Four Tips to Create a Sustainable Movement Practice Even If Your Doctor Poo-Poos It

Being invalidated for any efforts you may be taking to improve your health can be discouraging! I'm sharing the following story with permission.

Last week I had a Facebook messenger chat with a follower who said she'd just come back from her annual doctor's visit and she was feeling upset and discouraged. Her labs weren't what he was expecting and he was looking for the reasons why this may have happened.

When he asked her what she was doing in regards to exercising, she proudly reported that despite the pandemic, she had discovered a movement practice that she enjoyed and was easily able to maintain. When she described her practice, he poo-pooed all over it by saying that it wasn't enough and that she'd need to step it up by doing X and Y or her blood work wouldn't improve. Ugh.

While doing X and Y may be helpful (causation vs. correlation), it's only helpful if the person doing it enjoys X and Y and is able to maintain it. It's also only helpful if the person being advised has a healthy relationship with movement because if they don't, advice like this often leads to INACTIVITY because the bar is set too high.

Sadly, I hear stories like this often from clients and from followers and they infuriate me because they are exactly what people who are trying to heal their relationship with movement don't need!

So many women struggle to move their bodies at all because they're still traumatized from restricting food and from forcing themselves to exercise to lose or maintain weight. Their relationships with movement are non-existent or very fragile because they are still grappling with diet mentality thoughts, etc. Telling someone that their movement practice isn’t enough or is ineffective is damaging this healing process.

Here are a few important things to remember when healing a relationship with movement:

1. Some is better than none - If your doctor or anyone else tells you that you need to move for X number of minutes X number of times a week, ignore them! Yes, ignore them. Chasing a number isn't the way to improve a relationship with movement. Do what you can when you can and only increase the frequency and type of movement you're doing when you feel ready to do so. Doing it for any other reason will potentially jeopardize your efforts.
   

2. Stop saying you're too lazy! The truthful and countercultural book Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price, Ph.D. invites us to look at laziness from a new perspective. I feel this way about movement. Being open to looking beyond the inactivity to understand that what's lying beneath is often perfectionism and overwhelm and not laziness is one place to begin! So the next time you think your inactivity is due to laziness, compassionately and non-judgmentally look deeper.
   

3. Movement isn't everything - Yes, it would be wonderful if just by exercising and eating "well" we could stave off illness, but that's not reality. We must never forget the role of genetics, socioeconomic conditions, stress, sleep, etc. have on our overall health, Movement is important but I never encourage any of my clients to move just to improve their labs. Movement serves a greater purpose because it can vastly improve our mental health and helps us remain agile, especially as we age. Even if labs don't budge, gentle physical activity can generally still make us feel more vibrant.
   

4. Lower the bar - One of the number one reasons why people feel like what they're doing with movement (or anything else for that matter) isn't enough is because the intentions/goals they're setting are unrealistic and unattainable. Wouldn't you feel like a failure if you were never able to meet your goals? I know I'm often reevaluating my marketing goals so that I'm not disappointed.

Every single thing I've spoken of in this love note is covered in my Joyful Movement at Last! program. I'm convinced that if more people understood how to improve their delicate relationships with movement they'd be moving more often and having fun doing it!

If you want to build up your practice once you’ve improved your relationship, go for it but also know that you’re not morally obligated to do that either! It’s your body and you have full autonomy to do or not do whatever you choose. Sometimes giving yourself full permission to heal is what sparks the flame to start moving in a more formal way later.

Want to start moving again but don't know how to do this intuitively? Download my new Intuitive Movement guide.

Remember, you don't have to do this alone. Support makes all the difference!

How to "Intuitively" Plan Without Being Diet-y About It

For anyone who wasn't able to attend the BOOM! Ladies Night last week where we had a very relevant and insightful discussion about what we wished someone had told us when we turned 50, catch the free replay here.

Now on to this week's message...

Are planning and intuitiveness contradictory?

In a nutshell, no. I don't think they are when we're talking about things like intuitive eating and intuitive movement. However, I do think there are some important caveats to this and I want to outline a few of them for you.

