Last weekend I went to the Be Well Philly event. I was invited by Whole Foods and you all know my love for Whole Foods by now, right? Yes ma’am, sign me up even if I do show up in (nice) jeans instead of fitness gear.
Disclosure: I received a pair of tickets for this event from Whole Foods. All opinions and experiences are my own.
Be Well Philly is an event geared around living well, being well. While the main focus was on fitness and nutrition, there was an overall theme I came away with – be well balanced in everything. It can be easy to focus on one thing – eating well, exercising well, researching what we do, how we do, but often we can become so immersed in doing one thing well that we miss the other things that can be done well.
I came away from the event with a desire to make little changes that make my overall life better – more ‘live well’. Over the last few years our family has made the journey of ‘being well’ in little steps. Sometimes we can make huge transformations all at once and be well for it but I have found that in our everyday life it can be easier to accomplish change in baby steps. Today I want to share some of those steps with you.
Exercise Well – Jumping headlong into exercise is something many people do. Often this either leads to fizzling out or injury. I’m so guilty of this. Start your exercise regime but ease your way into it so your body can adjust and you don’t give up in discouragement. While you take these baby steps of adding exercise to your routine you can try different types of exercise to find what works for you and what you enjoy.
There are so many options out there that you don’t need to be stuck with a boring routine. One of my favorite sessions at Be Well Philly was debunking nutrition myths. I wish I could have sat in on the whole thing. TIP 1: If you are bored you aren’t likely to stick with it. Find exercise you love.
Eat Well – Our family has been on the journey of eating better for the last 5 years. Slowly we have gone back to simpler foods, leaving cheap processed foods behind. This is possible, even on a tight budget as I continue to show and prove. I am passionate about this but it didn’t happen overnight and we aren’t perfect. Meals aren’t always balanced and I know we will always be working on improving our eating habits. Sometimes it can be hard to make this change with kids but baby steps are so important here.
Don’t make it an option, be firm, and stick to it. This summer one of my goals is to wean us away from eating starch at almost every meal. I have done this by introducing a meal a week that is meat free and heavy on veggies while retaining the pasta or rice in a smaller quantity. My family isn’t always a fan but I also know they weren’t fans of black beans 2 months ago and are eating them much easier now. This summer I am moving more toward spiralized veggies as a meal base and will mix them in with our pasta until my family gets use to them. Baby steps!
I do have a spiralizer but Whole Foods is making it easier to eat your (spiralized) veggies this summer, selling veggies pre-spiralized for a healthy convenience. I loved their food demos that took carrots and ginger and made salad dressing with them and took pesto and changed them to a light springy topping with pistachios, peas, and mint. TIP 2: Take baby steps to eating more healthy. Be firm and stick with it. Feel you failed? Start again.
Wear well – We often focus on food and fitness but how about what we are putting on? We often put on products full of toxic chemicals all in the name of beauty. Natural products can be more expensive, taking a hit on the budget so we cringe and slather on in the name of beauty. I am going to suggest going lighter, skipping a product, and buying just one product that has friendlier ingredients.
If more of us stood up against the need to have our faces ‘perfectly dressed’, the all natural look would be considered more gorgeous. We would revel more in natural skin tones and that ‘just woke up’ freshly washed face. I know. *GASP* It can’t be so. Baby steps. Remember, baby steps. Start with a natural skincare routine and work your way up. Skip the eyeliner or mascara. Skip the lipstick and go with a natural lip color. Something. Anything. TIP 3: Take baby steps to ‘wear’ more naturally. Change one product in your routine.
Most of all, Be Well Philly inspired and rejuvenated me in my desire to get out there and make those baby steps to live better each day. It inspired me to invest in teaching my children to live better now so they don’t fight the same battle I do as they get older. Making baby steps now equips my children to know how to live well, be well as they grow up. What they do with it when they grow up is their choice. (Read that as I know when my kids grow up they will do whatever the heck they feel like but I know I have given them the tools they need to make the right choices. If they don’t, they can’t blame me.)
I would love to hear from you. What choices are you making or resolving to make in your quest to be well?
