“Your body holds a profound wisdom. Trust it. Learn from it. Nourish it. Watch your life transform and stay healthy. ~ Bella Blue
It doesn’t fit. I pulled, pulled, and shook, but the zipper wouldn’t budge. I was twenty-three years old, graduating from college, and the clothes I bought a month ago couldn’t be zipped.
As I stood there crying in the mirror, I felt exhausted, anxious, vulnerable, and overwhelmed, and I wondered what was happening to my body. In just one month, I gained thirty pounds. I would have panic attacks one to three times a day. Everything I ate made me feel sick, and no matter how much exercise I did, I felt worse.
I was about to graduate with a degree in clinical nutrition, but my health was the worst it had ever been in my life. The world was supposed to be my oyster, but I couldn’t leave my house.
I used to tell people my “passion” was health. I started my first fitness program when I was nine years old. I first tried dieting when I was thirteen.
From that day on, health and wellness became my heart and soul—so much so that I earned a degree in clinical nutrition and became a certified personal trainer and Pilates instructor.
But maybe the problem is my passion for health actually one infatuated.
In an attempt to stay healthy, happy, and healthy, I fell victim to the marketing and manipulation of “health and diet culture.”
Everywhere you go there is health marketing and finding your “optimal health”. Whether that’s using fasting to regulate blood sugar, drinking an adrenal cocktail to reduce stress, or eating only organic and non-processed foods.
Even if you end up doing it “right”, the next day you’ll be wrong because there’s some new trend or hack that’s being pushed. This will make you dizzy and ultimately just destroy your relationship with yourself, nutrition, and health.
It was on that day that I vowed to pursue true health. Here are three lessons I’ve learned along the way.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to nutrition and fitness.
you are the only one. You have a unique medical history, genetic makeup, environment, and lifestyle that all affect how you and your body respond to nutrition and exercise.
This is called biological individuality.
Therefore, there is no one right way to do things. You may respond well to a low-carbohydrate diet due to a history of insulin sensitivity.
Because of your muscle fiber makeup, you may respond better to heavier weight training.
You can’t put yourself in a box and try to copy and paste success. You have to respect your body’s needs and nourish it accordingly.
I find that my body performs best when I eat carb meals and lift weights. I also feel my best when I eat every three hours.
I find that when I engage in high-intensity exercise, my body shows more signs of stress. It resisted any of my attempts to do intermittent fasting or eat low carb.
Finding what works for your body is the way to unleash your best self.
But whatever you choose, you have to enjoy doing it. Because if you don’t enjoy the process, if it doesn’t make you feel good, if it doesn’t enrich your life and promote your best self….
… It’s impossible to hold on for a long time.
It’s about what you can add to your life, not what you limit.
Nutrition is the science of providing nutrients to the body to sustain life. Food is the fuel your body uses to stay alive and thrive.
Exercise is good medicine and can give you the strength to cope with whatever happens.
This is not about limiting, cutting off or depriving yourself. When you approach it with this mindset, it fuels negative emotions, promotes the development of a negative self-image, and fosters a culture of guilt.
No one – absolutely no one – feels good in this environment. Instead, think about what you can add to your life and body to enrich it.
I love eating nachos; I enjoy them every week. Instead of restricting them, I added protein to make sure they were a balanced diet.
You might enjoy having dessert every night. A great way to enhance this is to add delicious fruit to your dessert. Alternatively, you can take a walk after a meal to help regulate your blood sugar.
This approach comes from love, support, and encouragement, which makes it easier to stay alive.
You can give it your all instead of being all or nothing.
I used to feel really guilty when my life responsibilities disrupted my exercise routine. I would obsess over missed workouts, thinking it would end my progress, and then I would try to find ways to “make up” for it.
There is a lot of pressure to maintain consistency, which is critical to success.
But don’t confuse consistency with perfection.
Perfection is trying to shoehorn this structure or “success formula” into your life, without any flexibility. It’s like saying you “must exercise five times a week” or “can’t go out to eat.”
Consistency is learning how to change your goals and intentions to fit what’s going on in your life at any given time.
Life has its seasons of highs and lows. That’s the beauty of it.
Sometimes you have the energy and inclination to be consistent and even pursue crazy gains toward your health goals.
Sometimes life calls you elsewhere, so while you still prioritize your health, you need to change the way you show up.
Understanding how to adjust your health goals and intentions during these stages is your way to long-term success.
Consistency shows up in pressure. Even if it means doing less than you hoped, you still do it.
Perfection is showing up for ten days in a row and then giving up when you miss a day.
An all-out mentality is much better than an all-or-nothing mentality.
If twenty-three year old me could see me now, she would be in awe. Her jaw would drop because even though I didn’t do everything “right,” everything I did worked for me.
Your health doesn’t have to be as complicated as it sometimes feels. You don’t need fancy supplements, the latest trends, or other unrealistic habits.
It actually comes from creating a lifestyle that makes you feel your best and be happy.
Because you can have perfect health without losing yourself.
About Tasha Stevens
Tasha received her BA in Clinical Nutrition and Human Development from the University of California, Davis. She is a NASM CPT member, STOTT Pilates trained, and is the founder of Happy Hormone Health. She has coached 2,000 women to regain energy, live symptom-free, and transform their health through hormone-balanced nutrition and strength training. Start your journey to hormone balance with her free hormone assessment to get a customized strategy.
