I’ve gotten a version of this question quite a few times lately:

“Have you lost weight?”

And I’ve gone back and forth on whether to address it.

I don’t love talking about my weight. It’s not why I do what I do, and I never want the size of my body to become the measure of my health or something you feel like you need to compare your body to.

But I also really value being honest with you.

Especially because I recently wrote about this new era we’re in where someone loses weight and we immediately wonder…

Is she on a GLP-1? What is she doing? Should I be doing that too?

I know seeing someone else’s body change can bring up all kinds of feelings. Maybe you feel inspired. Maybe you get curious. Maybe you couldn’t care less. Maybe it concerns or irritates you. Or maybe it makes you wonder if you should be changing, too.

So I want to answer the question simply and transparently:

Yes, I have lost some weight over the past year. I’ve lost some body fat and gained muscle. And no, I’m not using a GLP-1 or any other medication.

I haven’t done anything drastic, I’ve simply been practicing what I preach – and in this season, I’ve had the capacity and desire to be more intentional about it.

The words “in this season” are important..

For the first time in 13 YEARS, I have a little more space to focus on myself.

My oldest can babysit now, which means I can actually leave the house by myself sometimes. WILD. 😂

My kids sleep through the night (and so does the puppy!).

And after years of needing to prioritize healing and recovery due to pregnancies, breastfeeding, adrenal burnout and mold toxicity, I finally feel like my body is saying, Okay, I’m ready to be challenged again.

So I’ve been having fun with that!

I’ve been strength training more intentionally. I’ve been consistent with Pilates. I’ve been walking and moving more.

And I’ve been intentional about making sure the way I’m fueling my body aligns with my goals. 

I haven’t overhauled my entire life or gone on a temporary diet.

I’ve just dialed things in – cooking more at home, fewer margaritas, focusing on my protein intake, building in accountability and focusing on the PFF formula that I teach in the Nourished Reset.

And the changes I’m most proud of have very little to do with the number on the scale.

Feeling energetic enough to push myself again is a win in itself. In addition, my body fat has decreased while my muscle mass has increased. 

I’m fueling my body better, and as a result of adding muscle, my body is burning more calories each day – even at rest. 

My metabolic age has also decreased which is cool to see!

Those are the wins I care about most: a stronger body, a healthier metabolism, and feeling like the way I’m caring for myself is actually supporting my long-term health.

My motivation has been to become as strong and healthy as I can as I head toward perimenopause and menopause.

I’m focusing on building muscle and protecting my bone health. 

I’m thinking about being 60, 70 and 80 and having the strength and energy to live the life I want to live.

And right now, I have more capacity to invest in those things than I have in a very long time.

That hasn’t always been true and I’ve shared that openly with you. 

There were seasons when consistency looked like squeezing in 5 minutes of Pilates while babies napped.

There were seasons when my body needed rest and recovery much more than it needed me to push harder.

There were years of pregnancies, miscarriage, postpartum recovery, sleepless nights, hormone challenges and healing my body after mold illness.

Those weren’t seasons when I was doing wellness “wrong.” I was caring for my body in the way it needed then.

And I’m caring for it in the way it needs now.

I’ve talked about the importance of seasons for years (and wrote about it extensively in Well to the Core).

What “healthy” looks like doesn’t look the same in every season.

Our bodies change, our lives change, our capacity changes, our needs change. 

Taking good care of yourself at 35 will look different from taking good care of yourself at 45 – and neither one is necessarily better than the other.

And it’s important to not compare one season to another – or compare ours to friends, family or people we follow online.

There is always more context to what we see…

For example: outfits, lighting and angles can make a big difference.

I’ve filmed workouts in the SAME day where my body looks different because of the clothing, angle and lighting.

And remember that the videos you see of me in the Lindywell app aren’t chronological.

You might do a workout with me that was filmed over seven years ago (right after I had the twins) on Monday…and then on Tuesday do one that I filmed last month.  

So sometimes what looks like a sudden change, actually took place over months – or even years. 🙂 

All that to say, my body has changed many times in the years I’ve been showing up here, and I know it will continue to change in the years to come.

I’m grateful that you’ve allowed me to do that without feeling like I have to explain every fluctuation along the way. As a fitness professional in the online space bodies can take a lot of scrutiny, I don’t take that for granted.

While I don’t love writing about my weight, this new world we are living in is full of people selling fitness programs who are not disclosing what they are actually doing behind the scene (whether it’s surgery, drastic photo editing, medications, etc.) so it’s important for me to be honest and transparent with you.

If you’re one of the people that noticed a change, what you’re seeing is years of navigating what healthy looks like for me in each season – and in this most recent season, it’s doing exactly what I teach here at Lindywell:

• Building strength with Pilates and weights
• Being more intentional with my food and my workouts
• Focusing on consistency
• Prioritizing rest
• Eating in a way to fuel my goals for metabolic health, muscle and bone

As Matt said when he heard me talking about all of this:

“So basically you’re not only the president of Hair Club for Men…you’re also a client.”  

If you’re old enough to get that reference, we’re officially friends (and old).

But he’s right.

I’m not just the founder of Lindywell. I’m also an active participant.

I’m still learning, still experimenting, still practicing the things I teach and navigating what caring for my body looks like in each new season.

And that’s what I hope for you, too.

The goal will never be about finding our worth in the size and shape of our bodies, but instead, learning how to care for ourselves well at every age and in every season.

**If you resonate with the goal of wanting to enter your next season of life feeling as strong and healthy as possible, focusing on nutrition is essential. I’ll be sharing tips a few helpful tools via email in the coming days and be sure to hop on the waitlist for the Nourished Reset as well.