Happy February: Self Love Month Begins
We are embracing this month as self love month before we dive in to some sports nutrition talk come March. January felt decades long and feel that we need some slow down.
Beginning with our physical bodies.
There is so much pressure out there on our bodies. We constantly have clients in our office feeling shame/guilt on the way their natural bodies were made or look. We talk about grief a lot and getting back to the basics. Grieving a society that puts so much pressure on our bodies/looks and getting back to what our bodies need here earthside: food, movement, sleep/rest, and hydration. We cannot achieve anything else unless these needs are met.
But why are meeting these needs so hard?
We are not wired to make things simple. Simple has gone out the door and we crave the absolute best or next best thing. However, our bodies crave simple. Simple support. Simple structure. Simple lingo.
We ask you to check in. Yes, amidst the chaos of whatever season you are in. Check in on these 4 things:
Fuel: Are you fueling your body? Giving it adequate fuel/nourishment every few hours to keep it running.
Movement: Are you moving your body? And by this we mean moving your body how you would like to move it and how it feels good to you.
Rest: Are you resting? I see you parents or high-performing individuals. We literally felt your laugh just now. Taking deep breaths throughout the day. Putting off just one task to get a few minutes of pure silence and “serenity” in.
Hydration: Are you hydrating? Not just drinking water but getting in your electrolytes. Whether an athlete or an on-the-go individual, you need both to hydrate and nourish the body.
All of this can be simple.
There is no pressure to perfect it. Just check in on it and find what works best for you.
*We do not need the perfect diet. We need grace to understand food is fuel and putting it in our body gives us nutrients for our metabolism/systems to function - no matter what form it is.
*We do not need to move the way others move or social media says to move. We move our body how it feels best for our individual selves and if rest is what our body needs because we constantly move it for performance, then we rest it today and move tomorrow.
We do not need ‘x’ amount of hours of sleep per night and to hit the perfect sleep cycle. We need to reset our systems by deep breaths or rest from a weekend long sport tournament. Rest can be defined in so many different ways.
We do not need to hydrate with the perfect pH balance or electrolyte powder. We need fluids in the form of water and electrolytes which can be through foods.
So much pressure out there.
Now, all of this can be tailored to each of us. We encourage you to slow down and find what speaks to your body the most in these 4 ways.
What kind of fuel do we need/crave?
What kind of hydration is appropriate for electrolyte balance?
What kind of rest does your body need - to slow down or add more hours of sleep?
What kind of movement is beneficial for our specific body and feels good and satisfying to you?
Again, just simple and back to the basics. When we start to listen to our own bodies, we start to bring in the self love component.