When it comes to health and fitness there is no one shoe fits all. It’s not a particular weight, a particular diet or training plan, or specific number hours of sleep at night etc. Everyone has different goals, different lifestyles, different likes and dislikes, different strengths and weaknesses and most people know when they feel the most healthy & when their personal health balance is starting to get out of whack.

I think being honest with yourself plays a huge part in being your best and most healthy self. I like to call it health integrity, as that encompasses all aspects of it. You live with health integrity when you truly own your journey, when you realise it’s yours and yours alone and you take full responsibility for your health. You stop living the old blame game and buying into the quick fixes & fads, the binge eating/starving yourself cycles & guilt trips, the bullshit marketing messages, the cultural labels. There is freedom in that decision.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re at the beginning of your journey with 50kg to lose and a whole slew of lifestyle conditions to beat or if you’re at your ideal weight and healthy but want to know what it is to thrive in new ways; whether you are a seasoned athlete or a complete beginner.

You are in ultimately responsible for what you do, what you eat, how you exercise, and how you look (up to the point of your genetics). Accepting this reality is actually an extremely liberating thought. You can control your eating; it doesn’t have to control you.

Once you begin treating your body as the beautiful work of art that it is, and treating it with care and kindness, you will stop feeling such intense emotions about something as silly as eating too much food one day or not working out enough. It’s simply a balance, and you can find it again. Even if you stuff it up, you can find it again the next day. It doesn’t have to be a downward spiral because it’s not an emotional issue or a blame game. It is simply a matter of finding that sweet spot again.

You are not a huge failure for over eating or not exercising or stuffing up your food choices. Rather it’s something that you can address in a productive and healthy way tomorrow.

Taking full responsibility is freeing & self-empowering & having this power also takes away all the excuses of “well weight loss just doesn’t happen for me or my metabolism” or “it must be the gluten & dairy I keep eating” or “I must be unique because I just can’t lose weight no matter how little I eat”. It’s not a guessing game or an emotional issue anymore. It’s no one else’s fault. Nor is it your genetics or your hormones or your upbringing. Being your best and most healthy self is simply a balancing act and you can find that perfect balance that will suit your lifestyle once you accept full responsibility. To me, that is what living with health integrity is.