Spirit First: A Sustainable Route to a Healthy, Glowing Body
Above photos show the evolution of my physical frame from 2010-2020.
In my early 20’s, I weighed around 100 pounds. With a 5’6” stature, my BMI was 16% (a healthy BMI is 18.5%+).
During this time, I weighed myself daily, ran my ass off (literally), lost my period, and was hyper-concerned about what I consumed. I thought these “healthy” practices would be my guide to looking and feeling my best. In reality, I was somehwat obsessive about all external factors in my daily life: food, exercise, body image, etc.
Although I never skipped a meal, and didn't consider myself to have a “problem” (debatable), my practices weren’t sustainable. I would eat very little, then take my hunger out on an entire batch of brownies. If I didn’t exercise, I’d be upset with myself. My approach was all-or-nothing, guilt-ridden, and unfulfilling.
It took (almost) a decade of education, reflection, and holistic practices to re-wire my brain to be at the place I’m at today. Truth be told, I cannot remember the last time I stepped on a scale at home—it’s only a “doctors visit” ordeal. When I go to the doctor, my weight is always around 115 pounds, and has been consistent for the last five years. I’m at 19% BMI. Still lean, but healthy—and I mean TRULY healthy from a spiritual, mental, and physical perspective.
The best part: it’s a sustainable, longterm health approach that brings more energy, a glow to my skin, a positive outlook, and a healthy body.
Internal vs External Guidance
As I mentioned, my earliest approach to health was focused only on the external—food, exercise, body image. I don’t blame myself, because this is what we’re told we should focus on from said health gurus, diet planners, even doctors.
My outlook on health today is a lot less traditional—but I am convinced it is the only thing that works long-term for a healthy body and that “glow” we all are after. Rather than beginning our health journeys by looking at external factors, I believe we need to start by looking internally.
Whether or not we want to admit it, we are spirits first living in a material world. We often don’t observe our internal emotional attachment to food and exercise. For example, when we open the fridge or a box of crackers, we often aren’t feeding our bodies—we’re feeding our minds or our hormones (i.e., blood sugar imbalance). When we kill ourselves in the gym, we look for a physical result, not a connection to our moving body.
To get to the root of our health problems, I believe we need to shift our focus to a place where we become the observers of our mind-body connection. We need to become centered, calmer, and more at peace with the process of becoming leaner, healthier versions of ourselves.
This is a practice, but for me, it’s been the only solution to achieving a sustainable weight, healthy body, beautiful skin and shiny hair. Most importantly, I’ve developed a long-term healthy relationship with food, exercise, and my body.
SPIRIT FIRST
Some Tools
First, I believe we have to practice becoming the observer of our mind-body connection. In other words, we need to build an awareness about how we feel and respond by making intentional choices with our diet, exercise, and lifestyle.
Unfortunately, it’s often a challenge for humans to simply “tune inward.” Many of us need tangible tools to practice internal observation daily. I like to think of this as getting my daily water intake or my serving of vegetables. I need my daily serving of observing!
Some of my favorite tools include:
Meditation/Stillness
Meditation is like exercise for your mind: the more you exercise your mindful muscle, the more mindful you become.
Meditation helps in all life matters—not just food and exercise. When you practice meditation, you will find yourself calmer in all situations, whether it’s the way you wash the dishes or the way you respond to your spouse during a disagreement.
If meditation is not realistic for you (and it’s not for everyone), just take time for some stillness. Whether it’s going on a walk, drinking your coffee without distractions, stretching, petting your dog, whatever. Take 10 minutes to tune out everything and just connect to yourself.
Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting (IF) is one of my favorite tools to become the observer of my mind-body connection. You don’t have to IF daily. Really, I think 2-3 day a week is great. This mini-fast is pretty doable for most people, and on average, requires only a 16-hour fasting period (and an 8-hour eating window). Ideally, I like to eat between 10am-6pm.
Usually, during an intermittent fast, you will notice your hunger comes up and then goes away. Your body is fine—most human bodies can go a month or so without food—but your mind will play you. Your mind will scream, I’m hungry now! Really, what your mind is saying is I want a blood sugar jolt!
As the observer, we have the ability to remain calm and observe this tension. The waves will come and go, as with all things in life. This is the spiritual benefit of fasting, but there are loads of physical benefits to related to IF as well.
