Health is More Important than Weight Loss

Why do you move your body?

This might be an unpopular belief, but I believe that health is far more important than weight loss. While being overweight sometimes comes with health problems, they are not a 1:1 correlation. There are many people with larger bodies who are healthy, as well as many people with smaller bodies who are unhealthy. Size does not equal health/disease.

When you focus on healthy behaviors, like eating foods that support you, moving your body regularly, sleeping enough, and managing stress, your health improves and you feel more comfortable in your skin. Your body will find a healthy weight for you when you focus on behaviors that support you.

As I wrote in “Undo Dreading Exercise and Find Love in Movement,” moving your body is an important part of staying healthy, especially as we age. However, movement should not be punishment. You deserve to move your body in a way that feels good and improves your health, and not because you ate or drank something “regretful.” You can’t exercise away a bad diet, and you don’t need to abuse yourself, mentally or physically, when you make choices that don’t support you.

When you are constantly looking at the number on the scale, and gauging your “progress” accordingly, your emotions tend to go up and down with the numbers. It’s important to feel comfortable in your own skin, but the number on the scale will not create that comfort for you. Instead, direct your energy toward practices that move you toward health.

Focus on healthy practices

What is one thing that you can do for yourself today that will move you in the direction of health? Maybe go for a walk, practice yoga, swim, bike, dance in your living room, or go up and down the stairs a few extra times through the day. Maybe you add some green veggies to your lunch. Perhaps you drink an extra glass of water than what’s normal for you. Feel a bit of sunshine on your face. Stand up from your desk every hour and stretch for 5-10 breaths.

I find adding healthy habits is often easier than subtracting, especially when subtracting feels like deprivation. When you add in healthy habits, it makes less room for the less healthy ones, and eventually they fall away. When you feel less sluggish, bloated, and fatigued, you will gravitate toward healthier habits because of how they make you feel. And it’s not all or nothing. You don’t need to be perfect, aim for health 80% of the time and see how you feel. That number may naturally increase as your health improves.

Sometimes health is about resting. As a Type A recovering perfectionist, I can tell you that if you don’t rest regularly, your body will force you to, usually when it’s least convenient. For me, it took a pandemic to force me to slow down and to notice how tired I was. Hopefully that is not the case for you. If you are feeling run down and burnt out, rest. Do something emotionally nourishing, or maybe nothing at all. Sit outside and listen to the birds. Lie in bed and breathe. Sometimes you need to do less and listen to your body. What is it telling you?

Are you being kind to your body, treating it like someone you love? When you move it for the purpose of keeping it strong and mobile, rather than punishing it, it’s more sustainable. What is your self-talk regarding your body? Are you kind toward yourself or are you mean and critical? I wrote more about that in “Are Your Thoughts Harmful to Yourself and Others?”

Power of movement

Movement can be a powerful way to change how you feel for the better, both mentally and physically. If you feel sluggish, go for a walk. If you feel irritable, put on an awesome song and dance in your living room. Extra points if you sing loudly while dancing and/or embarrass your teenager in the process. Moving your body in a joyful way will often improve your mood, reduce your stress and anxiety, and help you feel lighter emotionally.

When I practice yoga or go for a walk, I always end in a better mood, feeling more awake and alive, and with the knowledge that I did something good for my well being. Yoga and walking, for me, are a form of self-care. It’s time when I am by myself with my thoughts and I can let my mind go. When walking, I will often listen to an audiobook or podcast and get lost in someone else’s words for awhile.

Movement means temporarily letting go of the to-do lists and “have tos” and getting to be. When I move, I get to be in my body and let it do it’s thing without thinking, worrying, or ruminating. Just me and my breath, going along for the ride.

Pay attention to how you feel after moving your body. If you are exhausted for the rest of the day, you’ve done too much. Movement should improve your mood and give you energy. If it doesn’t, you either need to find a different way to move, or do less. You might also need more sleep.

Power of letting go

Letting go was not always something that came naturally to me (as I said, Type A recovering perfectionist), but it’s much easier now, from practicing yoga. Through yoga, I learned how to soften, rather than to grip and grasp with every fiber of my being. There’s a vulnerability that comes with letting go, and when you are anxious, that’s the last thing you want to be.

Grasping, clinging, holding on for control is what anxiety drives you to do. Of course we can’t actually control very much. Letting go is scary at first, for sure, but there is freedom that comes from letting go of other people’s (or your own) expectations and following your own heart. This freedom also applies to what your body looks like.

We’re all aging and changing, every day. We can either fight it or accept it. I have chosen acceptance, because it’s far less stressful. Accepting what is creates more ease, resisting it creates more tension. I also stopped “shoulding” all over myself.

Let go of the idea that you “should” have a “perfect body” or that you “should” weigh X number of pounds. What if you could let go of a destination (perfect body, certain weight) and simply enjoy the ride?

Pay attention to the journey, how you spend your time and energy, and see if you can let go of everything else. Focus on this moment, as it’s the only one you can control, and do something that serves you, body, mind, or both. A healthy mind leads to a healthy body and vice versa. When you focus on both mental and physical health, you become comfortable in the skin you’re in. And that’s enough.

Opportunities for moving and letting go

Summer Yoga Kickoff starts Monday, June 2! Join me online Monday, Wednesday, and Friday through the month of June to have fun moving your body! 15 minute yoga classes to stretch, strengthen, balance, and breathe that can be taken live or on demand. Click the button for more information or to sign up!

Yoga and Walking starts Saturday, June 7th! If you are local to Massachusetts, we’ll be walking on various trails in Lincoln, Concord, and Carlisle each Saturday in June! Come to one, two, three, or all 4 walks! We’ll begin with a yoga warm up, walk from 2-4 miles, then cool down with a yoga stretch. Click the button below for more information or to sign up!

Learn how to reframe your beliefs with regard food with my new book, Intentional Eating: Finding Peace and Balance in Your Relationship with Food. It’s not a diet book, I will never tell you what to eat. It’s a mindset reset to help you have a more peaceful relationship with food and yourself. If you’ve ever eaten when you’re not hungry, numbed with food, or have been on a diet rollercoaster your whole life, this book might help you see your relationship with food in a different light. Click below for more information or to purchase the book in either digital or paperback format.