Instagram: @nutritionbymiki

As a dietitian for nearly 20 years and an avid group fitness participant for even longer, I have always loved the way that consistently nourishing and moving my body makes me feel. Earlier in my career, I was also a personal trainer, so my employment circles have often taken me inside various high-end gyms and health clubs over the years. I have participated in and been privy to countless conversations with fellow gym-goers, group fitness participants, as well as my own clients. I have done nutrition coaching with men, women, and teens and have counseled those with chronic diseases as well as the super fit, which would include athletes, dancers, weekend warriors, ironman triathletes, bodybuilders, and fitness instructors. And often, for many of those very active, fit clients, my work revolves around helping them take a step back from disordered eating and make peace with food.

I am a firm believer in being a good steward and caretaker of our bodies. We only get one body, and I don’t know about you, but I sure am hoping for a long life. In order for that to happen, I want to keep my body as healthy, active, and strong as possible to live life to the fullest. Being a good steward to me means I have to really tune in and listen to what my body is telling me, I have to have the courage to act and make changes when I get feedback, I have to provide consistent nourishment by eating frequently throughout the day, I need to prioritize good sleep and hydration, and I strive to make movement a regular part of my life. I have the confidence and skillset to do this. But what if I didn’t? Who would I listen to?

Often the first person we might listen to is the person who has a body like the one we desire. “Tell me what you’re doing. What do you eat? What supplements do you take? How often do you work out? What do you do?” And then one might follow along, buy a supplement, sign up for a plan, and do exactly what the “fit body” mentor tells us to do. Except there’s one big problem: bodies don’t work like this. We can all do the exact same workouts and eat exactly the same foods, and yet, we still won’t look like each other. And what if that advice is wrong, damaging, or disordered? What if the person offering that advice has no formal scientific education in how the body works, how biochemistry works, how to interpret studies, how various chronic diseases are treated, and how supplements are entirely unregulated? What often happens in fitness circles is the same information just keeps getting passed around and accepted as normal, when it actually is not.

Through my experience, I have found that many habits that might be considered “normal” in the fitness world can actually be quite harmful. I have been a participant in classes where the instructors with a microphone have given out not just wrong, but even harmful and dangerous advice, to an entire group of people because it was something that worked well for her. I have worked with clients whose disordered eating and habits all started from their interactions with fitness instructors. You might be surprised how many fitness instructors I have worked with that are battling disordered eating every day.

So today, I am offering 3 ways you can be an influence for the good stewardship of all bodies whether you are an instructor or a participant:

1. Recognize your platform. 

If you are an instructor, if you have a social media following, if you are the one that is always sharing your favorite things with your friends, please recognize what works well for you or what has been recommended for you may not be helpful for an entire class or following. Check your own relationship with food before using your platform to share. Sharing disordered habits or behaviors isn’t helpful and in fact, can be just the trigger for someone listening to start their own disordered relationship with food.

2. Remember that health doesn’t have a “look.” 

When I was in college, I volunteered at an Ironman event. I was stationed in the tent where women would go to change from their biking shoes to their running shoes. They had already completed swimming over 2 miles, biking 112 miles, and were preparing to run a marathon. You would think someone who had completed that amount of training and was competing in such an event would “look” a certain way. But let me tell you about the kinds of bodies that I saw that day: I saw every shape and size of all ages. That stuck with me over these past two decades of my career. It’s important to remember that not everyone comes to a fitness class to achieve a “look.” Some simply come to move their bodies, to meet up with friends, to relieve stress, to keep their hearts healthy, and to have fun. I have screened thousands of clients over my career in corporate wellness and can confidently make this statement. I have seen very thin people who have cholesterol and blood pressure off the charts. I have seen people in bigger bodies without a single health risk factor. I have seen muscular bodies who have an eating disorder. I have seen people celebrate someone’s weight loss who was actually going through grief and depression. The old adage “you can’t judge a book by its cover” rings true for bodies as well. Don’t assume one’s health by how a body presents. There is so much more to one’s health than just the size of his or her body. Instead…

3. Be a cheerleader for consistent health habits, not controlled behaviors. 

The best instructors use their microphone and their platform to do just this. They don’t discuss data, numbers, grams, macros, or tracking of any kind. No talk of swimsuit goals, no talk of supplements, no penance for food eaten. Instead talk about why lifting weights is important and how fitness becomes functional. Talk about the importance of sleep, stress, flexibility, and balance. Talk about how we need connection with nature, with family, and neighbors & friends. Be uplifting, positive, encouraging. Make sure no one leaves a class feeling like they need to prioritize habits that allow someone to shrink, starve, or punish her body. Your influence on a class can be the reason someone comes more consistently, someone starts roasting more vegetables, someone starts drinking more water, someone finds a friend, someone starts to be their authentic self and become the best steward of the amazing body they have been given.

Speaking of roasting vegetables, here are my two favorite ways to do that:

DELICIOUS ROASTED VEGETABLES RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Combine all the prepped veggies in a large bowl. Drizzle in the olive oil, then season with salt, pepper, and other seasonings of your choice. Toss to coat.

Arrange on one or two baking sheets, spreading the veggies out to give them room. 
Roast for 20 minutes, shaking the pans at least twice during that time. If needed, roast for an additional 5-10 minutes, until veggies are nicely roasted.

Serve immediately or keep in the fridge for when you need them!

SHEET PAN VEGETABLES - COSTCO
If you don’t have time for all that and just want something fast and easy that tastes delicious, buy this frozen bag of roasted veggies from Costco and put them in the air fryer for 14 minutes, shaking halfway through. (pic below)