We got another 2 parter coming up, not because it's especially profound or anything, but just because I like to keep these short and manageable.
Let's start here. Do you have feelings on Rachel Hollis? Isn't it strange that we have feelings for a person that we don't know and what we do know is just what that person wants us to know about?
Anyway, I, generally, really enjoy Rachel Hollis. To me, she is a kindred spirit. I feel like we would get along, we like all the same pop culture references, we're the same age, I just think we'd be BFFs. BUT she is like my BFF that sometimes gets it wrong, unfortunately, we aren't actually friends so I can't have a direct conversation with her about how she's just missing the mark a little bit, so I'm here writing about it instead.
She shared a podcast episode the other day about 6 Hacks for Holiday Health. As the episode starts she makes a bit of a caveat that health and weight are not equal, and she just had to title the podcast that way for clicks... I get it, that sucks but she's right there.
To get started and give her the benefit of the doubt, she is trying to promote mindful and intuitive eating and body acceptance, BUT she's still clearly on her own journey of accepting all of those things for herself. The problem with that is that while her intention with her advice is great, the words/phrases/and some of the suggestions can be fairly problematic.
So for the next 2 days, I am going to go through her list and adjust it to be more appropriate and realistic for women like us.
Throughout this list, I am going to state the advice she provided, give my quick opinion, and then elaborate further on how to make this work for you and your life that might be just slightly messier than hers.
The Premise
I guess I need to start with her overall intention for this podcast episode. It's 6 Hacks for Holiday Health, that's nothing really new as we make our way into the holiday season, and I don't think she is trying to be clickbait. She knows, as do I, that as women enter this high-stress season, where there is less sunshine, and a lot of times colder, we have scenarios where we have to see people we don't want to, wear clothes and bras we don't want to, and be exposed to lots of food and drinks. Mid-November to January 1st is a landmine for mental health and physical health.
She argues that putting in these practices over the next 6 weeks will help you feel better throughout the season, both physically and mentally, and then when you get to January 2nd you won't need to go through a shame spiral resulting in an extreme diet that is even worse for your mental and physical health.
100%! When you can practice Mindful, Intuitive, and Intentional eating practices the majority of the time you will end up choosing healthier options for your whole body, mind, and spirit. But as I mentioned before, SOME of the suggestions she gave are tinted with diet culture that could be triggering and lead to more disordered thinking patterns than I'd like for you.
- Foundational Meal and Foundational Movement
Totally agree. It can be SO helpful to just know what you need to eat, take the think work out of it, know exactly what you are going to eat, and choose foods and meals that will make you feel your best. Choosing an EASY breakfast to start your day off with energy, protein, and fiber will help you feel your best for the rest of the day, it can also help you make more mindful choices for the rest of the day. Yeah why wouldn't you want to feel your best during a super stressful and busy time.
Foundational movement, yes! I would change these words to gentle movement, things that are going to make you feel your best when it's cold and dark and you are feeling sluggish or drained or anxious about whatever you're getting ready for in the day. What can you do easily in less than 15 minutes to make you feel strong, protected, and energized, or maybe it's more somatic work that helps you release all the baggage from the day? Get a note card and write down 2 or 3 movements that you can easily incorporate each day. The intention with this is just to move your body to RELEASE or REVITALIZE your mind. That state of your body most certainly affects the state of your mind.
- Acknowledge it's a stressful season
Yes! Gotta make it real. Trying to brush all the things under the rug or ignore that something feels yucky isn't actually going to make it go away. I would even challenge you to talk with your whole family about how you and they might feel with all of these different situations they might feel forced into and normalize talking about when things are hard, it might help you avoid a meltdown by your 6-year-old when you have to go to another school event and they don't want to. Rachel actually gives some really great examples about how to manage that stress to avoid using alcohol or being an asshole at that family event.
Let's stop here for today. I want to give you some quick action steps for tonight.
Get a few note cards or cut a piece of paper into 4 equal parts.
On the first card, write down some meals you don't have to think about that give you energy, make you feel good, and are super easy. Eggs are always great to include because they have protein and fat, nut butters are perfect for that reason as well. Make a huge omelet on Sunday morning and divide it into 3 portions for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Remember to have some carbs with it, a whole piece of fruit, a whole grain toast. Oatmeal. A peanut butter and jelly. Make your own protein box with hard-boiled eggs, an apple and a cheese stick like Starbucks sells for 8 bucks. On the paper write down 2 breakfasts and 2 lunches that you can do easily most days. Hang that on the fridge and get all the supplies you need.
On the next piece of paper, write down 3 kinds of movement you want to include most days. A 15-minute stretch, 15-minute kickboxing, 15-minute walk. Only 15 minutes. It has to be so easy. Next, decide where in your day this is going to happen. Again, give yourself a few options, if morning is crazy I will ________, after work I'll walk for 15 minutes before I go into the house. Write out whatever you decide for you and then put this list in a place you NEED to see it, in your car, in your planner, on your bathroom mirror.
On the third paper just write down all the stress that you hate, that you're afraid of, that you don't want to deal with, that you wish you didn't have to do. Just get it all out. Use the 4th section if you need, fronts and backs, get it all out. As you look at the list decide if there are things you can eliminate and not do. Are there things you are imagining being awful before they've even happened? I am guilty of this ALL THE TIME. If you imagined it being sucky, talk yourself down, it doesn't have to be the worst, it might just be not what I like but I don't have to imagine it while it isn't happening. Let all that shit go and then tear up that paper!
There were the easy ones. Tomorrow we'll get into some deeper stuff and more mindset shifts that can slip us up get pull us back into negative habits.
