FOUR Keys To Look For When Searching For A Wellness Solution

Every day you can find thousands of hard bodies on instagram. One is promoting shakes and bars, another a diet of meat and cheese, while another touts the benefits of being completely vegan. How are they all correct? With diet plans being promoted in every variation known to woman, how can all of them be THE ONE? Here is the plain truth- NONE of them are. 

Real wellness is messy. It is a never-ending journey that is constantly changing. Being healthy is not an end goal, it is a continual process. And within that process lies new jobs, moves, aging parents, growing children and a host of other life changes and challenges. Our goals may shift from having the perfect bikini body to just being able to play with the grandkids without pain or exhaustion. 

We have unique lives and lifestyles and values. More importantly, we have different genetics, body types, cravings, metabolisms and brain patterns. Even if we all ate the same diet, we would all still have different bodies and different results.So, while some fad diets may work in the short term, capitalizing on intermittent bursts of motivation, they are never sustainable. She who is KETO or Paleo may want to eventually drink a beer or have cake for her grandson’s birthday. She who is eating bars and shakes might eventually want real food. We end up, therefore, in a cycle of being “ON and OFF a diet”, rather than living an authentic life where what and how we eat isn’t eating up all the room in our brains. So, where do we find the answer?

FOUR key things to look for when searching for a wellness solution:

1. Sustainability

Whatever eating style you adopt should NOT be temporary. In order to sustain the results of any eating plan, it has to be one you can do FOREVER. Any cleanse, 30 day challenge, or plan that removes foods or drinks that you love will not help you to be successful in the long run. A plan that asks you to subsist on fake food will not help you learn how to be a person that weighs less, it will teach you to be a person who relies on fake food. Find a plan that allows you to have all the foods that you love. Figure out what your non-negotiables are, and don’t give them up. (My course: The Nexus of Whole Health & Inner Peace is a great way to figure this out- you can take it HERE.)

2. No Empty Promises

Any program that sounds too good to be true - IS too good to be true. Short of having magical genetics (which some people are lucky enough to have), most of us have to make certain trade-offs to be healthier or to lose weight. You need to be clear about what these trade-offs are and how your body will look and feel as a result of making them or choosing to keep the status quo. For every person these trade-offs are different. Some decisions affect your mental health and food freedom -- others affect your physical health and wellbeing. As a coach, my job is to unearth these decisions for you and then let YOU make them. 

3. The plan promotes health and not thinness

The women on instagram who are all muscle or skin and bone are not necessarily healthy. In fact, many of these women are only like that for the day of the photo shoot (or are totally photoshopped). In fact, becoming too thin can lead to hormonal imbalance, loss of period, depression, bone loss, sleeplessness and a host of other problems. If a plan is putting thinness above your health, walk away.  A plan that says you can drink and not exercise is not healthy. A plan that has you subsisting on chemically processed bars may help you lose pounds, but your inner health will suffer as a result. My goal as a coach is to help you become as healthy as you want to be on the inside, while making peace with your body on the outside. You should be able to eat what you want to eat, move the way you want to move and release any inner struggles you are having about your body image. To me that is the path to whole health. 

4. You think LESS about food, not more

As women, we have the burden of carrying a tremendous amount of emotional labor. This can include everything from being the primary caregiver at home, to listening to friends, remembering birthdays and food lists, and figuring out for the umpteeth time what the hell is for dinner. The last thing we need is to have more of our energy swallowed up with calorie counting and body obsessiveness. A successful wellness plan should help you take these thoughts off your plate. Incorporating healthy habits should be easy and automatic. The reason the diet industry can’t sell this methodology is because it is slow and steady, not fast and flashy. You might start your journey by having one more serving of vegetables a day, or making your frappuccino just a tiny bit better. Quick results come from a complete overhaul of your life. Sustainable results come from tiny, almost unnoticeable habits that get mindlessly incorporated into your lifestyle. By adopting habits, slowly and steadily, you stop thinking about what you are eating and how you are moving and just do it. 

I have created my entire wellness practice on the foundation of these four tenets. It isn’t sexy. It’s not quick, and it isn’t simple. In fact, if you work with me, your goals may change month to month and year to year. And that is OK! As a coach, my job is to take the stress surrounding wellness off of your plate and help you incorporate small changes that, over time, change your life. You’ll hardly even notice the work, and yet you’ll be sleeping better, moving better and feeling better. 

I would love to hear from you. What is your biggest struggle right now? Where have past diets failed you? Feel free to email me or shoot me a DM on Instagram @blueberry.nutrition. If you are curious about starting your own sustainable journey- you can sign up for 20 minute free call with me HERE