Ways to Honor Your Health Today Without Focusing on Weight

Our definition of health has become synonymous with weight loss. Even a quick Google search of “ways to improve your health” will automatically reroute you to “ways to lose weight.”

This cultural push for weight loss is a disservice to your health.

According to an article by Scientific American, “a meta-study covering more than 300,000 participants across all ages reveals that adults get a 50 percent boost in longevity if they have a solid social network.” But the media doesn’t push community and connection nearly as much as it pushes fitness grinds and trending diets.

Health is accessible to you in various forms, including physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, and socially.

Here are some ideas that you can take with you today:

1. Take your dog for a walk.

2. Put your phone away an hour before bed.

3. Build in a 5-minute meditation. (Did you know you can meditate in the car, standing in line, or pretty much anywhere?)

4. Journal for 5-minutes, formally or informally.

5. Cook a meal for yourself at home. Include a variety of food groups, tastes, and textures.

6. Put on music and sing or dance.

7. Rest on purpose in the mid-afternoon. Follow up with an invigorating stretch.

8. Hydrate between meals. Use a fun water bottle if you have one.

9. Make an appointment with a therapist if you feel you've been needing one.

10. Text a friend to say hi.

11. Go outside. Find a spot in nature that inspires you. Give yourself time there to sit or walk.

12. Notice the voice of your inner critic and speak back to it with gentle but firm boundaries.

13. Eat a nutritious food alongside a "fun" food; allow them to co-exist without judgment.

14. Buy a new vegetable to try this week.

15. Get rid of an item of clothing that's been upsetting you.

16. Donate, volunteer, or smile at someone.

Does it empower you to know that you can address it in these ways instead of just feeling the pressure to lose weight or “tone up?”

Which ideas speak to you today? What would you add to this list? I’d love to hear your thoughts below.