What does health even mean?
I am a strength and conditioning coach. While I build TBC, I am also a health and wellness educator who teaches middle and high school students.
What really grinds me gears is when coworkers see me eating sugary, processed food and make comments about it. Their comments are always about how since I’m the health and wellness educator at school, I should not be eating those things.
Interestingly, only a few have commented on me bringing my own lunch everyday. The few that do ask about this know that it’s because I care about where my food comes from (shoutout and thanks to my local farms - Beachtree, Griggstown, and Skillman).
Health and wellness is about being in alignment with my values, which to me, does not limit or restrict what I eat.
This includes what I eat, yes. I eat tons of locally grown vegetables on the regenerative farms mentioned above where the grass-fed, humanely raised animals I eat come from, too. I also eat Oreos. The majority of my nutritional intake is not from Oreos. But you know what? If Oreos made me feel fulfilled, energetic, and strong, then there’s nothing wrong with that - although I might hire a dietician though to add some vitamins and minerals here and there.
In fact, I have hired a dietician before. I hired a dietician because a lot of the information I was consuming was very one-sided, and very against white sugar and processed foods. I was confused because I did not realize that I was slipping away from my values. Restricting foods, even if they are made of chemicals and ingredients I can’t pronounce does not align with my values.
Fueling my body enough so that I can lift heavy shit aligns with my values.
Teaching my little cousin the right and only way to eat Oreos aligns with my values (shoutout to Alex - let’s make a video to teach everyone).
Eating the majority of my food from local and regenerative farms aligns with my values.
Giving my dog the same quality meat that I eat aligns with my values.
Restricting Oreos, or any food, does not align with my values.
Not eating certain foods when it involves spending time with people I care about, and/or engaging within a community does not align with my values.
Whenever a new health and wellness section starts , I ask the class what does health even mean?
Some answers are:
Feeling good, physically and mentally
Eating organic, and clean and stuff
Surviving (I reply to this one by asking about surviving vs. thriving)
One of my favorites: “It’s like, being healthy. You know? Like, not being sick.”
There is no right or wrong answer. Health and wellness looks different for everyone. To me, it includes mental health, relationships, and sense of fulfillment, as well as your physical health. What is means to me, might be different than what it means to you. But what is the same for everyone is that we only get one body and one life. Since I value that shit out of mine, I take damn good care of it, both physically and mentally. And yes, that includes Oreos.
So, what does health even mean to you?
Let me know in the comments :)
If you are located in Central New Jersey, and interested in a working with me to build you a healthy strength and conditioning program, please use the form to get in touch with me.
If you do not believe Central New Jersey but are still interested in building a healthy strength and conditioning program, please use the form to ask me about my remote services.
