Wellness has become a controversial topic. I’m not quite sure why, but it has. Just like with politics, everyone has seemingly become an expert in the area. Everyone has the “secret” to losing weight, or knows about the next superfood, or knows a guy who knows a guy that can make you healthy without exercising or eating vegetables for a ridiculous amount of money. Do you ever wonder where everyone is getting this information? And why were you left out? If being healthy was so easy, why has no one told you how?

Let me start with some of the misconceptions about wellness and being healthy. Then I will get to some simple things you can do right now to knock out the BS and get on with your healthy life.

First things first, I am not a doctor, I am a holistic nutritionist. Make sure you speak with a healthcare professional before making changes to your diet or lifestyle. This is not medical advice and is not meant to cure, diagnose, or treat any disease or illness.

The biggest misconception I see about wellness is the idea that wellness is an end goal. As if at some certain point, you can stop being healthy, stop caring, and stop making improvements. You just simply “arrive”. That is not true. The idea of wellness is that it is a journey. Just as life is a journey, so is wellness. In my opinion, wellness is the search for becoming the best version of yourself. My personal goal is to live my best life so I can help as many people as possible live theirs. Will your journey look like mine? No. And that’s the idea! Wellness is a personal experience that is different for everyone.

Another misconception about wellness is that you must do super crazy or complicated things to be healthy. Weeklong juice fasts, meditating for hours, eating only raw plant foods, exercising excessively, eating exotic superfoods. You lost me at “juice fast”! I would never be able to stick to anything like that and I would never expect you to either. The easiest way to get “healthy” is to make life simple. Do what works for you, and do it well.

We all know the basics for what to do: eat fresh, whole foods, be physically active, manage stress, stop smoking, develop strong relationships with others, get quality sleep, and eliminate negativity from our lives. Simple right? Probably not. But the idea here is that you know what healthy looks like. I think a lot of times we get this image in our minds of some completely unrealistic version of ourselves based on others, tv, or social media. Let’s stop doing that! Stop being so hard on yourself! You know what to do, you know what you want your life to look like. This is not a matter of “we”, it’s a matter of “I”. I am strong. I am healthy. I am starting my wellness journey. It’s now a matter of figuring out how to get there.

Here are some simple things you can try to jump-start your wellness journey:

1.     Forget everything you think you know about wellness. Most of what you see in the media (and probably what you hear from others) is not correct. The idea of wellness is a slightly abstract with no one definition, but there is certainly bad advice.

2.     Start listening to your body. You are the expert of you. If your body says you are tired, take a nap. Need a salad for dinner? Eat it. Want to turn off your phone for a while? Do it. Something doesn’t feel right in your body? Listen and start paying attention. Soon you will be able to use your intuition to help guide you.

3.     Stop apologizing to others for your health decisions. This was a tough lesson for me to learn when I went vegan. I was always apologizing for not eating meat which made me feel bad. That defeated the point! Stay strong and stand up for what you believe in. Whether that is a dietary choice or saying no to over-committing yourself. Be respectful in how you do this, but you don’t need to apologize to anyone.

If you need help with some of these things or want to chat, hit me up! Wellness coaching is a great opportunity to get someone on board with your plans and be in your corner. Check out the other areas of my website for more information on wellness coaching.

That’s all for now. I gotta go prepare for this hurricane (yes, a hurricane in Wisconsin. Why wouldn’t there be a hurricane in the Midwest!).

Peace, love & kale!

Lindsay