how did we get here…

I had a conversation with a friend the other day and it created some reflection. I feel this is my life these days; I am going to need to get out of my head soon! We were talking about ageing and admiring an older lady we saw. Who was beautiful. I said something to the effect that she is my health goal as I age. I made this statement based on an appearance; which I am not proud of. But I did and what I meant was it was so nice to see a woman who has allowed herself to age; she was vibrant looking. I am excited to embrace what I will become as a person while I continue to honour and respect myself and my body. Ageing gracefully is my goal! 

I scream inside when I think of how some of the women I travel through life see themselves. I thought as an awkward teenager by my 40s people would be over all of this. I find it mind-boggling how many women whose bodies have achieved incredible things are disappointed where their bodies are after these journey. They are injecting and/ or slapping chemicals all over it, pushing it it to limits that are unmaintainable in hopes for idealistic change. Why are we do dissatisfied with ourselves? I pondered how we got here….

I have spent my days lately diving more and more into women’s health. Mostly because I am fascinated with how our hormones affect our body, how stressors affect our hormones and how little we honour any of this. I am motivated to be a role model for our kids; both our two daughters but also our son. That a women’s body is to be respected and honoured. It takes on so much of life! Honouring body diversity and learning to be patient as it carries us through all of our days and the emotions that accompany them.

I find that diet culture and this constant chase of more or wanting what others have to be the biggest culprit. I don't mean that we need to stay stagnant or that we shouldn’t have goals or what change. But honouring where we are today and the journey that got us here is very important. Part of that is recognizing what we’d like to improve and what habits that we have to adopt to start us on that path. Recognizing and adopting change that is going to stick won’t happen overnight. It has to be slow. It has to be done with intention. 

But we are all restless and a bit squirrel-like; chasing from one tree to another. The one thing I have learnt from the past year and a half; with very minimal social contact and distractions. Is how much I had stopped listening to myself and how caught up I got in it all. In the past month or so, things here in BC have started to open back up. I have been reflecting on how I am going to move forward. I realized over the past year and a half how much I like simplicity and quiet. How much I don’t like to be pulled in many directions and how judgemental and non-flexible the world we live in can be. 

In chatting with a client about her daily movement plan. Her response was “I don’t do gyms”. Sure no problem. I am not asking you to go to a gym. I want you to move your body for 1 hour every day. She looked at me confused. As to say; why would I do that? I explained we often associate exercise with the need for weight loss or to sculpt our body. We seem to have lost the reason for movement or exercise in our lives. We need to move our body every day to shed stress, to help with digestion, to regulate hormones, to release toxins, to maintain muscle to support our joints, to help our metabolism, to gain bone density, to quiet our mind and to feel strong in our skin. We seem to have lost the health component of movement. But why? and how?

It truly amazes me how many people have been shocked when I tell them I used to run marathons; 12 to be exact. Or that I did a half ironman, or worked out at a gym 5-6 days a week. Sometimes I get comments on how I must have been skinny. The above events are not events that I did for weight loss. They were personal achievements and things I did to regulate my emotions. No, I have always been the same person slightly overweight, but strong both physically and mentally. I LOVE food but do struggle with emotional eating. I am in no way perfect and don’t strive for perfection. There are days that diet culture and negative dialogue get me down. But then…

I come back to my goal of studying nutrition. I want to empower people to be the best version of themselves by honouring their bodies, their journey and their dreams. I want to teach people about food and how it is a powerhouse for the prevention of disease, for the mind and for creativity. I want our kids to have a healthy relationship with food and their body! I want to help set healthy goals with a realistic journey. I want people to see nutrition as a way to nourishing their body not a way to lose ourselves!

Each person's journey is theirs and theirs alone. What motivates them, what holds them back and what derails them is theirs. There are no two journeys alike! 

I challenge you to try loving yourself a little more. Try forgiving yourself a little more. Try approaching each day with a little more grace, patience and understanding.

Today is a new day; do the best you can for today!