I could have talked with Heather for HOURS! Listen in as we chat about how people can get started on their personal wellness and nutrition journeys, the importance of mindset to health, Heather's approach to feeding littles, finding balance in your life and in your eating, following your heart, and soooo much more!
Heather (@healthywithhap) is a personal trainer & nutrition coach who works with women of all ages who tend to be busy with all aspects of life, and want to find ways to make health & nutrition more accessible to them (sound familiar?!)
Let's talk PROACTIVE Health & Wellness!
Steph: Can you introduce yourself and tell us what you do/what your life is like?
Heather: I work with clients, mostly women, and I'm a twin mom & I definitely have my hands full with that so I tend to resonate more with people that live very busy lifestyles. I just like to help them find ways to meet their health goals, but also live their lives.
You can eat the pizza, you can have the drink, and still be healthy and hit the goals that you want to hit. I also think it's so important to me, when I had my kids, to teach them & show them that they can be healthy & how to live healthy. My twins are two years old, but they learn so much at that age & I practice healthy habits with them now.
I did baby-led weaning. Instead of doing baby-food, you start with real, whole foods that are soft like avocados, bananas, sweet potatoes, because it's just the healthier way to eat it.
Also, I will consistently give them things. So, if they don't like something, I just give it to them over & over again & I don't force anything. If they don't want it, then I'll just eat it, and I notice sometimes too that they just like to eat things off my plate so it works out.
"What's really important to me is: how can you reach your health goals, live healthy but also live your life?"
Steph: Can you share with us some of your own wellness journey - what is it that led you to do what you do?
Heather: I grew up playing 3 sports, I could eat literally eat anything that I wanted. Then I graduated and went to college & started eating & drinking a lot, and I wasn't playing sports so I started to gain weight. I also was having other issues like acid reflux and I just wasn't comfortable.
So, I started to make a switch. I started researching on my own & losing over 20 lbs over two years, just from being consistent & having the mindset that I was going to work out, but I was in college so I still went to the parties & all that.
I remember I hit this point where I felt so good & I felt like I looked good, and it slowly started to fall off. I wasn't working out as much & started gaining weight again and wasn't comfortable in my skin. Then, my mindset was not in a good place because it was very focused on what I looked like. So I would lose weight, then gain it again, and I was trying all the extreme diets... And, it was just never healthy.
My degree is in pharmaceutical research & I have a minor in nutrition. So I learned a lot doing that, too.
Even until a couple years ago, I notice when my life would change... It's not like I would notice like "Hey, my life is changing right now!" but that's when my habits would really start to fall off. And once I got a hold on that, I realized that it's okay for my habits to change when my life was changing. It doesn't mean I have to give up on my health & wellness completely it just is going to look a little bit different.
Steph: Are there personal wellness routines and practices that are important to your lifestyle?
Heather: I feel like I've been really focusing on my mental health a lot lately and I've been seeing how important that is for me. If you are not in a good mindset, it's really hard to hit whatever health goal you're working on. So, I go to therapy regularly. It's a place for me to have an outlet - to talk about good and bad things. I meditate a lot now. Not everyday, but definitely 4-5 times a week.
Also, journaling. I'm almost done with the journal I bought a few months ago and I'm amazed at some of the things I've learned that I feel like I never would have understood if I wasn't journaling and tracking things down.
"When I think of being healthy in general, it's EVERYTHING."
Steph: We’ve chatted together about the importance of proactive instead of reactive healthcare. What kinds of things are proactive to our health?
Heather: I always ask when I start working with people: "Why do you want to start & where do you see yourself in a year, two years, five years?" Really thinking about how you want to be living your life in the next couple of years. Once you can truly envision that, then you can think about how you want to get there. It's about having that clear goal in mind and I always tell people, handwrite it down.
Think about: what do your morning routines look like, where do you want to be eating out, who do you want around you?
Then, you can start showing up as that person in small steps.
I do have people track in the beginning - I'm not crazy about tracking, but sometimes they are amazed at what they see after just a week or two.
Steph: Is there anything else you want to share?
Heather: If you're listening to this, you're here for a reason... Just remember: It's life. Take it as it is, do not beat yourself up. Like, if you start off strong and then fall off the bandwagon, it's fine. Tomorrow is a new day, just start over. I've been there multiple times. Keep going forward, take baby steps.
Heather & I go into a lot more detail in the recording of the podcast, so make sure you head over to Be Well With Steph, The Podcast & save that to listen on your evening walk later!
What did you think about Heather's health journey? Did you resonate with her experience and her struggles? Is there anything more you want to know?
Reach out to Heather on Instagram!: @healthywithhap
Looking for a community to support you, share questions & ideas about your health & wellness journey? Join my Facebook Group!
Looking for more of a 1:1 support or guide?
Visit bewellwithsteph.com/workwithme for more about coaching opportunities.
Discovery calls are completely free, book one now!
email: steph@bewellwithsteph.com
website: www.bewellwithsteph.com
instagram: @bewellwithsteph_
Prefer to listen to this topic? You can, here!
(I elaborate a lot more on some of these important, ideas, too.)
I would really love to know what you thought about this episode.. What did you learn that surprised you, or what resonated with you the most? Are you looking forward to the next one? Let me know in the comments! ♡
You are worthy of living and capable of creating a healthy lifestyle you love. 🤍