Building Your House of Health

Years ago, as a 15 year old, I started what I call my "hobbyist health journey." I was an active kid, participating in dance, theatre, and cheerleading. I took elective strength training class in high school. And yet as an active 15 year old I was still overweight. Knowing that the active part was not the issue, I started looking into foods that could be a contributing factor and man oh man were my eyes opened.

Since then I've learned a lot about nutrition, and as I got older and left the organized sports of my youth, I began searching for new ways to stay active. During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, I struggled with anxiety for the first time in my adult life and as a result became a certified meditation teacher. This was probably the best move I could have made and it really began to pull all the health pieces I had gathered over the years together into one cohesive picture.

I don't want that decades long journey for you, so keep reading to get the breakdown of what I now call my Pillars of Health: Movement, Nutrition, and Mindfulness. I love using the house metaphor because we all know the basic structures of a house and how each plays its role in making sure the house stays standing. First up, the foundation.

For me, the foundation of health is the last piece that I discovered, and that's mindfulness. This encompasses awareness, meditation, goal-setting, reflection, sleep, and balance. Mindfulness is being aware of that new fad diet, thinking about all the information surrounding it, setting the goal to research it, and balancing it out with both sides of what works and what doesn't. It's using your breath when you exercise, setting realistic goals for yourself in all aspects of your life, and reflecting on how it fits in every part of your day to day life. This is the piece that holds all the other pieces together, hence, the foundation.

Then we have to build the structure itself. To me, that's the nutrition piece. Can you build muscles with poor nutrition, yes...but it will take a while and it will be so much more difficult to maintain. What you put in your body is the fuel for all of your systems, much like how a furnace heats your house. To lose weight, build and maintain muscle, and have energy to accomplish all your goals every day, you need proper nutrition. Whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Lean meats that aren't processed or fried. Staying away from trans and saturated fats. All of it plays an important role in your health journey.

And finally, we come to movement. What fun would it be to build a house and not decorate it? Well, movement is the fun part of these pillars. It's the "decoration" that we show to the world, and it's essential for cardiovascular health. The movement pillar involves not just planned exercise, but day to day movement as well. This day to day movement actually accounts for most of our burned calories in a day.

If you're looking for a little support and motivation, join me on my private instagram group @rebelhealthandwellness. I designed this coaching group especially for women to build healthy habits in each of these pillars. Or, take it a step further with some personalized coaching (all found on my website using the menu above).