Here's something I wish more people understood about their health.
You have so much more influence over how you feel than you might realize.
Our bodies are pretty damn incredible. They're constantly repairing, renewing, adapting, and responding to the things we do every day. And while building lasting health takes time, it doesn't necessarily take very long to start feeling the benefits of making better choices.
Think about your gut for a minute.
Most of us know what happens when we eat something that doesn't agree with us. Maybe we feel bloated, uncomfortable, sluggish, or our digestion gets a little wonky. And when we consistently make food choices that don't nourish our bodies, don't get enough sleep, stop moving regularly, or allow stress to take over, we can start feeling the effects in all kinds of ways.
Our digestion suffers. Our energy drops. We feel achy, tired, uncomfortable, and sometimes just plain crappy.
But here's the exciting part.
Our bodies respond to the good stuff, too.
A few days of nourishing meals made with real, whole-food ingredients. Drinking enough water. Getting outside and moving our bodies. Prioritizing a good night's sleep. Finding ways to manage our stress instead of letting it manage us.
Sometimes it only takes a few days to start noticing a difference. Maybe your digestion settles down. Maybe you're less bloated. Maybe you have a little more energy, you're sleeping better, or you simply start feeling more like yourself again.
Not because you've magically fixed everything overnight, but because you've started giving your body more of what it needs.
And I think that's pretty damn exciting.
We can get so caught up in how far we have to go that we forget how quickly we can start moving in a different direction. We think about the weight we want to lose, the strength we want to build, the energy we wish we had, or the way we used to feel, and sometimes the distance between where we are and where we want to be feels overwhelming.
But you don't have to wait until you've reached your goal to start feeling better. And you certainly don't have to keep doing the things that are making you feel worse.
Sometimes We Have to Get Honest With Ourselves
Maybe your nutrition has slipped lately. Maybe you've stopped prioritizing movement, your sleep has been garbage, or you've let stress take over your headspace. Maybe you've fallen into habits that you know aren't serving you, but you've just kept going because, well, life.
It happens. It happens to us, too.
We're coaches, but we're also human. We have busy schedules, stressful seasons, and plenty of moments when we don't make the choices we know would help us feel our best.
And sometimes, before we can start making better decisions, we have to be willing to have an uncomfortable conversation with ourselves.
It's okay to admit that you're struggling. It's okay to acknowledge that you've gotten off track, that you haven't been making great decisions, or that the habits you've fallen into aren't helping you feel the way you want to feel.
It's okay to admit that something needs to change.
That doesn't make you a failure. It makes you honest with yourself.
But here's where the accountability comes in. Acknowledging it is only the first step. At some point, you have to decide you're going to do something about it.
You can recognize that your habits aren't serving you, talk about how badly you want to feel better, and make all the plans in the world. But until you start making different decisions, nothing changes.
You don't have to beat yourself up over where you are. But you do have to take responsibility for where you go from here.
And no, that doesn't mean every health challenge is something you caused or can control. There are plenty of things outside our control. But there are also an incredible number of things within it, and those are the things I want us to focus on.
One Better Decision at a Time
Here's where I think we make things harder than they need to be.
We decide we want to feel better, and suddenly we think we need to overhaul our entire lives. A new diet. A new workout routine. A dozen new supplements. A perfectly organized schedule. Everything has to change, and it all has to happen on Monday.
But it doesn't have to work that way.
You just need to make one better decision. And then follow it with another.
Choose a nourishing meal instead of something you know won't leave you feeling great. Go for a walk. Get to bed a little earlier. Drink some water. Put your phone down. Make time for a workout, or give yourself some rest if that's what your body needs.
None of those decisions are particularly complicated. But they do require you to decide that taking better care of yourself matters enough to follow through.
And something pretty cool happens when you start doing that.
You build momentum.
You start feeling a little better. You recognize that the choices you're making are having an impact. You begin trusting yourself to follow through, and suddenly the next good decision feels a little easier.
One good decision becomes another. And another.
And before you know it, you're building habits that help you feel better instead of perpetuating the ones that don't.
Will every decision be perfect? Hell no. That's never been the goal.
You're still going to have days when you eat something that doesn't agree with you, miss a workout, don't sleep enough, or find yourself overwhelmed by life. We're human beings, and life isn't going to stop happening just because we've decided to take better care of ourselves.
But those moments don't have to determine what happens next.
The next decision is always an opportunity to get back on track.
Give Yourself Two Weeks
So here's my challenge to you.
Give yourself two weeks.
Fourteen days of being intentional about the decisions you're making. Eat nourishing, whole foods. Move your body regularly. Prioritize your sleep. Drink your water. Pay attention to your stress and how you're responding to it.
Not perfectly. Just consistently.
And pay attention to how you feel.
How's your digestion? Your energy? Your mood? Your sleep? Are you waking up feeling a little better? Do you have fewer aches and pains? Are you feeling more like yourself?
You might be surprised by how much can begin to change in just two weeks. And even if the physical changes are subtle, there's something incredibly powerful about proving to yourself that you can make a decision, follow through with it, and start building momentum in a better direction.
You don't have to be stuck in the same habits that have been holding you back. You don't have to wait until Monday, next month, or January 1st to start doing something about them.
And you don't have to figure out how to change everything all at once.
If you don't like where you are right now, make a decision to change your direction.
Then hold yourself accountable to that decision.
Start with one better choice. Follow it with another. Give your body a chance to respond, and give yourself a chance to see what happens when you consistently show up for your own health.
You might be surprised by how quickly things can start to change.