Part 1 of a series

If I say toxic wellness, what comes up for you?  Do you know what I'm talking about?  

It could just be my algorithms because as a dietitian and now part-time farmer I get a lot of input all about food, from all different angles.  And it really gets me fired up.

Let me take a step back.  I want to dig this apart because I actually want to have a few conversations about the Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones documentary series on Netflix, but before I get into that I want to make sure you are in an open space to hear and accept some of those ideas.  

So toxic wellness can mean a lot of different things, but here are some general guidelines, this list is not exhaustive because people are always finding new and interesting ways to try to shame other people.

It might be toxic if:  (you should read that like Jeff Foxworthy if you know who that is)

  • It leaves no room for error

-->  Think Hard 65, 100-day obsession, 21-day fix, 7-day cleanse, Jillian Michaels in general.  These programs are usually presented as easy, road mapped, meal planned, just do it, but then when you're in the thick of it and life happens it's like that bandwagon just ran you over

  • It makes you feel like you are an invaluable human

--> How many times can I say Jillian Michaels?  Or people like her, I honestly try to avoid a lot of these people so I don't know who is up and coming, but someone that says if you eat sugar, if you don't lift 6 days a week, if you ate a hot dog ever in your life, you are a disgusting piece of garbage.  Yeah, that's a red flag.    

--> On the flip side of this coin, something I am definitely not trying to do, it's the people baking their own bread and BRAGGING about it, growing all their own food, never eating a food dye or processed sugar, their kids don't watch tv and are outside 24 hours a day in the rain and anyone letting their kids have a screen is a horrible lazy mother who should just try harder.

  • It is not realistic to do without being independently wealthy

-->  You know how the Rock or Mark Wahlberg get up at 4 a.m. to start working out?  Or maybe you've accidentally seen a Joe Rogan clip about all the supplements and crazy 'life hacks' he's doing.  Not always, there are exceptions to every rule, but if someone is spouting that they get up before the sun, do 1 hour of weight training, then meditate, then journal, then run, they only do intermittent fasting, they're in the sauna, then the ice plunge. Well, that's great, but who is doing the laundry, cleaning the toilets, making the lunches, and walking the dog?  That's just not realistic for most people so you should avoid this kind of rhetoric altogether, it's not for you.  

It alienates you from your friends and family**

--> There's a lot more to unpack here because families and healthy behaviors aren't always synonymous BUT for our purposes if any kind of plan means you have to feel like you're cheating or being a bad human for having chocolate cake with your friend when they're having a bad day.  Or if you feel guilty for having nachos and a margarita after a long week, then it's toxic, shut that down.

So you're probably thinking, 'Yeah Sara, I kind of already know all this stuff, great reminder, and why should I care? Where's the magic?'

Or maybe you're thinking, 'I know all that, but all of those people seem really healthy and vital and have a flat stomach so shouldn't I try to do some of those things?'

And if you're like me at some weaker moments maybe it even comes up that some of these influencers are moms, they are like me, I should be trying to do all this hippy stuff that seems so good for me and my family.

I'm glad you asked.    When you see these things online, I want you to read your body.  How does your body react.  If you get all tight, hunched over, start to be a in bad mood, start noticing all the shitty things surrounding you, take that as a sign that you were just hexed with some toxic wellness magic.  

They used their evil spell to convince you that you were less than them and that you need to do their thing so you can join their evil army that continues to oppress women and keep us worried about small ideas.

Realizing you've been hexed is the hardest part.  The antidote is simple.  This spirals up so start with number one and the more you do that better the antidote will work.

  1. Close the App or whatever you're looking at
  2. Get a Focus app that limits how much time you spend on that app, because once you've been hexed you might have made yourself attracted to similar dark magic practitioners for the future
  3. Turn on some music, something fun and upbeat, or angsty whatever gets you pumped up.
  4. Move your body, get your heart rate up, dance like a crazy person, vacuum, take a walk, punch and kick like a kickboxer, whatever
  5. Go outside for at least 5 minutes
  6. Touch the grass with your feet, or touch a tree with your hands, notice all the sensations in your extremities.

I wanted to start here because I am going to start diving into some wellnessy things that I think are really cool.  But you might find them toxic.  Your experiences are yours, so I want you to know that if you feel like something I'm saying isn't good for you, YOU have the power to shut it down and take only what is right in that moment.  Until tomorrow...