Podcast Show Notes: Episode 2

How to Create a Self-Care Routine That Actually Works

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Hi!!

Today I want to dive into the nitty-gritty part of changing how you look and feel. I think most of us women hit a point in our lives when we want to change how we look or how we feel. Honestly, I’ve never met a woman who has everything that I’ve ever wanted and doesn’t have to try hard for it.

I’m going to say that another way: I’ve never met a woman who is crushing it in life who doesn’t spend multiple hours per week on herself. Not in a self-obsessed way (although I’ve met plenty of women like this, too) but in a I-value-who-I-am type of way. And this fascinates me.

So today I’m going to teach you how easy it is to start a self-care routine that’s only 30 minutes that you are guaranteed to love. 

Committing to a daily routine is not easy and if you are like me and don’t like being told what to do, you might be thinking this isn’t for you. But hang tight because this is something we ALL can do and it gets to be easy. 

It gets to be easy. It gets to be easy. I’m going to say it again…It gets to be easy!

This is so not complicated and sooooo not difficult. And you know what? If you do a little digging, you’ll find that you can actually love having a daily self-care routine that doesn’t FEEL like a “daily self-care routine”, if you know what I’m saying.

But first, I’m going to take you back to the early 2000’s when the idea of self-care first hit me. And then, I’ll teach you how easy it is to get started with creating a body that you love.

When I was a teenager, I used to spend my summers working in a cafeteria that was at a horse showground in our area. Besides spending hours wiping down countertops and ringing up the cash register, I used to also spend hours studying all of the beautiful women competitors. So these women came from all over the world and I was beyond fascinated by them. I couldn’t believe how composed and how confident and put-together and athletic they were. I remember thinking like oh my gosh, I HAVE to find a way to be like them when I’m an adult. 

At the time, I was probably wearing baggy jean shorts with stained New Balance sneakers, like a messy ponytail, and I definitely had a handful of zits on my forehead. As you can imagine, I had no freaking idea how to become a smooth-talking, perfectly made-up woman like they were. 

So, because this was the early 2000’s, the best place for me to learn about this was by reading magazines. My sister and I would buy loads and loads of magazines like Cosmo Girl (of course), Teen Vogue, Seventeen, and GL (aka Girls Life). And we would spend hours…oh my gosh hours and hours just studying these magazines. 

They were so damn inspiring and I remember even thinking at one point how fun it would be when I was older and I had to keep track of what I ate and how much I worked out.

Now that I’m in my 30’s and I’ve had 3 kids…let me tell you, it is so NOT fun to keep track of what I eat and how I work out.

I’ve been working with women in my chiropractic practice for almost a decade and I can say with complete confidence that the majority of women do NOT want to spend their precious free time doing this either.

So what do we do? How do we love how our bodies look and feel without obsessing over it every day and night?

In my experience, the solution looks different for each of us! And that’s okay.

It’s okay that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.

Looking back and thinking about those women I used to idolize, I think most of them probably had very Type-A personalities. How else could they manage being a high-level athlete that travels all over the world to compete? 

They probably thrived because they LOVED being on the go and the excitement of competition. They LOVED being active and moving their bodies 8 hours per day. So quite honestly, they most likely LOVED keeping a food journal so they could make sure they were eating the most nutritious food for energy to keep up with their busy lifestyle. They most likely LOVED having an athletic trainer that pushed them hard each week, helping them maintain the body they wanted. 

And what’s the common denominator here? They LOVED what they were doing and how they were managing how their bodies looked and felt. 

So it’s no wonder 15-year-old Kelly wanted to be like them. But am I a competitive horseback rider? Hell no! Do I love to be pushed by an athletic trainer? Hell no! And I DEFINITELY don’t love to keep track of calories. 

So after years of working with women who are all trying to change their bodies in some way, and after learning about different diets and the newest workout programs and eating organic versus non-organic foods and whether Peloton is better than CrossFit or if Yoga is better than Pilates…

Here’s what I’ve decided.

