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The wellness industry is known for selling exercise, diet and fitness as the cure.

Feeling tired? Exercise and eat a nutritious diet.
Feeling anxious and depressed? Exercise and eat a nutritious diet.
Manage the symptoms of PMS and menopause? Exercise and eat a nutritious diet.
Newly divorced, fighting covid, and recovering from polio? You know what to do.

And when nothing else sells, there’s always the reliable want-to-look-super-hot-in-the-Barbados – card to fall back on.

Of course, this doesn’t just exist in the wellness industry. It exists in every industry looking to capitalise on people’s fears, insecurities, weaknesses and status. Finance, beauty, cars, you name it.

The thing is that exercise and diet can help your energy, mood, symptoms of PMS/menopause and doing Barbados. It might even improve your confidence after a divorce.

Yet, unlike what the wellness industry wants you to believe, exercise and diet aren’t the fixes. Oh, how I hope they would be. But they’re just one part of a big fucking puzzle called life.

You’re smart, and you already know this. And I’d like to think I am smart and already know this.

But sometimes, in our weakest moments, it’s easy to grab onto a hand, however veiny, that claims to solve all our problems.

-J

ps. Here’s Friday’s email. I changed newsletter companies (whatever the term is), and yeah, well, Friday’s email didn’t send. Bye-bye, Mailchimp. I hope these emails are a bit easier on the eyes now.

What comes before making any concrete plans or implementing any changes?

Discuss it at home.

Have an open conversation about your goals.

Be clear on what you need from the other family members.

And if you can, get them involved.

Change can be difficult. Having your family on your team makes it easier.

-J

Start by doing a full lifestyle screen listing what happens day to day.

List the things you could take away or add to move you closer to your health and fitness goals.

Now, the typical advice is to start with the one thing that would make the biggest impact. But we’re not going to do that.

Instead, start with the thing that feels the most achievable. And then the next. And the next. And the…

It’ll probably take longer. But you’re less likely to overcommit and feel overwhelmed.

In the end, you’ll end up in the same place.

-J

A recent study suggests that low daytime light exposure is a major environmental risk factor for shittier mood. Among other things that are not great for our health.

“UK Biobank participants reported spending a median of 2.5 daylight hours outdoors per day. Each additional hour spent outdoors during the day was associated with lower odds of lifetime major depressive disorder, antidepressant usage, less frequent anhedonia[1] and low mood, greater happiness and lower neuroticism, independent of demographic, lifestyle, and employment covariates.”

“In addition, each hour of daytime light was associated with greater ease of getting up, less frequent tiredness, fewer insomnia symptoms, and earlier chronotype[2]”.

[1] inability to feel pleasure. Yep, I had to Google that one.
[2] a person’s natural inclination with regard to the times of day when they prefer to sleep or when they are most alert or energetic. Yep, I sure did Google that one too.

-J

Actually, it was yesterday.

But today’s the next best option.

What reasonable and realistic action can you take today that moves you one step closer to your goal?

-J

I don’t have the exact numbers on this, but somewhere around 99% of the health and fitness marketing and advice for women revolves around looks.

Amazon returned these book (sub)heads with ‘women fitness’:

Walking for Weight Loss

A Strong, Lean Body for Life

Interval Weight Loss for Women

Thinner Leaner Stronger

Lift To Get Lean

While it’s understandable that looks matter to most, it’s misguided to think it’s the number one concern for everyone. Who decided that looks is the main narrative? Whatever happened to feeling strong, powerful and full of energy?

Unfortunately, only a few women are ever satisfied with how their body looks. But I have to wonder, how much of this feeling is amplified by the mainstream fitness narrative of the slim, toned body?

This narrative is not only narrow in its definition. But also unattainable for most women because of body proportions, genetics, and, I don’t know, raising kids, working and other important commitments in life.

How much more content would you feel about your body if you wouldn’t see constant reminders of this weight loss/aesthetics narrative?

I can’t change that. But I can make a small contribution towards a healthier, more productive narrative. Here’s my promise.

I will never write about fat loss or aesthetics.

That doesn’t mean that fat loss can’t be your goal. Or that looking a certain way can’t be important for you. But there are plenty of trainers and coaches and resources specialising in that.

The last thing you need is another place where everything about your health and fitness revolves around your appearance.

Fuck that noise.

-J

ps. Yes, there are past blogs about it on my site and in my book. But I will no longer contribute to that pile.

Improving your fitness doesn’t necessarily mean you need to add in another workout, an extra walk, or a bike ride.

When none of the above are an option, find ways to get more out of the things you’re already doing.

That’s exactly what one of the Reps And The Rest readers did:

“I started taking a couple 5lb weights on our daily 25 min walk to try to kill two birds with one stone.”

I love this idea. I often carry a backpack (or a child) when mowing the lawn or going for a walk.

If dumbbells or a backpack are not an option, add ankle or wrist weights when going for your usual walk, mowing the lawn, or even vacuuming.

-J

ps. I forgot to ask this particular reader her permission to share this, so I am doing it anonymously.

A few things make you feel more capable than a Bordeaux glass filled to the brim with motivation.

When the glass is full, any fitness goal feels achievable. Everest Basecamp? NYC Marathon? Jumping The Channel? Sign me up already.

The restrictions and objections you once held are far behind you. (Maybe that’s because just before a full glass of motivation, the glass held The Chateau Lynch-Bages Pauillac 1983*. Although, a glass of motivation often strikes without wine too.)

Yet however magical it may seem, motivation doesn’t make the realities of life disappear. We both know this.

Sometimes it’s easy to get carried away with goals that have no wheels in reality. Work, kids, life, dogs… all the multiple roles you hold. They all demand and deserve some of your time.

And now might not be the time to be as ambitious with your fitness goals as you’d like to.

But now might be the perfect time to build a routine. To build a firm foundation of strength and fitness. And be ready when the time is ripe to jump The Channel.

-J

*A brief illusion of knowledge. Because yes, I definitely copy pasted that from Dan Murphy.

This might sound like just a cute play with words, but stick with me here.

You’ve spent years wrestling with the goal of how to get fit. And it hasn’t worked. So let’s flip it on its head.

Instead of trying to get fit(ter), avoid being (or getting more) unfit.

Instead of seeking solutions for getting fit, improve your understanding of what’s causing your current inactivity.

What are the behaviours that are eroding your health and fitness?

What is it about your routines, habits, environments or people that you spend time with that contribute to you feeling unfit?

Once you have all that listed, start eliminating or changing them one at a time.

Not to get fit. But to not get unfit.

-J

I wish it would because that’d be dynamite for marketing. But, alas.

However, in most cases, being strong will protect the joint and reduce the severity of the injury.

Take it from this client who rolled her ankle on Sunday.

Unfortunately, that upside gets often lost as we’re focused (understandably) on the injury that happened instead of thinking about the injury that could’ve happened.

-J