How To Create Health & Fitness Goals That Bring You Joy, Not Stress

Resolution and intention setting is an incredible way to set yourself up for success. By getting clear about what you want and creating a detailed plan to get there, you're much more likely to accomplish your goals.

Diet culture is a value system rooted in thinness as worthiness, health, and beauty. It dictates that certain ways of eating—and the people who eat that way—are "bad" and others "good." Diet culture and the wellness industry are inextricably linked because we as a society associate thinness with health. The problem with this is that health looks different on different bodies—your friend or favorite influencer's healthiest weight may not be yours. 

We also shouldn't equate health with morality in the first place, because it has nothing to do with how good of a person you are—not to mention, access to wellness is often a bigger determining factor of your health than self-discipline.

If your goal is to "get healthy" in 2021, I encourage you to think deeper about what that means to you. To be successful with your goal setting, you need clarity to start.

If health means exercising regularly, I agree! However, if it means exercising with the sole intent of weight loss, you'll probably start to dread it and see it as punishment. That means, you likely won't stick to your goal long term, and your mental health may suffer as a result of daily body-shaming and disordered exercise habits.

Rather, I suggest finding an exercise modality that brings you joy and paying attention to how your body feels when you're moving (this is a practice I call intuitive exercise). Using that mood, energy, and confidence boost as your motivation will help foster a much longer-lasting habit.

If "being healthy" means sticking to a strict diet, again, I ask why you feel that way. If you're eliminating major food groups—without an allergy or medical reason—it may not actually be in service of your health. Of course, organic, nutrient-dense, unprocessed foods are certainly good for the body. However, if you don't enjoy anything you eat or you don't eat large enough portions to fuel your body, you could end up injured and depleted—the exact opposite of healthy.

I recommend reframing this goal to thinking about how often can you add in nutritious ingredients rather than focusing on removing foods from your diet. This takes you out of a scarcity mindset and encourages a stronger bodily intuition. Plus, being satisfied by your meals means it won't take effort to continue eating in a beneficial way.