thehealthylifeisgood

Alrighty! It’s been a couple years since I had my philosophy on health written out. Things have changed (a little bit) so I figured I would do a little renovation.

1. Health is Individual

First things first, I believe health is totally individual. What works for one person is almost guaranteed not to work for the next. Each person is a sum of their experiences. We all have different experiences that make us who we are. Also each person is in a different phase of life. Whether that be a pregnant phase, a school phase, deep into their career phase, kids running around phase, single and dating phase, wanting to get into shape phase. All different phases of life, all different experiences, so we all need something different.

This is why I love being a health coach. I love to identify what each individual needs each week. We are always changing. New experiences, new phase of life.

     2. Intuitive Eating Can be for Everyone

I believe that everyone who is seeking to improve their health must learn intuitive eating. Everyone! It can only help. I believe it is upmost CRUCIAL to learn how to be intuitive and mindful while living in a world where you can’t escape the dieting industry and body shaming.

    3. Intuitive Eating is a Journey

Learning intuitive eating, doesn’t necessarily make you an intuitive eater. I am not suggesting everyone must be an intuitive eater. That takes some time if you are coming out of years of dieting. However, I do believe that everyone must learn intuitive eating, no matter where they are in their health journey.

   4. Intuitive Eating Adds to Your Life

I believe that intuitive eating is meant to add to your life, not take away. It took me several months of practicing intuitive eating to finally understand it. I would slowly add a principle here and slowly add a principle there. If something was too much and starting to cause more stress, I put the brakes on! There shouldn’t be any “black and white” mentality when it comes to intuitive eating. I continued to diet while I practiced intuitive eating. I needed the structure, it was kind of like using training wheels when learning to ride a bike. And slowly, I let go and didn’t need the strict structure anymore. I have coached women on intuitive eating while they were still dieting. I often get emails asking, “Can I do your program and still do ___(some sort of dieting behavior)_______.” My answer is always, “YES.” Intuitive eating isn’t just waking up one day and suddenly you trust your body and eat whatever you want. It takes some time to become a more confident eater. You make the decisions. You decided what you do and do not like. You make your own, “diet.”

5. Exercise

One thing that I decided to not let go of was my passion for exercise. Fitness has always been a big part of my life. While I was trying to apply and add the philosophy of intuitive eating I kind of thought I needed to get rid of my passion of exercise. About a year went by and I just wasn’t happy that way. I started prioritizing exercise again, and it has been one of the most beneficial things in my life! It helps me spiritually, socially, emotionally, mentally, and (of course-) physically. Remember above where I said intuitive eating is about adding not taking away? This is where that is true. I believe exercise is extremely important and when we make it a non negotiable priority, it can have a positive ripple effect in every other area of our life.

YES I KNOW- THERE IS MORE TO LIFE THAN FOOD AND EATING

If you’re reading this and you haven’t had a history of dieting and disordered eating, I’m sure you’re scratching your head, thinking, “huh?!” I know that there are plenty of women out there who have never struggled with having an unhealthy relationship with food and their body. My advice, “If it aint broke don’t fix it.” A lot of my tips, personal experiences, tricks, blogs, and posts are for those who have struggled with having a positive relationship with food, emotional eating, disordered eating, dieting, or a negative body image. If you haven’t struggled with any of these I may not be of much help! Ha ha:)

Thanks for reading! This is a fun hobby to have.