Hi friends! In today’s episode, I want to give a little of a preview of some things coming in Q1 of 2022, as well as share some things that have been on my heart recently.

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2021 has been a great year in a lot of ways and there have still been some pretty difficult parts, right? It felt like it lasted forever, to me at least! I love new beginnings and thinking about the potential of the future, so the end of the year and coming new year is always an exciting time for me. I’m really looking forward to 2022 both in my personal life and for what’s coming for the Health Forward community. So I wanted to share a just a few things that are coming in Q1 of next year that you can be watching for:

• A new round of HF group coaching is starting in mid-January 2022. This is one of my absolute favorite things to do. It’s the perfect way to get health education and coaching at a lower cost and time commitment - and you get to be part of a community of women with similar goals and struggles as you!

• The Move Forward, Feel Better Course is live on my site again! This is a perfect option for the DIY-er or someone wanting more education about how to support their health but may not have the budget or schedule capacity for personalized health coaching.

• The #hfpodcast will be back again with a new season starting in January but will now feature new episodes every other week. This will allow me to devote more of my attention to working with clients while still providing quality healthy-living education and encouragement for you on the podcast.

I wanted to leave you with a few thoughts today that I’ve just been thinking about for a while. This question of “does it even matter to spend time/energy on my health” just keeps coming up for me, and I’m guessing I’m not the only one. 

Especially for those of us who follow Jesus,  is this something we should even be concerned with? 

I keep being reminded of this idea of Struggle and progress. While there is absolutely no perfection on this side of heaven and we will never be able to outrun the curse (my pastor recently said if Mother Teresa and Jack Lalanne couldn’t escape death, none of us have a chance! It was a super encouraging sermon {jokes - it actually was}), but I don’t think that means that we just decide to not care. I hear a lot of people say “well I’m gonna die of something” as an excuse to treat their bodies really poorly. I know that they are mostly kidding, but in reality, I think that way of thinking subconsciously affects the way that a lot of people see their health. I feel like there can be a huge disconnect between Christians and not caring for their bodies. By no means am I trying to equate some level of holiness with good health or living a healthy lifestyle? You are not more godly because you are fit or a certain size, or because you don’t have __ health problems. The opposite is also true - you aren’t more godly because you disregard the “earthly”, physical, and focus solely on the spiritual. As with most things, there is tension here. So many things in life aren’t either/or but both/and - and I think our mindset when it comes to our health and the caring of our physical bodies falls under this category as well.

Should we be trying to perfect our bodies/find the fountain of youth/become obsessed with how our bodies look or even feel?? No - that’s both very self-centered and pretty pointless, honestly. Are we going to be symptom-free, disease-free, problem-free in this life? No. As a matter of fact, we can pretty much expect the opposite. 

Does that mean that we shouldn’t care about the health of our bodies? Should we abuse the bodies that God gave us with food/drinks/substances that damage them, fill our minds with toxic junk, and just generally ignore our health? No! That’s not stewarding the gift of these bodies that God gave us to experience this life with. I don’t believe that’s what we need to do either.

Will there always be struggle? Yes. Can there also be progress and improvement too? Absolutely yes. 

I really believe this in the depths of my heart. This is what makes my approach to health and what I do different. I am coaching you to know how your body works and to care for it as the gift that it is. Not to lose a certain amount of weight or look a certain way. Not to look or even feel perfect - that isn’t a real possibility anyway.

I often get asked what program I follow and the simple answer is that I don’t. I don’t do “programs'' or sell products. I just teach real-life, sustainable, actionable steps to support the health of your body. If you’re looking for a quick-fix, super easy (also hear me say - likely unsustainable and maybe even unhealthy) way to make changes to your body or your health, then I’m not it. I’m passionate about this stuff because I think it matters and I encounter so many unhelpful theories about health that I want to offer you something different. 

If this is something that resonates with you, check out my course or enroll in this upcoming round of group coaching coming up in January. 

I hope that this episode encouraged you or gave you a different perspective. I’m excited for what’s to come in 2022 and continuing to support you in your health journey.

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