The ONLY way to create a body that you love is by figuring out what YOU love to do and to do that every single day. 

That’s why everyone creates their own weight-loss program or writes a book about how gluten-free changed their life…it’s because they assume, “well it worked for me, so it’s gotta work for everyone else, too!”

I’m a great example of this. I’ve tried it all: vegan diets, low-fat, grain-free, 100% pizza and beer in college... I’ve tried HIIT workouts, Hot Yoga, exercises on the Pilates reformer, running in half-marathons, waking up at 5am for Beach Body workouts…yada yada yada.

I figured, “Well this trainer or author or scientist or doctor said that they’ve sold a million copies of their book or have 50 thousand followers online so they MUST know what they’re talking about.”

And you know what? No matter what it was, I always ended up defaulting to what I wanted to do. I might’ve “tried on” their system for a few weeks or months and maybe even liked how it changed my body but did I stick with it? Heck no. I didn’t stick with it because I didn’t LOVE it.

For me, during this chapter of life, I feel good about committing to 30 minutes per day working on my body and mind. I find it so freaking revitalizing and energizing. I move however I want for about 25 minutes and then do about 5 minutes of some type of stress relief.

Usually this looks like…I just finished getting my kindergartener on the bus and cleaning up the kitchen from our morning madness and my twin 2-year-olds are in pretty good moods because their stomachs are full and they haven’t played yet that day. So I set them up with a basket of toys next to me and do whatever I want for my me-time. Usually I do a workout video like from Denise Austin or Yoga with Adrienne. Or sometimes I set the girls up in our double stroller and I take them for a walk during that time. And then my five minutes of stress-relief usually involves jotting down some affirmations in a notebook or making a few lists of things I’m thankful for or things that I’m looking forward to or something like that. 

So here’s the million dollar question: if you were to commit to my 30-minute per day idea, how would YOU spend that time? 

Take out a piece of paper right now and really think about this. How could YOU apply this to your life? What makes you happy? What type of movement feels best for you and is most energizing and makes you feel strong or makes you stand up straighter for the day? 

If you’re like the women I idolized as a teenager, you might freaking LOVE 5am CrossFit workouts every weekday. You might buy a cute journal calendar, plan out the month ahead, and give yourself a check mark each day that you meet your goals. That might feel SO good to you. You might find it empowering to be that in-control of your life. That way, you have no doubt in your mind that your body will look and feel different by the end of the month. 

OR, if you’re like me, you might find yourself needing something a little different each day and freaking LOVE listening to your intuition to determine how you want to move your body that day. I already have multiple calendars to maintain between running a household and helping run our chiropractic office. Let me tell you, I do NOT want another one. Those check marks I talked about before would not energize me. They’d feel like just another thing I had to get done.

Instead, I reframed it. In my mind, I GET TO spend 30 minutes working on my body and mind each day. I’m so lucky to be able to do something that will make me feel good about myself. I can’t wait to start because I know it’s going to make me feel better and set me up for a good day. So whatever those 30 minutes entail, I LOVE them. And this is why I’m able to commit to doing it every weekday. And this is also why I love how my body looks and feels…even after having three kids and surviving a horrible car accident and spending 8 years sitting in hard desks in college and grad school and all the other things I’ve done in my life that contribute to creating chronic back and neck pain for people. 

Okay. I hope you took a moment to do the action step in today’s episode. If you haven’t done it yet, do it baby do it! I really think that taking a second to reflect on what makes YOU and only YOU feel your best is life-changing. Ignore all the other things out there. 

Just move how you love to move and do it every day. I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll change how you look and feel because it’s basic science: whatever we do every day creates who and what we are. 

If you’re having a hard time with this and you’re interested in learning more about how to connect to your intuition and use your gut feelings to make these decisions, I promise I’ll teach you in future episodes.

For now, just remember: however you love to move is one of the most important parts of who you are. Figure out what that is and do it every day. I guarantee it’ll help make you look as beautiful and confident as those women I used to idolize in the early 2000’s. Because you know what? YOU are worth it.