You Don’t Need to Be “Fixed” to Be Healthy
Search for “optimal health” and you’re gonna get a parade of biohacks, green juices, 4 a.m. wake-up calls, and a supplement stack taller than your water bottle. It’s no wonder so many of us feel like we’re failing at being healthy.
But here’s the truth: the pursuit of health has been co-opted by capitalism,
perfectionism, and body surveillance. It’s become a game of control, not
care.
What if instead of
more rules, more shame, and more pressure, we built our version of wellbeing from trust, capacity, and connection?
This post is your no-BS, body-neutral, HAES-aligned guide to optimum health
— the kind that actually feels good.
Let’s get into it.
Table of Contents
- You Don’t Need to Be “Fixed” to Be Healthy
- What Is Optimal Health, Really?
- Optimum Health ≠ Maximum Effort
- Why Intuitive Fitness Is Essential for Optimal Wellbeing
- Why Intuitive Eating Supports Whole-Body Health
- Body Neutrality & Health at Every Size
- The Nervous System Connection: Why Rest, Play & Pleasure Matter
- Your Guide to Optimal Health — On Your Terms
- Ready to Reclaim Your Health — Without the BS?
What Is Optimal Health, Really?
First, let’s reframe the whole damn thing.
Optimal health isn’t:
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The lowest number on a scale
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A rigid meal plan
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Endless discipline and “clean eating”
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A life without carbs, rest days, or joy
Optimal health is your ability to engage with life, in the body you have, with as much freedom and support as possible.
Health is multidimensional.
It includes physical function, yes
— but also emotional regulation, social connection, mental resilience, rest,
pleasure, and equity of access. If you’re sacrificing your sanity,
relationships, or dignity in the name of “health,” it isn’t optimal.
It’s oppression.
As the Health at Every Size framework
reminds us: Health is not a moral obligation, not a barometer of worthiness,
and not entirely within our control.
So what is within our control?
How we relate to our body. How we move through the world. And how we build
systems of care instead of coercion.
— Aubrey Gordon, What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat (2020)
Optimum Health ≠ Maximum Effort
You’ve been taught that health = hustle. That if it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t count. That the more intense, regimented, and extreme your routine is, the better.
But optimum ≠ maximum.
Maximum effort is a burnout model. It’s a perfectionist fantasy.
As Dr. Stacy Sims puts it:
Optimum health is sustainable. Adaptable. Responsive.
It accounts for:
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Your menstrual cycle
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Your stress levels
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Your access to resources
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Your mental health
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Your capacity on any given day
That means some days it looks like movement. Other days it looks like rest. Both are valid. Both are valuable.
Your health is not a test you’re failing. It’s a relationship you’re
building.
As Sonya Renee Taylor writes,
So let’s stop punishing our bodies, and start partnering with them.
Why Intuitive Fitness Is Essential for Optimal Wellbeing
Movement is a tool for connection — not control.
In a culture obsessed with before-and-after photos, it can be radical to
move your body just because it feels good. Or because you want to feel more
energized, sleep better, manage stress, or simply reconnect with yourself.
That’s
intuitive fitness.
It’s not about skipping strength training forever or only walking gently
(unless that’s what your body needs).
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Heavy lifting without fatphobic goals
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Cardio for mood support, not calorie burn
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Mobility training to feel more resilient
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Dance parties in your kitchen just for fun
It’s about building strength with your body, not against it.
And guess what?
That means less shame spiraling. More showing up.
Why Intuitive Eating Supports Whole-Body Health
Let’s be clear: chronic dieting isn’t just ineffective. It’s harmful.
The restrict-binge-restrict cycle wrecks your metabolism, undermines
self-trust, and creates constant food obsession. It disconnects you from
your body’s cues, erodes your mental health, and keeps you stuck in shame.
Intuitive eating is an evidence-based framework that reconnects you to
your hunger, fullness, satisfaction, and body wisdom.
It helps:
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Improve cholesterol and blood pressure
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Reduce disordered eating behaviors
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Support stable blood sugar and mood regulation
Increase body appreciation and resilience
In my coaching, we use intuitive eating to dismantle shame-based beliefs and
rebuild body trust from the ground up. That means food becomes nourishment,
not negotiation. Pleasure becomes a compass, not a problem. And you finally
get to feel at home in your body, not at war with it.
