Sometimes we treat health like it’s a journey with a fixed end. It’s almost as if we believe that one day, we'll simply be deemed “healthy” and that’s the end of the whole ordeal. I believe this is the wrong way to look at getting healthy as it encourages people to try things like fad diets and potentially dangerous fitness routines that aren’t appropriate for them.
These quick fixes only serve to link “health” with “thin” and promotes the idea that you must be thin in order to be healthy. Or even worse, that you need to be thin to be loved. That’s just not the case.
While it’s never good to carry around excess weight, the fact is that true health encompasses far more than just your dress size. It’s something that you must apply to a lifestyle and lived daily, rather than just a goal weight to achieve and then abandon.
This is a lesson that I had to learn the hard way through my own experiences. As I’ve mentioned before, my personal struggle with self-confidence and negative body image led to a 16-year battle with bulimia.
While I no longer struggle with this, it hasn’t been an easy journey. With that said, I don’t know that I’d change what I’ve been through because every decision I have made, especially the mistakes, have led me to a greater understanding of what it means to be be truly healthy.
True, vibrant health is so much more than a size or a number. Being truly healthy actually starts from within.
Think about it like this...
I’m sure you’ve been on a diet at some point in your life. At first this diet probably helped you lose a little weight. But did this diet really make you healthy? Did it set you up for long term success? Probably not. But more important, did this diet address any of your inner struggles with why you were looking to lose weight in the first place?
For me, bulimia didn’t ever address my negative body image, or low self esteem. If anything it just contributed to it. It wasn’t until I focused on changing my internal thoughts, emotions and habits, and got healthy on the inside, that I was able to get healthy on the outside.
But that’s not what’s being taught in the fitness industry today. Instead, it’s all about what you look like and how quickly you can lose enough weight to rock a bikini. There’s no talk about the connection between the body and mind, yet as mentioned, the two are inseparably connected.
Working on one directly affects the other. When you address your inner health, you will naturally change your outer health. That's how it worked for me and I know it can work for you too.
Much love,
Misty