Food Journaling
If intermittent fasting seems too extreme or unrealistic for your lifestyle, try food journaling.
Food journals often help reveal eating triggers, and will provide insight about how to make small adjustments that will help you respond (and eat) better.
Again, this practice can help us become the observer, and develop an awareness behind what we’re feeling and responding to that feeling with intention throughout the day.
I found this great food journal, but you can also download a popular app called My Fitness Pal, which is essentially a digital food journal.
Mind Next
Food Education + Intentional Choices
My goal is to remain as stable as possible—spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically. As I become a better observer, the better I am at making food choices that help my mind and body remain balanced.
Food choices look different for everyone. As the founder of IIN (my nutrition school) said: “one mans’s food is another man’s poison.” For instance, you might be told to eat kale every day, but if you don’t like kale, you’re not going to eat kale. I love avocado, and so does my sister, but she cannot eat as much as I do because she digests it differently (it leaves her with stomach pain). News flash: our preference and bodies vary!
What I’m trying to say is this: it’s important to understand how food affects your body. From there, choose nutritious real foods (i.e., from the Earth and not a box) that keep you satiated and balanced.
On that note, there are foods that help keep us hormonally (and, therefore, emotionally) balanced and stable.
For example, our blood sugar levels have a massive influence on our hormonal and emotional wellbeing (Kelly Leveque’s book is a great resource to learn more about this). To put it simply, when we eat carbohydrates—whether it’s in cookie form or quinoa form—it will turn to glucose (AKA sugar) inside our systems and affect our blood sugar levels. The more simple the carbohydrate, the quicker it will digest and spike our blood sugar levels. This feels like a GREAT reward for our brain (ahh, that brownie!), but once that reward wears off, your blood sugar will crash and make us crave another high (AKA another brownie). You know when people say, “I can’t control myself around cookies!”? Well, it makes sense. Our blood sugar roller coaster often results in an emotional, addictive cycle.
To be clear, I’m not saying I don’t enjoy carbs or sugar. For those that know me, I am a huge sucker for PB banana toast, and when I go to brunch, I am probably going to try that interesting poppy seed pancake.
What I am saying is, when I do choose the toast or pancake, I do it with an awareness and knowledge of how it will affect my body and mind. Also, when I make those choices, I do my best to maintain balance by mindfully choosing more stabilizing meals the rest of the day. These are foods rich in protein (which turn into amino acids, not glucose), good fats (which turn into fatty acids, not glucose), and low-glycemic, fibrous vegetables. These foods help stabilize our blood sugar levels, and in effect, our minds become more stable as well.
Now, when it comes to exercise, I simply do what makes me feel most connected to my body—and that varies daily. Some days it’s walking, other days its sprinting, yoga, or barre. For you, maybe it’s swimming, biking, pilates, cross-fit. I believe it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you move your body and feel a connection while doing it. Try to feel this connection daily, even if it’s just a 10 minute jog or stretching.
PHYSICAL RESULTS
Body + Skin
The more aware and intentional we become with our choices, the more we will understand what works for our individual bodies. What digests best in your body? What timeframe do you prefer to eat? How do you feel with plant-based protein vs grass-fed animal protein? When do you feel most hungry, and how do you respond to that hunger with your food choices? Notice these things, reflect on these things, document these things.
I’ve found, through my revelations and new practices, I started to experience a shift, a new aliveness, in my body that no diet or workout trend ever brought me.
Our physical bodies LITERALLY generate new cells when we become more spiritually centered and emotionally stable. Studies even show that cancer patients have greater longevity when they practiced mindfulness.
Yes, internal work truly leads to external changes. You’ll feel renewed in your physical body, and your skin will glow. Have you ever noticed how stressed, angry, or unhappy people age quicker? Not a coincidence. Our stress hormones impact our physical health negatively—leading to obesity, aging, digestive issues, heart disease, etc. In other words, you can eat spinach all day and run marathons, but if you are not okay internally, you will never glow or be truly healthy.
By committing to this practice, I have found the most fulfillment I’ve ever experienced with my whole being. This is not a fad. This is not a temporary fix. This is a sustainable, beautiful, loving, healthy lifestyle.
Would love to hear your thoughts on my philosophy, what things you’ve learned that work for your health, or anything else you’d like to chat about!
Thank you for reading along. Much love.