Body Neutrality & Health at Every Size
You don’t have to love every inch of yourself to make peace with movement, food, and health.
Body neutrality
says: your body is not an ornament. It’s an instrument.
It’s not here to be looked at, fixed, or constantly improved.
It’s here to live. To play. To grieve. To lift. To dance. To survive.
As an intuitive fitness coach, I see this shift happen all the time. Clients
come to me exhausted — not just from workouts, but from the emotional labor
of trying to “feel good” about a body they’ve been taught to scrutinize
since puberty. When we take the pressure off — to love it, to shrink it, to
fix it — something wild happens:
🌀 They start feeling at home in their body again.
🌀 They stop negotiating their worth based on mirror-checks.
🌀 They begin to trust themselves. And move from that trust.
And this isn’t just personal — it’s political.
Because the current health narrative is still rooted in weight stigma. And
that stigma? It harms. Full stop. It leads to misdiagnosis, delayed care,
and internalized shame that keeps people from accessing joyful movement,
nourishing food, and supportive routines.
That’s where the
Health at Every Size (HAES)
model comes in — offering a more just, evidence-based, and inclusive
framework.
HAES promotes:
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Health-promoting behaviors, not weight outcomes
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Lived experience over BMI charts
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Dignity, respect, and autonomy for all bodies — regardless of size, ability, or health status
You deserve a relationship with health that doesn’t hinge on how your body looks.
Because the truth is: bodies are diverse. Health is not a finish line. And your worth was never up for debate.
The Nervous System Connection: Why Rest, Play & Pleasure Matter
Let’s get scientific for a sec.
Chronic stress, shame, and hustle-mode living keep your nervous system in a
state of hypervigilance. That can lead to:
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Inflammation
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Sleep disturbances
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Digestive issues
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Hormonal imbalances
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Immune suppression
And when your body is in survival mode, it’s not prioritizing healing, recovery, or growth. You can’t shame or stress your way into health. You can only support yourself there.
— Tricia Hersey, The Nap Ministry
As an intuitive fitness coach, I see firsthand how many people are afraid to
rest because they think it means they’re lazy or falling behind. But in
reality, rest is where integration happens. It’s where your body repairs,
your mind resets, and your spirit gets a chance to breathe.
Pleasure and rest are not luxuries. They’re part of optimum health.
So is play. So is joy. So is laughter with friends, dancing in the mirror,
orgasms, naps, silly hobbies, and unapologetic chill.
This is the part the fitness industry doesn’t want you to know:
Your Guide to Optimal Health — On Your Terms
Here’s what we know:
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You don’t have to be perfect to be healthy.
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You don’t need a smaller body to be worthy of care.
Optimal health is not a destination. It’s a practice.
It’s not something you finally achieve when you hit a certain weight, or
complete a 30-day challenge, or master the perfect meal prep. It’s something
you build, day by day, in collaboration with your real life. It adapts when
you’re injured. It flexes when you’re tired. It makes room for grief,
celebration, hormones, and humanity.
Or as
behavior change expert Michelle Segar
says,
It’s flexible. Compassionate. Rooted in your reality.
As an intuitive fitness coach, this is my zone of genius. Not handing you a
one-size-fits-all plan, but walking alongside you while you craft a version
of health that feels aligned, grounded, and do-able. One that leaves space
for both grit and grace. One that lets you show up as your whole self, not
just the “motivated” version of you.
You get to define what optimal health looks like for you. You get to name what matters, what supports you, and what your body actually needs.
So… what does that look like?
Let’s figure it out together.
Ready to Reclaim Your Health — Without the BS?
Here’s how to start:
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🔍 Take the Find Your BadA$$ Fitness Inspiration Quiz to discover your motivation style
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💪 Join my 1:1 Coaching Program to build your version of optimal health through intuitive fitness, eating, and self-trust
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🎥 Check out the $25 Why You Hate Fitness Workshop and learn how to make movement work for your body and brain
Your body. Your rules. Your health.
Let’s build something beautiful.