The main premise of being intuitive is to go inward and check in with our bodies instead of relying on outside influences to guide our decisions. Having said that, I do think it's possible to plan in advance to make our lives easier provided we keep a few things in mind.

1. Strive for flexibility NOT perfection - Instead of being rigid and perfectionistic about your plans, remember that you have permission to change your plans to remain true to your bodies' needs. So, for example, if you meal plan for the week, but you're just not feelin' the dinner you had scheduled for tonight (or any other night), you have permission to eat something else. One of the main purposes of intuitive eating is to eat foods that are satisfying and make your body feel good.
   

2. Beware of "shoulding" yourself - Many of the members of my Joyful Movement at Last! program said they used to try and "should" themselves into movement to no avail. I'm not surprised because research shows that "shoulding" doesn't work and actually moves us further away from our goals instead of closer. I can relate to this as I did this myself for several decades! On the flip side, self-compassion is linked to increased motivation and improved health behaviors so in the long run, cultivating a self-compassion practice can help you develop and maintain a consistent exercise routine.
   

3. You have permission to schedule - Like most, you're probably busy with work, family, volunteering, etc. With the schedules we all keep, setting intentions around the things that matter to us is important. No, it doesn't mean that the schedule needs to be rigid (see #1 above), but if we don't make a concerted effort to nurture what matters to us and what helps to support our bodies, our needs often go unmet. That is often a setup for engaging in disordered eating behaviors and shame spiraling.
   

4. Remain true to your needs by getting curious - If you're not in the mood to eat a planned meal or to move in the way you had planned (and your body is feeling like it wants to move in some way), you don't have to scratch your whole plan. Instead, get curious and ask yourself, "What kind of movement do I have the energy to do today?" or "What foods seem most appealing right now?". I realize that we cannot always get everything that we want, but when we can and it's within our reach, why not go for it?!
   

In full transparency, I experienced all of these things within a span of few hours this past weekend. I had planned to go for a walk, I said I was going a few times, but never had the get-up and go to do it.

I realized I was being rigid by thinking I had to do what I had planned. I almost started "shoulding" myself into it, but caught myself, changed direction, and asked myself what kind of movement I WAS in the mood to do instead. I calmed my mind by going inward, marinated my rigid thoughts with self-compassion, and realized what I wanted was to do yoga and not walk. So, I did some yoga and my body felt energized and less stiff afterward.

In this example, even though my plans changed slightly, I still did what was important to me by listening to my body and it resulted in a calmer mind and body.

Want to explore this some more? Click the button below or leave a comment.

5 Movement Tips to Help Quiet Diet Mentality Thoughts

I'm sure we'd all agree that it's been a long year! There is great news on the horizon though as more people are receiving the COVID vaccine, flowers (and allergies) are in full bloom, and it's getting warmer outside for most of us.

As we return to "normalcy" let's all remember that it's natural to be a little anxious if we haven't done something for a while. If you are feeling a desire to get back to movement (or anything else), expect that there may be some hesitancy, especially if you've been laying low during the pandemic (which is totally fine).

Some of this hesitancy may also be some diet mentality creeping back in, especially if you've gained weight during the pandemic (which is also totally fine). Remember, diet culture is all about shrinking our bodies to conform to an impossible standard, "fixing" our bodies’ trouble areas, and going outside of our bodies for guidance. As intuitive eaters, we learn that we already have an internal GPS that can guide us. The further we move away from the rigid rules, the more amplified that intuitive voice will become.

Please know that you are not obligated to exercise. However, if you want to but are feeling some resistance, these tips may provide some guidance so you won't overcomplicate or overwhelm yourself.

Pro tip #1
Some movement is better than no movement. As always, rigidity around how much time and what type of movement isn't as important as moving!

Pro tip #2
You have permission to create a movement plan that works for your life and fits into your schedule. Do the best you can to remain flexible.

Pro tip #3
Strengthen your intentions by focusing more on listening to your body instead of meeting your fitness goals.

Pro tip #4
Remember that movement isn't about perfection. Perfectionism causes INACTION.

