What Is Healthy Anyway?

This Gets Me So Annoyed, What The Heck Does “Healthy” Even Mean?

Pet peeve to share with you, I was scrolling through IG the other day and saw someone post this recipe for a Brownie Breakfast that looked super-rich and gloopy, it really grabbed my eye! You know the ones I mean, super food-porny, chocolatey, melty, peanut buttery, etc with the spoon digging in – and she’d described it as “Healthy Brownie Breakfast” Just out of curiosity I looked at the ingredients – and it was “sugar-free this” and “butter alternative that” and “name that weird flour from the tiny organic store that’s mostly known for wheatgrass”. No judgment! (and heck yes that brownie breakfast looked amazing.)

This person’s definition of healthy happened to be no sugar, gluten-free, dairy-free, and possibly keto. Of course, another way of looking at “healthy” is no medications, doctor’s visits, or runny noses, for others it’s being vegan, only eating organic and colonic cleanses. Health and wellness is clearly personal. 

But what if we took a different angle on the whole thing? What if you redefined what health and wellness meant to you based on your feelings. Feeling comfortable in our own skin and body and loving ourselves where we are NOW flaws and all. No matter where we are in our journey.

What if we focused on the feelings listed below? What would our lives look like if we focused on that?

Feeling Rested & At Peace

It all starts with making your sleep and self-care a priority.  Saying no to things that aren’t true to us.  Limiting or ending toxic relationships lovingly.  Carefully choosing what influences we want in our lives with what we read, watch, and listen to. Personally, I say no to stressful news programs, and mean girl vibes, I prefer working through our feelings and getting more in touch with ourselves with things like journaling, therapy, meditation, or your own mindfulness practice. 

Feeling Nourished

Feeling that your relationship with food, eating, sugar, snacking, and alcohol is balanced and not based on emotions, guilt, stress, deprivation.  Realizing that food is nourishment, pleasure, fuel, something to be savored vs used to stave off emotions or labeled as good vs bad vs cheat.

Feeling Alive And Energetic.

Surrounding ourselves with people, activities, and things that lift us up vs bring us down.  Getting out of our comfort zones to grow and feel great about ourselves,  laughing at ourselves, and looking for joy in life. Trying new things. Moving our bodies joyfully and because we can vs as a way to punish ourselves for having some birthday cake. Choosing to learn and grow because every day we’re alive is a gift. YOU my love are so much more than a number…on a scale…on a pair of pants…in your bank account…or the birthdays you’ve celebrated.

P.S. What would you add to that list of feelings? What do you think defines health and wellness for you?  I would LOVE to hear from you, leave a comment!