Self-Love: Healthy Choices
What are some healthy choices you’ve recently made that make you proud? This is the time to brag about them!
I’ve worked with many coaches because I’ve really struggled with committing to healthy choices. The self-help space is saturated with ways to make healthy habits stick. Books like Atomic Habits stare at me whenever I enter a bookstore. And I run away from them. I know, I know, I know I should be doing better, and implementing more healthy habits. But the glare and stare technique does not work on me. Intimidation is not a motivation. Positive affirmations and celebratory encouragements are.
I first worked with Nati Valderrama, a self-love coach, back in 2020 to work on creating healthy habits around movement. I started my yoga practice during our sessions and made healthy eating an incredibly important part of my routine.
Recently, I’ve done several sessions with Lucie Blanchard-Spinosi, a life coach, to develop health habits. I’ve moved to a new place and live alone for the first time. Which means, I have nobody to motivate me to get off my phone, nobody to make me feel bad if I binge-watch TV until the ungodly hours of the night, and no one to stop me from being a couch potato until I rot. I needed help to make healthy choices and to motivate myself to do the things that actually make me feel good.
So we spoke about motivation. I put healthy habits (such as meditation and cleaning up) in my calendar. I set up my space for success: my book is within reach, my art tools are right in front of my face, and my yoga mat is incredibly convenient to reach. That way, it is easier for me to do the activities that make me feel good– the choices that are healthy for my mind, body, spirit, and soul.
And now, I’m back on track for my reading goal of the year. I’ve started stretching again after months of struggling. I’ve made more art than I can hang. And I’ve just learned to be kind to myself. And being kind is my ultimate act of self-love and the healthy choice I want to brag about today.
Because when you meet yourself with kindness - sure, you might relapse one day and stay up until 4am watching Netflix. But that’s okay. It’s not a setback. It’s a moment in time. A moment to learn from, a moment to meet yourself with kindness, and to see what you could do to make yourself feel better next time. Kindness can heal. Kindness can motivate, Kindness can push us towards the best version of ourselves.
So let’s remember that. Because healthy choices can start really small. And our community agrees. See the steps others have taken for their healthy choices:
“Taking better care of myself (hair routine, stopped wearing makeup, investing in quality products that make me happy), going to the gym more often, learning to set my boundaries toward people, letting go of friends/people who don’t treat me the way I want to be treated, and surrounding myself with loving people who appreciate me for who I am 🥰”
“Starting eating a regular breakfast!”
“Setting boundaries between my personal and professional life! Not using my phone after 21:30”
Small or big. Abstract or practical. Your healthy choices are yours for the making. What step can you take today to create a healthier habit that fits you, your needs, and your life?
Let us know in the comments or on our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theselfpluscollective/