Getting past ‘I feel fine”
We all get so used to just feeling like crap that we don’t even recognize it anymore. This is just normal. This is just how we are. We’re just kind of okay with feeling fine. We also lose track of how good we really could be feeling. I learned this lesson over many years, and I think it’s one of those things that it’s just really easy to not pay attention to. I want to help you in getting past feeling fine.
I spent years focusing on one specific goal at any given time, and I didn’t even really know that there were so many other possibilities. There were so many other things that I could have been striving for.
When I first started my health journey, it was because I got some news of advancing cardiovascular disease development. My entire goal was about reducing that risk. This ended up taking me down an initial path of paying more attention to what I was eating, and being sure that I got exercise in every. I thought that if I lost a little bit of weight, then that would make all of the difference in the world. The weight wasn’t necessarily my goal, but I thought that losing the weight would fix this problem.
I was successful on both fronts…in my twenties. Those plaques that were forming disappeared, my arterial age reversed and I lost the weight. I felt fine.
I wouldn’t say that I had exuberant energy or really clear skin, or really an overly happy belly, but I was fine.
This went on for a while…until I started not feeling so great again. I started gaining the weight again despite making no changes to my diet or my workouts. I was still okay with energy, still didn’t have great skin or a happy belly, but I just thought it was normal. But when the weight crept back on, I knew something had to change. So I cleaned up my diet even more.
I ended up transitioning to a fully vegetarian diet, and I made this transition for two major reasons. One, I didn’t like the weight, I didn’t like that weight gain, and I really, I didn’t feel great eating meat. . So I prioritized eating fresh vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, and I doubled down on my workouts.
Initially, I felt amazing. I felt lighter, more energetic. I had better skin, and my belly actually did feel much happier.
But again, it didn’t last. I slowly started gaining the weight back again. My belly became even more unhappy than it ever had been before. My energy plummeted and my muscles became increasingly sore.
So much so that I actually had to stop working out. My legs and feet were so sore just walking around in daily life.
It made no sense to me. I didn’t think there was any way I could possibly do any better with my nutrition or my lifestyle. When I finally hit this point of frustration, I started doing a lot more research.
I talked to a lot of practitioners. I read a lot of books. I listened to a ton of podcasts. I learned a lot about what was going on. Ultimately, I underwent functional testing, comprehensive assessments, and I did a lot of thought work. I really took a deep dive into what was going on in my body, how I was thinking about it, all the choices I was making, and the habits that I had.
What does this have to do with getting past feeling fine?
Well, looking back, I realized that I could have bypassed a lot of these challenges if I would have just really looked deeper at what my symptoms were, what I really wanted that I didn’t have, and what I no longer wanted to deal with. I had just chalked up all of those normal things, and I didn’t put enough significance on them to really deal with them. I was just okay with being okay.
I knew I had bloating and gas – but I always had, so I just thought that’s how I was.
I knew I was constipated, but that was pretty normal for me.
I knew I had extra weight that I couldn’t really explain, and I was eating a very clean diet and exercising daily, so maybe that was just normal.
I knew I was not as energetic as I should have been given my age and overall life.
I knew I shouldn’t have been still struggling with acne since I wasn’t a teen anymore.
But none of these things were bad enough for me to really face them, so I only really faced the big scary news about cardiovascular disease development.
I wasted years not even looking to feel my best. I was just settling for fine.
I could have prioritized fixing my gut, which would’ve remedied the bloating, the gas, and the constipation years ago.
I could have started eating the right foods for my body – which by the way – was not a vegetarian diet! That would’ve boosted my energy and reduced my inflammation years ago.
I didn’t have to spend more than a decade searching for the perfect diet plan, workout regimen, and struggling with all these recurring issues.
I didn’t have to spend thousands of dollars on diet foods, cookbooks, miracle potions, meal replacement shakes, and crazy fitness products.
When I truly focused on feeling amazing, belly to brain, everything came into alignment. And now I’ve maintained it for years.
So what did focusing belly to brain look like?
Well, there are three major aspects.
Investigation. This is the first and most important step to really identifying what’s going on. I had to look at what my beliefs were about this entire process. I did a comprehensive, deep dive into my symptoms, my habits, what I didn’t like about my body or my health, what I wanted in an ideal world, and what I was thinking about this whole process.
This is where I finally recognized that I had allowed fine to keep me stuck. I found myself repeatedly saying things like, “it’s okay” when thinking about various aspects of my body or my health.
Okay?!?! Just, okay?!?! Is that really all I wanted just to be fine?
Challenging those beliefs is really what opened my eyes to what was ideal, what was optimal.
I totally rewrote those beliefs and all of the things that I chalked up to just being “normal”. These were not ideal and I didn’t have to be okay with them. This phase also involved functional lab testing. To get hard data on what was really going on inside my body that I couldn’t see. This is what provided the foundation to build a targeted protocol, a plan to get me to that ideal health.
Implemention. This is where I started using the simple, doable plan. This is where I put into action that targeted protocol. I made necessary changes to my nutrition plan, changed up the workout routine, evaluated personal care products, added recommended nutritional supplements that aided in healing my imbalances, prioritized getting quality sleep, and reduced and managed stress.
These are the actions that actually get me to the ideal.
Initiate New Beliefs. What got you here is not going to get you to that ideal. So throughout this process, I have to continually work on identifying and addressing those sneaky beliefs that take me back down old paths to bad habits or that tell me that fine is good enough. This is a daily exercise to rewrite those thoughts.
These are lifelong skills that apply to all aspects of our lives, not just health.
This is the process that I went through to blow past that line of just feeling fine and to truly seek ideal or optimal wellness.
This is the first (and only) process that ever worked for me.
It has completely changed my entire life. And not only has it stopped those undesired symptoms, recurring weight gain, digestive issues, skin breakouts, and low energy, but it also changed how I think about myself, my choices, my habits, what’s possible for me, and how I can help my clients through this exact same challenge.
This is the process I take my clients through. because it works. If you do the work.
I believe in you.
I know this is possible for you too.
Take a minute and think about where have you been okay with fine.
Where are you putting up with just being okay or chalking negative symptoms up to just normal for you?
Trust me when I say. . .these don’t have to be normal. You don’t have to be okay with fine. You can seek and achieve ideal!
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