My Take on Health & Wellness

My own personal health & wellness journey started after I graduated college and moved to California. The partying and poor diet caught up with me and I was well over 200 pounds (at the. time I 175ish was normal for me). I started slow, removing milk and switching to fat free cheese. From there I started to exercise again and over time I gradually altered my diet and fitness routine as I figure out what worked for me and what didn’t. It will be different for everyone.

As my career in corporate health & wellness progressed, I started to. learn it is much more than just fitness and nutrition. My clients were asking for resources and information on mental health, financial health, spiritual health and a few others.

Everyone’s pillars/topics in this space will vary but over the years, I have come to believe the following to be the key pillars to true health & wellness:

• Fitness

  • This is pretty straight forward and very common. In addition to the obvious health benefits of muscle gain, weight loss and heart health, physical fitness is also proven to drastically benefit mental wellbeing.

• Nutrition

  • What we consume plays a huge part in fueling our workouts, feeding our muscles, reducing risk for many health conditions and can even counter health conditions one may already have. Food is powerful.

• Mental Health

  • I may have this at #1 in terms of importance. There is no way for anyone to be truly healthy and well if they are not taking care of what is going on between their ears. When we don’t, it leads to poor fitness performance (or stopping altogether), poor diet (enter stress eating and drinking) and often times we don’t talk about it (I’m looking at you men). As someone who has dealt with my own mental health issues, this should be part of everyone’s journey.

• Recovery

  • As we work towards our goals and start working out more or going on more adventures, it’s important to make sure we’re allowing our bodies to recover. Sleep is the biggie here: Are you getting enough? Do you have a routine? For those putting greater amounts of stress on our bodies (CrossFit athletes, long distance runners, etc.) this will likely include ice baths, massages, cupping, etc.

• Seek Adventure

  • This is where my pillars probably vary most and yes this could potentially be under fitness or mental health but I feel it is too important for that. Travel. Explore nature. Wonder a new city. Hike a new trail. Sky dive. Try a new sport. There are endless possibilities but to me there is something about seeking adventure that will inspire you and light your soul on fire.

I look forward to sharing more information across these topics with you. Leave a comment below and let me now what you think. We become better as a community!