Redefining Healthy: Finding What Health Looks like for Your Body

We’re always being told by someone what we should look like, how we should eat, and how we should move… for so long that some of us have forgotten what actually feels good for our own bodies.

Did you know that not all workouts are even meant for all bodies? For example, as women, our workouts can cause hormonal changes (add it to the list). So, it’s important to find workouts that feel good and work with the season of life that you’re in. This feels contrary to what we’ve been fed in the past, where the goal of a workout should be the physical results you see on a scale rather than things like:

• Getting stronger
• Having more energy
• Feeling comfortable in your body
• Balancing hormones / Cycle syncing
• Creating a habit of just moving

It's a major mindset shift because once you start moving, you inevitably do feel better in your body. While all those positive benefits start pouring in, unfortunately for a lot of us we fall into the trap of unrealistic expectations.📝 Most of us don't have 1-2 hours a day to workout and don't want to lose sleep for a 5am sweat. We work, we have social lives, we get ice cream after our kid's sports games... we live our lives.

 👉🏽 That's why it's so important to really DEFINE (or redefine) what it means to be healthy for YOU.

If how you're moving, what you're consuming, and what you're saying yes to doesn't feel quite right... it probably isn't.

To help you navigate this mindset shift, I’m going to ask you some questions:

• What does healthy feel like to you (are these healthy expectations)?
• What actions help you feel your best physically and mentally?
• How can you align your lifestyle with your goals and values for balanced well-being?
• Where should you start?

But first, I’ll give you a sneak peek into that last question of “where do I start”...

Because just moving is such a big part of this, I created a challenge around it. Tap here to check out my Just Move Challenge!

Now let’s dive into these questions…

What does healthy feel like to you (and are these healthy expectations)?

When you imagine yourself at your healthiest, what does that look like for you? 💭I want you to take a few minutes right now to actually reflect on this and picture what healthy feels like to you 💭

Because, heres the thing…

What you imagine has to work within the reality of your current season of life. If you’re imagining a 2 hour workout, plus 20,000 steps, plus 30 minutes of stretching, cooking all your meals, mediating, along with a full-time job and kids in multiple sports and activities, I'm sorry to tell you you don’t have the time to fit it all in. 

But almost everyone can fit 30 min of time into their calendar. 

There are so many benefits to even just 30 min of movement a day…

• Improved cardiovascular health
• Reduce your stress level
• Boost your energy levels
• Building muscle
• Increasing flexibility 

Plus you’re building that strong foundation of a lifestyle routine that prepares you for any season of life…whether you’re hoping to run a marathon one day, hike Mount Whitney, or whatever your ultimate definition of health might be. 

Being healthy should feel good to you, not something you dread or have a hard time keeping up with. It should work in harmony with your life. And 30 minutes of movement a day is a sweet spot for getting started toward finding that harmony.

Just Move gets you moving 30min a day, 5 days a week and you can join and get started today, right here 💃🏽

Doesn’t it feel freeing knowing it only takes 30min of movement to start creating those habits? Now let’s chat about what feels good and healthy in YOUR body… 

What actions help you feel your best physically and mentally?

As you uncover what healthy feels like for YOU…there may be some trial and error to really finding what feels good and healthy in your body. 

We’ve talked about needing to deconstruct what you’ve been taught about “being healthy” and examining our expectations (ones given to us by media mostly) to determine if they actually serve us both mentally and physically. 

We also explored what actually feels good in our bodies, what gives us energy, what helps us feel strong and confident in who we are…

But as it is with most things in life, determining these things are a lot easier said than done.

So HOW do we find the actions that help us feel our best physically and mentally? 🕵🏻‍♀️

💭 Think about it like finding a new book series…you’ve heard about a book from your friends, your coworkers, it’s trending on Tiktok, and even though you have very little interest in said book you try it anyways. You start reading and (just like you knew you would) you hit a reading drought. Just because something is trending, doesn’t mean you HAVE to read it. Because what happens when you painfully force yourself to get through it and now you’re NOT doing something you actually enjoy doing? Does that make having read the trending book worth it? 

Same for finding movement that works for you. You shouldn’t choose something just because it’s working for everyone else. And if you try something that is working for “everyone else” and you don’t like it, you might end up burning yourself out and creating a toxic relationship with movement. Again, does that make trying the popular thing “working" for everyone else worth it?  

Instead try walking through these simple actions to help figure out what healthy looks like for you:

• Set Realistic Goals: Define clear, achievable fitness goals that align with your lifestyle and physical condition. 