Pro tip #5
Minimize self-sabotaging behaviors by keeping movement simple and uncomplicated.

Struggling with this? I've often struggled to make movement a priority in my life too. If you want to explore why this may be, download my free quiz What's Getting In Your Way of Exercising with Ease?

Or if you're looking to jump right in to get beneath the procrastinating, overcomplicating and diet mentality thoughts around movement, enroll in my Joyful Movement at Last! program. Community can make all the difference!

What Diet Culture Gets Wrong About Maintaining Nourishing Habits

Do you feel like a failure when you fall out of a nourishing habit?

So often people like failures when they realize they’ve slipped out of a nourishing habit(s). Many of my clients often feel frustrated and even bewildered by this. They know what makes them feel their best, but for some reason, they just aren’t doing it or aren't doing it with regularity. Following the frustration and bewilderment are also feelings of guilt, shame, and often, further inaction.⁣

While I know first-hand how disappointing this can be, I have a provocative proposition for you. What if instead of continuing to focus on what you’re not doing, you acknowledged that it’s an opportunity to recommit instead?

Healing a relationship with food, body, and movement is about moving closer to the people we are meant to be. It's also about remaining flexible instead of rigid so we can evolve and flourish. Keeping your heart open and acknowledging that habits elude us for a variety of reasons like

• They're no longer nourishing us because we've outgrown them

• Realizing expectations were set too high so they were not sustainable

• Acknowledging that different types of self-care and/or boundary setting is needed

is essential for sustainable change.

Whatever the reason, these are opportunities to reevaluate, ask your body what it needs at this time, and then compassionately and non-judgmentally recommit to yourself again.

Diet culture preaches that we need to be "disciplined" and "accountable". While these qualities can be helpful in fostering change, when they are used as weapons to keep us "on the wagon", they're often counterproductive! This is especially true with movement which is why I created my Joyful Movement at Last! program.

As always, taking the compassionate approach is advised not just because it feels better but because research shows it's more effective in creating sustainable change. To me, that's what a recommitment is. It's a gentle way to start over by reassessing your needs and realigning them with your core values.
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Understanding that making adjustments along the way is a necessary part of the healing process is essential for success. Doing this will help to cultivate and strengthen your habits to meet your ever-changing needs.

What nourishing habit would you like to recommit to?

Remember, you don't have to do this alone. Let’s have a conversation so you understand how coaching can support you in your healing journey.

Navigating “Comparisonitis” to Meet Our Bodies Where They Are

Do you ever compare your previous body to your current body?

That's what I found myself doing earlier this week when I saw the picture in my Facebook feed. My body has changed since this picture was taken in 2013. At that time, I was an avid cyclist, Spin class “junkie” and smoothie drinking vegetarian. I didn’t realize at the time that I was likely orthorexic (obsession about eating “unhealthy” foods) but that’s a story for another time. ⁣
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To be honest, for a moment I lamented that I’m not as thin or as physically fit as I was at that time, but it was truly momentary. ⁣I knew that was diet culture talking.
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While I may not be at the same fitness level or weight I was then, I’m now moving my body for different reasons and I still feel great doing it. I'm also way more grateful for all that my body is able to do.

During my recovery, I've learned that if I allowed myself to get stuck in "comparisonitis" by focusing on how my body used to be, it could easily lead to depression and INACTIVITY. ⁣Over the years, I’ve heard many of my clients say that they don’t like exercise because they cannot do X anymore because of an injury, they're "too lazy", or because of their own internalized weight stigma.

When we gently explore more, they begin to see that the comparisonitis is often about perfectionism to do movement in a certain way, fear that they will start and quit, and self-sabotage because they create unrealistic demands setting themselves up for failure. ⁣

I assure you, it can be different though. Like most aspects of recovery, creating something different requires that beliefs be rewritten. This rewriting clears the emotional cobwebs and "shoulds" making room for a new and improved relationship with movement allowing them to meet their bodies where they're at now, instead of where they were 5, 10, or 15 years ago. I've experienced this personally and seen it with my courageous clients!

Imagine how your life could improve if you met your body where it's at now?

