As a healthier cookie company, we’ve spent a lot of time in the broader health and wellness space and have seen fads change and morph over time. These days, we’re very inspired by the body positivity and health at every size (HAES) movement, because it acknowledges that everyone’s body is different and needs different things. For example, not every person is or needs to be on a calorie-restrictive diet in an effort to shrink themselves.
We’d love to see more of this thinking not just for what we eat, but for how we move and live too. Instead of just jumping on the bandwagon because that’s what everyone else does, we want to encourage you to ask yourself some questions about what life you want for yourself.
Below are a few questions to reflect on when thinking about your health and wellness goals. We’ve found these helpful not only for creating a healthier life, but also for creating a life that is conscious, intentional, and built around your interests and the kind of life you want to live.
Where Do You Want to Go?
Do you have a travel destination you’ve always dreamed of? Maybe it’s backpacking around Europe, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, or trekking through the rainforest in Costa Rica. You might find that holding these things in your mind as goals is much more motivating and inspiring than a certain weight, waist measurement, or appearance-related goal.
What Do You Want to Do?
Want to be a lifelong tennis player? Or sailor? Perhaps you’d prefer to paint large canvasses, go kayaking every week, or learn an instrument. Of course, there are a million options here, and it’s okay for the answers to this question to change as we move through life. However, this is still one of the best questions for checking in on yourself and making sure your fitness goals and life goals are aligned.
Consider someone who wants to run marathons or play tennis competitively is going to eat and exercise very differently from someone who wants to be an artist. So every once in a while, check in and make sure that the activities you’re doing now are in line with your ultimate goals for what you want to do.
Who Do You Want to Spend Time With?
Want to be able to keep up with your grandkids or work on the car with your kid? It’s natural to want to live a long life so that you can spend as much time as possible with friends, family, and other loved ones. Sometimes shifting your health and wellness goals from being all about you to a focus on the other people in your life can be extremely refreshing and motivating, as it often provides a much-needed change in perspective.
Why Do You Want to Be Healthy?
Do you want to be healthy for competitive reasons, for a particular sport or activity? Or perhaps for longevity, or greater physical and emotional wellbeing?
No answer is necessarily right or wrong here. The value of this question lies in finding out what the true goals of your health and wellness journey look like for you.
How Do You Reach Your Health, Wellness, and Life Goals?
Now that you have a vision in mind for the questions above, you simply have to find some practical fitness activities that align with your goals. Ideally, these would be things that you would enjoy doing consistently.
For example, If you want to backpack Europe or climb Mount Kilimanjaro, daily walking is an excellent way to consistently prepare and stay in shape for that.
If you want to spend time and be active with your kids or grandkids into old age, doing some kind of consistent strength training is a great choice. Strength training has been shown to increase bone density and support brain health as we age. And don’t worry, we’re not saying you have to be Mr. Olympia. Consistent moderate weight training or calisthenics is more than enough to reap the majority of benefits.
Mobility training and yoga will help keep you supple and comfortable moving across all ranges of motion, an incredible benefit that comes in handy whether your goals are salsa dancing, swimming, or hiking up mountains.
Putting It All Together
Body positivity has shown us that we can find health and positivity at every size. We hope this post and the questions above have helped show you that health and fitness goals should be equally fluid, unique, and highly personalized.
Rather than being concerned with how you look or what you weigh, you may find it more helpful and inspiring to craft health goals around the kind of life you ultimately want to live.
