Last spring, while at a Health Coach conference in Miami, I stopped in a juice bar. Fresh juice is always a good idea, right? At least that’s what so many of the health and wellness experts are saying these days. Juice is loaded with nutrients, easy to digest – all good things.
And yes, I am definitely a fan of fresh juice!
So I asked the juice barista (is that a thing?) what her favorite juice was and I just ordered that. Since I have no allergies and I like most things – I had no concerns.
How could I go wrong? It’s a juice bar. Everyone swears juice is the thing to drink to load your body up with nutrients. It’s all fruit and veggies – everything in there’s healthy. Which means everything in there’s good for me, right?
Um, no. That’s actually not right – and I know this! But I was so distracted by, and excited about, all the fresh fruits and veggies everywhere that I forgot one of my fundamental rules – just because someone says it’s healthy, doesn’t mean it’s good for me.
The thing I didn’t think about when ordering my juice was that everything in there is in a really concentrated form (kind of like with essential oils) which meant the red pepper that was in there would be highly concentrated. Red pepper that’s cooked, or in small doses works okay for me, but having it in a juice actually didn’t work for me at all!
We are not all the same and even the healthiest of foods aren’t right for everyone. This principle applies to all things. Just because someone swears that x, y and z is the absolute best thing ever and created the most spectacular change you can possibly imagine – doesn’t mean it will for you.
There are a lot of experts saying a lot of things these days and it can feel confusing trying to figure out who to listen to. I share my juicing experience because I made the mistake that so many of us make – I deferred to the “expert” in the room – forgetting to pay attention to what works best for me.
Have you ever walked into somewhere – a health food store, a juice bar, a healthy restaurant, the gym, a yoga class, an acupuncturists office, the DOCTOR’S office, the chiropractor, or a health 101 class – and stopped paying attention to and trusting in yourself?
It’s happened to me in every single one of those places. Your blinders instantly pop on, and your primary thought is – “this person is the expert, they know best, I’ll just do the things they tell me to do.”
Here’s why that doesn’t work. Because every single expert is an expert in one specific area. And even when they are the absolute best in that area, that doesn’t mean they know what’s best for you. No expert is ever the expert on you.
You are your own best expert – always.
One of my biggest lessons on my 7 year journey with unexplained infertility was learning, and TRUSTING, that I actually know me best. But I did have to declutter all the stuff blocking me from being able to tune in and really listen so that I was able to understand what my body was telling me.
Now this doesn’t mean you just go completely rogue and do your own thing. BUT what it does mean is that you ask questions. You bring your own research and information to the table. And you don’t just automatically turn off your own inner knowing.
Here are some examples of this in practice:
In a workout class – know and do your own modifications. If something doesn’t feel good, stop. Get to know your body and what feels right. Learn to listen, trust in and respond to your body. Stop worrying and caring about what everyone else does – do you!
Health food store – know that just because it’s in the store, doesn’t mean it’s good for you. Invest the time in learning what’s healthy for your body. It took me years of trial and error. I tried different foods and diets. Now I have a pretty solid framework of what works. For example, I know red peppers are okay cooked, and if raw only in small doses, but I generally say no thank you. My slip up at the juice bar was flipping off my own internal guidance system.
The doctor’s office – odds are, your doc is super smart and amazing at what he/she does. That’s important and is the foundation for the trust you have in them. But their training and knowledge is limited, if for no other reason than they don’t live in your body. This means they count on you to bring things to the table and to engage in thoughtful conversation so that you understand what you’re doing and why. It’s also an opportunity for you to check in to make sure it’s safe to try something new and different.
Experts are there to consult and teach. They’re there to help you. We’ve just become accustomed to blindly trusting. And when we do this, we can feel like a ping pong ball since so often our experts come from different theoretical backgrounds. There’s not always a right or wrong, and there’s no clear consensus on health and wellness, so you’ve got to be informed and get engaged in your own, unique health journey!
There’s a lot of information out there that’s easily accessible. It’s up to you to learn to sift through it and uncover what’s best for you. And when you do pull the elements together that work for you – you heal, you find peace and you genuinely feel good! When you feel good, it’s so much easier to enjoy your life, to achieve your goals and to truly be happy!
If you need help sifting through the information so you can finally figure out what’s best for you, schedule a strategy session. I just opened up 3 private coaching spots, and I’d love to see how I can help you on your journey to truly feeling good and being happy! Click here to schedule a 20 minute strategy session & see if coaching is right for you!
– Emily