I hear this all the time with clients and in general conversations with friends, acquaintances, and family. “I’ve tried to eat that way, but it’s just so hard,” or some variation of the same.
And these same sentiments are reinforced by our experts.
University of Utah Health: “It’s a struggle to be healthy. Here’s why.”
Harvard Health: “Why is eating healthy so hard?”
Medium (If your experts are a little different from mainstream): “It’s hard to be healthy in an unhealthy world.”
Are we all doomed to unhealthiness, suffering, pain and disease?
No, I don’t believe so.
I found myself on that bandwagon for a long time. Always doing the hard thing to be healthy. Choosing to train for marathons in order to be “healthy and active,” researching and adhering to all the best foods and practices for nutrition, healing, gut health, and pain relief.
The ironic thing is that I ended up with a hip labral tear because of all the running (and not balancing things in my body) AND I would sneak off to Culver’s for their custard and do my best to make sure nobody knew. Of course it was hard to be healthy like this, because I was trying so damn hard to be the best example of health for anyone who I thought was looking/watching. as there is actually a RIGHT way to be healthy.
It took years for me to see this, but when I finally let go of the rules for health (which let’s be honest, there are an infinite number of rules out there anyway, depending on who you are talking to or who is writing the article), I started to find out what works for me.
And I’ve stopped stressing out about food.
And I’ve stopped stressing out about exercise.
And I’ve stopped stressing out about doing all the right things.
Instead, I enjoy making my own granola, gluten free bread, dabbling in making kombucha. But I also buy kombucha, make key lime pie for my son’s birthday, and chocolate chip gluten free muffins for breakfast.
There are two keys to the ease of health for me:
I enjoy what I’m doing and I listen to my body for what it needs.
I am not perfect in always honoring what my body says it needs, and when I don’t, I don’t beat myself up about it. Because sometimes my son’s needs are more important, or I also want to support my husband, or I really need to get somewhere by a certain time and so I’ll eat in the car (GASP!)
It’s possible that being healthy isn’t as hard as we think it is.
If you are interested in finding out more, I’d love to talk with you about your own personal goals and challenges!
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