• Research your options: Look into different types of exercise programs, fitness classes, and workout plans to find what interests you and realistically fits your lifestyle.
• Educate yourself: Learn about proper exercise techniques, nutrition, and recovery strategies to support your fitness journey.
• Consult a Healthcare Professional: Seek advice from a doctor or a certified fitness expert to get personalized recommendations based on your health status and goals.

A great example of this is my best friend.👯‍♀️ She HATES working out. If I put weights in her hands, she becomes hilariously pouty. As her friend, I could have just peer pressured her into working out with me but as a trainer, I wanted to help find what movement DID work for her. 

So I coached her through some options, we talked through what type of movement her body was needing and we found a solution… a local barre class within walking distance from her home that nurtured her emotionally and physically 🤍.

Both of those things are so important to consider when defining what healthy action looks like for you. And sometimes, you need a TRUSTED outside perspective to help you uncover it with you, like I did with my friend and for so many women I’ve trained one-on-one.

Whatever action you take next, take it listening to your body. It’s how I help my clients find what feels good to them. We try certain foods to find what fuels them and and we try different exercises to find what makes them excited to move.

The best place to start with movement are the basic ones. My Just Move Challenge keeps things consistent so you can learn each movement without making one movement her whole personality. Remember, it’s just 30min of movement, 5 days a week, so it’s built for you to grow confident in a new habit.

Because these actions don’t have to be HUGE… So many times we think that if we’re making a change, it has to be dramatic.

In reality, it’s easiest to snowball change. Taking small actions that build on each other until you’re going from never working out to a barre class that kicks your ass 3 times a week and loving every minute of it.

Aren’t you SO excited to find something you love every minute of?

How can you align your lifestyle with your goals and values for balanced well-being?

Now that we’ve set our expectations around what healthy should feel like and what actions actually support those expectations…It’s time to talk about pressing play on those actions ▶️

So how can you align your lifestyle with these redefined goals and values for a balanced well-being?

Well first, we have to move on from talking about it and start getting serious with your schedule. I’m sure you’ve caught on by now…but I’m about the small steps rather than the huge leaps that actually end up sending you backward in the long run…

So here is how I would walk you through making changes if you were my 1-1 training client:

 
1. Make a plan A -> Identify when you have time in your existing schedule to focus on your goals. At immediate glance, your response is “I have no extra time!” then I am going to challenge you to look at: 

When you wake up, can you wake up 30 min earlier to dedicate to your goals?

How do you spend any down time you do have?

2.  Make a plan B -> Create a backup plan. Because let’s be real, you can be intentional about designating time for yourself but life WILL happen. I believe falling off track doesn’t exist, we are always on track. But when life does happen, the important thing is to be prepared for it and give yourself permission for it to happen (it’s easier to do this when you have a plan B).

Remember: We are creating a LIFEstyle, not a crash course. So again, small, stackable steps…not leaps. Sustainable changes, not dramatic ones.

Now that I’m off my soapbox 📦 here is what I want to leave you with to work on this week:

• Make your plan A: Find 30 min in your day (at least 3 days a week to start) to start implementing some of the actions you’ve decided will help you feel your best physically + mentally ->  A perfect place to start is my Just Move challenge.  You can join anytime and feel the benefits everyone in the challenge is already experiencing, even just one week in. 
• Make your plan B: Because even when taking small steps, life will happen and cause you to have to side step. Let’s say you have 4 days a week.. Your plan A should be to for sure get 3 days of action on the books…and if you get that 4th in, it’s a bonus…but it’s there for you to have flexibility when you can’t.
• Find accountability to keep you on track. Making a plan is great but if you don’t tell anyone about it, you are more likely to cancel those plans. Tell your partner about it, your friends, join a workout community or commit to a paid workout plan so you’re more likely to show up and do it!

So where should you start?

I get it, when you start something new, you want to do it full force, like you’d do it as your best self. But that mindset will set you up for failure. The most important part of starting something is just starting, even at your not-so-best self, and staying consistent.  

Because  being consistent even with doing the bare minimum, you’re doing better than you were waiting for the “perfect time.” 

Start with small steps and they will build on each other, getting you to where you want to go!

Some small steps I recommend:

• Start a low-commitment workout plan (my Just Move plan is a perfect one to start with, do it once without weights and then the next month, do it with)
• Drink more water
• Start syncing to your cycle (find a cycle tracker so you can start tuning into your body and its needs throughout the month)
• Make a quick home cook meal instead of ordering take-out
• Check-in with your body after you eat, how did that food choice make you feel?

What small steps will you take this week?

🤎 Tessa