Health and... Wellness??

I've always considered myself a "healthy" person. I lift weights, eat ~mostly~ well, engage in cardio... all the things. The thing about being "healthy" is that it actually doesn't always have to do with the number on the scale. Hear me out!

Sure, people have goals to gain or lose weight, and that is great if that is where you are at! As a Certified Personal Trainer, I see that a lot and I admire people for setting measurable goals...

BUT! That isn't the version of healthy that I want this platform to be used for...

If you do a quick Google search, you will come to find that the definition of healthy is "not diseased." So not having a disease would make you healthy. What?? Is that really how we want to live our lives?

Sure, it technically makes sense... but seriously?? I think we should raise the bar.

So here's the thing. I'm not here to flip your world upside down and tell you to only eat beef liver and eggs for every meal (but I'll for sure advocate for those nutrients... just saying), but I do think that our definition of healthy can be a bit more personalized and deepened. This is where wellness comes into play!

Let's talk 8 dimensions of wellness. Stoewen (2017) outlines the dimensions in a meta-analysis as following: physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, vocational, financial, and environmental. Each of these dimensions are interconnected, and as the saying goes, you are only as strong as your weakest link. When any of these dimensions get ignored, it ultimately impacts the overall well-being of an individual. We need all 8 in order to thrive. Yea, I said it... Let's raise the bar from "not diseased" to "thriving." Who's with me??

Here's what you can expect from me.

As someone who desires to make changes in my own life, but has a really hard time incorporating new habits and breaking old ones... we are all in this together! I want you to feel empowered if you feel the same way. IT IS OKAY! Don't let the social media influencers get to you. We can combat that beast on another day. The point of this platform is to help sift through the information that is fed to us without explanation, without scientific backing, and without proven results before trying to make costly changes in our lives that don't stick into our lifestyles.

What topics do you wish you knew more about? Food sourcing? Exercise? Hormones? Grounding? I'm here to help! No, I'm no expert by any means. In fact, I definitely don't have most of the answers. The answers are in the research. And that's how I can help! I'll help summarize information, and help you find the sources you need to make decisions that are best for you and your health. Simple! So subscribe with your email, and submit a form with your topic requests. Let's get this show on the road!

References:

Stoewen, Debbie L. “Dimensions of Wellness: Change Your Habits, Change Your Life.” The Canadian Veterinary Journal = La Revue Veterinaire Canadienne, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Aug. 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc5508938/.