Interested in movement but not sure where to begin? My Joyful Movement at Last! program creates the space for you to recreate a healthy relationship with movement wherever your body is now. It also offers support in a dedicated Facebook group. Join us!

Is 'fat but fit' a myth?

Last week, in one of the professional groups where I belong, someone posted an article about fitness and fat, specifically as it relates to heart disease.

Even though this article had a very definitive bottom line,

"What we see is that the risk factor burden increases by weight category. Obese people have the highest burden of associated risk factors. That remains true according to the activity level,"

I was able to discern that the research was lacking important parameters that very likely would have changed its overall findings.

The article does say this, "This is a cross sectional study -- all we can talk about is associations, we cannot talk about causality," This is very important because this is verifying that they cannot prove with certainty that the associated parameters like BMI (Body Mass Index) category (i.e, "ob*se and "over*eight") was the cause of the cardiovascular disease. As a reminder, BMI was never intended to be used to measure health, but I will mention it throughout as it pertains to the study.

I won't pretend that I'm a research expert, but I do know from my professional training that articles like this are weight-biased and detrimental to our health.

It's weight-biased because the research is missing critical key parameters. For example, it doesn't mention a person's genetic predisposition to heart disease (or other conditions like diabetes, etc.) their previous dieting history, mental health history, or exposure to weight stigma (which often leads to increased binge eating, higher mortality rates, depression, anxiety, addiction, etc.). All of these factors may influence a person's overall well-being and that matters significantly. Without this information, this study is biased.

However, what bothers me most of all is this biased study could easily frighten someone who is in a higher BMI category to start dieting again because they believe that it is the 'responsible' thing to do to reduce their risk of heart disease, etc. This is something I hear all the time from my clients and what I wrote about in last weeks message.

My clients, and women I support in my No Diet Sisterhood, often send me similar articles asking me what I think, etc. because they feel scared after reading articles like this. After carefully reading the articles, to date, my answer has always been the same: the article is weight-biased and dieting isn't the answer to achieving good 'health'.

Using scare tactics as a means to encourage people to exercise (or do anything else) is ineffective and often moves people further away from their goals because they feel hopeless. This hopelessness often causes inaction and may lead to depression and other negative health outcomes.

The Health at Every Size (HAES)/intuitive eating approach to movement is more compassionate and more effective. Instead of stigmatizing and fear-mongering people who are in higher BMI categories to engage in movement because it's "healthy", they encourage cultivating sustainable self-care practices and habits that are realistic and individualized. This way they will likely feel better, improve their metabolic health, and live more joyful lives. In fact, research shows that non-stigmatizing interventions are much more effective for altering health outcomes than anything else.

Studies like this, the crushing judgments and rigidity of diet culture, perfectionism, guilt-tripping, and not understanding that movement is a self-care practice all keep people away from movement. Most think it's a time management issue or that they're "too lazy". But, when we dig a little deeper, they discover that what they really fear is that they won’t be able to cultivate a healthy relationship with movement because they cannot cut through the emotional barriers needed to get there. This is definitely what the alumni members in my Joyful Movement at Last! program have discovered.

For anyone who struggles with articles like this that make them second-guess the path they're on with intuitive eating, you don't need to anymore. Now that you've been introduced to these concepts, you'll more easily recognize that many articles like this are weight-biased and use ineffective scare tactics. Be sure to question "research" and don't allow it to change your course of action, especially if your course of action is moving you closer to the freedom you deserve.

The bottom line...

If you want to feel better and make movement a priority in your life but are feeling 'stuck', I encourage you to take my new FREE quiz What's Getting in Your Way of Exercising with Ease? to find out what's really holding you back. I promise you, it's likely not what you think.

Helping women to cultivate more compassionate, self-care focused habits like giving themselves full permission to eat without the emotional restriction (guilt, worry, etc.), integrating gentle nutrition into your daily life, and rediscovering movement without slipping back into diet mentality is my jam.

Schedule some time with me so we can have a conversation around this so you can finally stop worrying! You don't have to do this alone. Getting this sorted out will make a difference in your life.