What is Freedom in Wellness? (Hint: It’s Not What You Think)

When I was in the thick of it, struggling with depression, battling my weight, feeling sluggish, tired, and foggy, and at the end of it all — utterly hopeless, I often wondered how to start being healthy and fit. I went to several doctors.

The first one told me my lab work was borderline, so I must be fine.
The second one told me that short of “getting rid of two children,” they were unable to help me.
The third one told me the only way I could be helped was to cut several things from my diet, none of which I was willing to try.

Finally, I got so fed up feeling miserable that I thought, “What do I have to lose?” This is how I started my own healthy and fit journey over seven years ago. It wasn’t because I wanted to make wellness a priority. I just couldn’t stand the way I felt any longer. Not only that, but I hated the way I felt when I looked in the mirror (which I often avoided). The idea of feeling comfortable in my clothes was unfathomable because, to be honest, I never really had and I found myself perpetually looking through old photos filled with regret and shame as I watched my size grow larger and my body become more unhealthy as the years progressed. It was time for me to start being healthy and fit.

The Struggle is Real – How I Started Being Healthy and Fit

These emotions were my companions for as long as I could remember. Having family members who often commented on my weight as a child, I was constantly told I was “built different” than my sisters and compared to them. At a young age, I often told myself I was fat or chubby, which quickly spiraled into thoughts of unworthiness and rejection.

When I started my health journey, I was at my lowest. The last seven years of fighting for wellness have been HARD. At times, it’s been isolating. I’ve gone to social functions with nothing I could eat. I’ve felt pressure from family and friends to give in because they didn’t understand how certain foods made me feel completely unhinged for days afterward. Not only physically, but mentally.

Before I started fighting for it, I was in deep bondage to my health—or lack thereof—and I didn’t even know it.

True Freedom in Wellness

Over time, with each step I’ve taken towards true wellness, I’ve realized something pivotal. What I was fighting for wasn’t just to start being healthy and fit. What I was really fighting for was simple: I was fighting for FREEDOM.

In our culture, we often look at freedom one way and one way only. To us, freedom is being able to do whatever we want, without restriction. This mentality is why we find it so hard to give up things we’ve become extremely comfortable with. Restrictions feel too confining. We look at our friends and family and wonder why they can eat certain foods while those same foods are putting us in an early grave. It doesn’t feel fair, so we resist those changes.

A while back, I listened to a really powerful talk by Timothy Keller where he said, “Because a fish absorbs oxygen from water, not air, it’s free only if it’s restricted to water. If a fish is ‘freed’ from the river and put out on the grass to explore, its freedom to move and soon live is destroyed. Real freedom isn’t restrictionless; it’s finding the right ones.” This idea completely reframed my perspective on wellness.

Questions to Help You Reflect

Let me propose some questions I often ask myself and my health coaching clients:

• What does freedom in your body and mind feel like to you?
• Are the choices you’re making today leading you closer to or further from the life and longevity you desire?
• What would it look like to move through your day without physical or emotional limitations?
• How do your current habits align with the version of yourself you hope to become?
• Are the things you’re holding onto giving you comfort, or are they holding you back?
• What would it mean to prioritize your well-being without guilt or shame?
• How might getting curious and redefining “restriction” as “protection” change your perspective on wellness?
• What small step could you take today to feel more free in your health and life?
• How do you envision wellness bringing more joy or peace into your life?
• Are you making choices for short-term comfort or long-term freedom?

Finding Freedom In Your Journey To Being Healthy And Fit

Anxiety in health and wellness is heavy, but let me share something powerful: YOU are the key to your freedom. It’s not about having every option available to you. More than that, it’s about understanding that not every option will serve you. True freedom is found in not being bound by anything that doesn’t serve your body’s well-being.

For me, it wasn’t serving my body to be bound by the comfort food offered me. It doesn’t serve me to sit around and be sedentary. It doesn’t serve my emotional well-being to let anxious thoughts control me.

So, what is freedom in wellness? It’s not about doing everything you want or having no boundaries. It’s about choosing the things that truly serve you and stepping into alignment with how your body, mind, and soul were designed to thrive.

True freedom isn’t about avoiding restrictions; it’s about embracing the ones that protect and empower you. True freedom lies in recognizing that the habits and choices you make are not limitations—they’re acts of love.

You don’t need perfection. You need progress, and most of all, PEACE, to take one step at a time toward the life you want to live. So, ask yourself: What’s one thing you can do today to start stepping into true freedom?

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Are you wondering how to start being healthy and fit? I’m here to help you live and move well! Book a call with me, and let’s chat about how I can help you find peace in your health.