Signs Your Health Journey isn’t so Healthy!

Bailey Fitzgerald R.H.N

5 signs your health journey is not so healthy:

·  All your thoughts throughout the day are related to body image, food, or weight.A health journey should allow you to live your healthiest life so your thoughts and energy can go towards actually living your life (spending time with family & friends or dedicating time to things you feel passionate about). 

·  If you lost your period. If your menstrual cycle is irregular or absent since starting your health journey, you’re doing something wrong.

·  If you feel guilty for eating certain foods (feeling like a bad person for eating a piece of cake at a friend’s birthday) or forcing yourself to eat foods that you hate because diet culture told you had to (celery juice). There are other ways to get in fruits and vegetables without making yourself eat things you hate.

·  If you’re obsessing over aspects of things you’re doing and don’t have any flexibility (obsessing over nutrition labels or walking around the room at the end of the day trying to reach 10,000 steps).

·  Feeling like there’s no room for pleasure or enjoyment. Pleasure and enjoyment are an essential part of life. We can’t have health alongside pleasure and enjoyment!

Here are 5 tips to ensure you are on track with your health journey:

1. Have a balanced approach to nutrition: A healthy approach to nutrition means consuming a variety of whole, nutrient-dense foods, including fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Avoiding restrictive diets and fad diets that eliminate entire food groups can help ensure that you are getting all the nutrients your body needs to thrive.

2. Include regular physical activity: Exercise is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, but it’s important to strike a balance. Engage in activities that you enjoy and aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. Over-exercising can lead to burnout, injury, and can negatively impact your mental health.

3. Maintain positive body image: A healthy approach to health and wellness involves accepting and loving your body as it is. Striving for an unrealistic body ideal can lead to negative body image and even disordered eating behaviors.

4. Get quality sleep: Sleep is crucial for overall health and well-being. Aim for 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night to help improve mood, cognitive function, and physical health.

5. Practice mindful stress management: Chronic stress can have a negative impact on both physical and mental health. Engage in activities that help you manage stress, such as meditation, deep breathing, or spending time in nature. Prioritizing stress management can help ensure that your health journey is truly healthy and sustainable.

FUN ACTIVITY TO TRY:

Pull out a pen and paper and write down what healthy looks like to you. Write down all the behaviors that you can think about when you think about the healthiest version of yourself. When you’re done, go through the list and ask yourself what each behavior makes you feel. Does it make you feel anxious/ guilty or does it empower you or bring you confidence. Write down any feeling associated with each behavior.

This will give you a practical way to think about goals you can set for yourself that make you feel good. If one of your health goals is making you feel anxious or bad, change it or create a new one! We want to focus on action oriented goals rather than a goal associated with a number on a scale (i.e., ‘I want to lose 5 lbs’) – Let’s start thinking about why you want to lose 5 lbs. Will it make you feel better? If so, how?  Will it make you feel stronger, more confident, healthier? When you answer these questions, you work on setting action goals that can help you achieve long term health and happiness!