Calling a spade a spade, the wellness industry is an overwhelming, fear-mongering place. It’s complex and nuanced. Between headlines spouting fad diets, to influencers touting misinformation, it’s easy to get confused by what’s best for you and your body. With this straightforward guide, you’ll learn what wellness truly is. You’ll learn how to incorporate wellness into your day-to-day life in a practical way. What is a realistic approach to better health in 2023? Ultimately, it’s about taking care of your mind, body, and spirit. It’s about avoiding fad diets and trendy wellness practices in leu of what’s foundational: exercise, sleep, nourishing foods, and the quality of your life.
Spoiler alert: you don’t need expensive powders or a regimented routine to be well. Wellness is all about simplifying—it’s about finding what works best for you and crowding out the rest of the noise.
End of year reflection
These past couple of years have inevitably tested our well-being. Speaking from personal experience, it’s been an emotional rollercoaster. All of that said, the end of 2022 is an opportune moment to take a step back—to tap into your current state of wellness. If I were to ask you how you’re feeling right now, what would you say? Are you prioritizing your health? Are your daily actions in alignment with your health goals? Without further ado, let’s define wellness and how it shapes our choices, habits, and actions.
What Is Wellness?
Wellness is the act of practicing healthy habits—on a consistent basis. It’s the things we do, daily, that are in alignment with living a healthful life. Wellness is encompassed by our routine actions that make us well. Best of all, these habits don’t have to break the bank. It’s important to remember that wellness is not one-size-fits-all. In fact, it’s the opposite. Wellness is about accepting who you are, as a bio-individual, while striving to up-level your mental and phyiscal being. It’s understanding how sleep, movement, and food affect your metabolism, hormones, and more. From incorporating exercise to living within our financial means, there are many ways to prioritize wellness.
My Wellness Philosophy
Simply put, my wellness philosophy is practical, sustainable, and approachable. It’s not hopping on and off the diet train or making drastic, unsustainable changes. Well-being is all about longevity—it’s about prioritizing healthy habits, now, to build a healthy future. Most importantly, my wellness philosophy is rooted in bio-individuality. Meaning: you have unique nutritional needs, circumstances, lifestyle preferences, and accessibility. All of these factors contribute to how you take care of yourself.
Looking at Health Beyond Food
Wellness is how we take care of ourselves, our community, and the world around us. In other words, a state of being well is so much more than what you eat. How you take care of your body is just as important as how you take care of your mind, your relationships, your finances, and the world around you. Nurturing your social ties, setting financial goals, and pursuing your passions all contribute to your overall well-being.
Small, Consistent Habits lead to Lasting Wellness
Micro actions lead to macro changes. Successful major changes often result from taking small, repeated actions. Momentum builds on consistency. Ultimately, it’s what you’re doing, daily, that makes a difference in the long-run. Your daily actions have the power to significantly improve your mental, physical, social, and financial health. A few examples of micro actions that lead to macro changes:
- Turn off all phone notifications (‘do not disturb’) when you’re working out, focusing on a work task, or going to bed.
- Add a source of protein (collagen) and healthy fat (creamer or MCT oil) to your coffee / matcha to aid in blood sugar regulation.
- Put an OOO email response from Friday afternoon through Monday morning.
- Begin a daily mindfulness practice.
- Download an app like InMoment to limit social media usage.
- As soon as you get home from the grocery store, chop your veggies (like celery and carrots) and wash your fruit.
- Clean your kitchen before going to sleep.
- Start adding electrolytes to your filtered water.
How to achieve Everyday health
Everyday wellness is more than just an unsustainable diet, buying expensive adaptogens, cutting out entire food groups, etc. Taking care of your mental and physical health require tapping into what makes you feel your best. Surround yourself with supportive people. Weed out relationships that don’t support you. Practice gratitude. Prioritize sleep. Add quality protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs to your plate. Everyday wellness is about accepting where you’re at while inching towards realistic goals.
If you’re ready to feel more energized, improve your sleep, balance your hormones, understand how nutrition impacts gut health, and more, I can’t wait to chat. As a double-certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and Nutrition Consultant I help women in all stages of their lives.
This article is for informational purposes only. It is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment and we recommend that you always consult with your healthcare provider.
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