It took me about 2 decades, becoming a mom, suffering through debilitating eating disorders, therapy, God, crystals, certifications, maturity and tears, to finally get to this place. That wellness isn’t a body size.
What place you ask? The place, where I’m not at war any longer with my body. The place where my self worth isn’t based on the size of my body, and where my physical and mental wellness are in tact after years of being disassembled.
Wellness looks and feels different for all of us- and when we figure it out, it’s freedom. Feeding, moving, hydrating, resting, these are basic needs for survival, and foundational pillars for our wellness. If one is off, the other pieces are sometimes harder to attain.
Let’s talk about food. We eat because our body needs fuel to survive, and we eat because it’s yummy and fun. Both of these needs can exist at the same time. Food can sustain us and entertain us. My rule of thumb, is to eat from the earth and the sea 90% of the time (think fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish, avocado etc), and eat the other stuff, 10% of the time. OUR MENTAL HEALTH sometimes needs chips and queso, amirite?
Movement. It’s so 1999 to “burn off” our weekend with a Monday morning workout. Exercise doesn’t have to be, and should not be punitive. It should elevate your mood, challenge your body, increase your heart rate and feel like a celebration of mobility. Find a way to move your body, every day, in a way that you love. I REPEAT, do NOT go for a run if you hate running. Try all the things, find something you enjoy, and do it…daily.
Hydration. Put down the gallon water jug, the instagram fitness influencer told you to buy. You do not have to be peeing every 5 minutes. I know it sounds weird, but our bodies tell us when we are thirsty. ALSO IT IS STRAIGHT UP non science, and not true that you are “already dehydrated” if you’re thirsty. Nope, it just means your body would like a few sips of something. So grab a water bottle you love, fill it up, have it near by, and try to take 5 sips every time you grab it. Some days it might be more, some days it might be less, based on how much you sweat, the temperature, or hormones. Stay sippin’ throughout the day, and you’ll be hydrated.
Rest. I’m not talking about 12 hours of sleep, because we are all moms, and hello, we operate on years of team #nosleep. But, we’ve got to rest our brains and our bodies, if we want to sustainably keep giving to the world, and our families like we do. Find time to read, take a walk, sit in a room with no one talking to you, practice a bedtime ritual, set up a spot in your house where you can lay your body down- offer your nervous system opportunities daily to find some calm and find some rest. We need it. You need it.
When all of these practices, become some sort of daily habit, we can truly achieve the kind of sustainable wellness that our brains and bodies need. It’s no longer a race to the smallest body, or a farewell to a yummy food, or weeks on weeks of GO GO GO- wellness, from the inside out, starts with the basics.
You, and me, mama, we are worthy of THIS kind of wellness and body size isn’t it.
