Lifestyle” and I realized - I may be a more extreme wellness seeker, so imagine all of the people who are where I was 4 years ago beginning the wellness journey trying to find this information...

I could just see people giving up and eating what they normally eat, skipping out on exercise, not seeking alternative activities, not staying aware of environmental issues and just living adequately, instead of at their best. I felt the frustration because on some days I gave in to it and gave up.

Then, in the summer of 2006, 2 friends of mine and I started looking into opening our own place of Wellness where people could come and engage in different types of services and activities, buy products and food to support their wellness lifestyle, become educated on different facets of health & wellness, and connect with other people who are interested in the Well Lifestyle and with the professionals who can lead them towards their wellness goals.

We realized early on that we didn’t want to be tied to a brick and mortar in one location and all of the other issues that go into operating a facility and dismantled the project. From there 2 of us came to the conclusion “why not put this on the internet” and become a guide and allow people everywhere to do all of their researching, connecting and shopping online and use our Website to get started and stay on course since we can bring all of the information, services, products and professionals together in one place for them to access anytime and anyplace in the world…which gave birth to The Balance Group and BalanceBoost.com – Wellness & Green Social Network and Brand for consumers, industry professionals and businesses to Seach, Connect and Shop everything Wellness & Green.

We know that there a lot of websites out there with wonderful information but we feel they are missing the bigger picture of Wellness. It’s about the Mind, Body and Soul. If you’re healthy but not happy you’re not complete? If you’re happy but not healthy…same thing! Plus we feel that to contribute and be aware of environmental issues both on a local and global basis is a big part of living a Well Lifestyle as it is our duty to care for this earth that serves us daily the food we eat, the land we live on and the air we breathe.

Also, we know from experience, when you’ve finished learning about something and now want to buy it, or take part in it you have go someplace else. Whether it be to another website, picking up the phone or asking someone you know there's another course of action you must take.

In some cases we know that you are not able to follow through at all because finding the next step is challenging or you go to a website or store with products but there is not enough information/education on how to use them, how they are made, and in some cases there is no customer service or educated staff members to speak to who uses the product. You may also want to know other things that compliment the product like an exercise, a meal, or another product. Or, the website may do all of this but it only covers one topic and not all wellness categories.

On BalanceBoost you WILL be able to BUY products you just read about, BOOK services you just learned about, and SIGN-UP for classes/workshops in your local area which are all ONE click away. If you are still unsure or want more information, you can CONNECT with other wellness enthusiasts, beginners and professionals allowing you to make more informed choices. We are creating a One-Stop Wellness & Green Destination to save you time and money in your journey towards living a Well Lifestyle.

We are not Medical Professionals. The information on BalanceBoost and in our Weekly Wellness Guide are there for you to make your own decisions and are not instructions. We care about you and want to share what we have learned, experienced, and want to know more about to help everyone live a Well Lifestyle.

So we invite you to not only visit BalanceBoost, but we’d also like to hear from you as we continue to develop the company and the site to serve you and your journey towards living a Balanced Lifestyle.

Thank you and Have a Balanced Day!
Tiffany Houser, Founder
The Balance Group l BalanceBoost