Nearly all “health” advice in today’s world revolves around diet and exercise. While diet and exercise have a huge impact on the composition of someone’s body, focusing only on these categories makes sustainable change difficult. That is because for something to be sustainable you have to enjoy it. A sustainable, healthy lifestyle does not need willpower.
The constant "just eat better!" or "just try running!" are only short term bandaids. Someone's diet and exercise choices are a reflection of their mental well-being, social class, education and more. The real root of health comes from why someone treats their body the way they do.
Sustainable health requires you to face the underlying emotional causes of your daily habits.
An amazing book, titled “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom” goes into deep detail all things female health and women thriving. Written by M.D. Christiaine Nortrup, this book is on my highly recommended list.
On page 32 she writes “Our bodies are influenced and actually structured by our thoughts and beliefs. Every thought is accompanied by an emotion or feeling, and every emotion creates a specific biochemical reality in our bodies. Thoughts that are reinforced over and over become beliefs. Beliefs drive our behavior.”
This “biochemical reality” is largely known as hormones. Hormones trigger us for certain behaviors, it is how we know we are tired, hungry for pie, etc.
By addressing your emotions, thoughts, and ultimately beliefs about yourself and the world, you will be able to find new beliefs that are aligned with your healthiest self.
These beliefs that you adopt through conscious practice, will become the new cues that your body adopts.
Some questions to get started on this are
What does my healthiest and most vibrant self feel and think, that I currently do not?
What are the emotions and thoughts behind (insert daily habit)? Does this serve me?
What would it feel like to enjoy movement?
What would it feel like to enjoy food, and feel fully nourished by it?
xoxo,
Empowered Fitness
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