Defining What Healthy Means To You

This post on defining what healthy means to you is part of the A Better You series.

When I was setting my goals for last year, I knew I wanted to focus on my health. I made goals of losing x amount of pounds, doing Whole 30 twice, and running a 5K. At the end of the year, I hadn’t completed a single one. Why? Because I made those health goals without actually thinking about myself.

I want to learn from my mistakes and I don’t want you to make the same ones I did. My experience with failure and my hope for success, led me to write this post on defining what healthy means to you.

Coming up with a technical definition of health is hard. Most definitions mention both physical and emotional wellbeing. Health goes beyond weight control and the absence of disease.

With such a broad definition, one would think defining what healthy means to you would be relatively easy. However, I think you and I both know that it isn’t. What I believe happens too much is that we use some preconceived notion of healthy without thinking about how attainable it is for us personally.

I set a goal of running a 5K because I thought that is what healthy people do. But, I hate running. Even though I can physically do the 5K, mentally I wouldn’t want to.

When I was setting my goals, I was also lying to myself. I wanted to think I was in a place where I could achieve the goals I had set out. That brings me to the first two parts of defining what healthy means to you.

Be HONEST with yourself.

Another big mistake I made was that I used other people’s definition of healthy and not my own. No wonder I failed!

The pressure from others is huge. Everywhere you look there is someone trying to sell you some version of healthy. Vitamins, body wraps, fancy gym classes, magazines… Add to that influences from friends, family, and significant others. All of that is really hard to turn off.  But really…

Don’t let others influence YOUR definition.

If the first two parts weren’t hard enough, this finale part isn’t any easier. For me, patience is not my strong suit. I want the answers and I want them now. I want results and I want them now. Of course, self-reflection doesn’t work that way. Anything worth working toward doesn’t work that way. That means…

Take Your TIME.

I know for myself all of these things are not easy. The hardest part for me, is not letting other’s influence my definition. It can be difficult to completely block those voices out, particularly ones that have been whispering in my ear for such a long time.

I used myself and my experience to serve as a guide for you. Each of you will have a unique journey when deciding what healthy means to you.