🪞 Why You Can Still Have Aesthetic Goals

🎉 Happy Friday, Friends!

Let’s all acknowledge something together. I’m going to hold your hand while we do this.

When you release diet culture, you do not have to let go of wanting to look good, whatever that means to you.

Yes, separating that idea of “good” from “thin” is important.

But how does this actually work when you’re training for something greater than your looks?

Your priorities shift.

And I mean priorities – plural.

The best way to explain this is through a before and after. The most important one you're ever going to see.

Before strength training and intuitive movement, your priorities when you think about exercise might be like this:

1.     Lose weight

2.     Be “toned” (more on this later)

3.     Get an endorphin boost

4.     Reduce risk of chronic illness

5.     Get mental clarity and support my mental health

6.     Participate in social movement activities

After making the change of listening to your body and focusing on functionality, your priorities might look like this instead:

1.     Get mental clarity and support my mental health

2.     Learn how to do a compound lift, like a dead lift

3.     Get some “me” time when I’m at the gym

4.     Go for more walks with my friends

5.     Carry that damn cat litter up the stairs (I’m always talking about this)

6.     Have some visible musculature – AESTHETIC GOAL COMING IN AT #6!

(This is what people mean when they say "toned," btw. "Toned" is not a thing. Revealing muscle still involves fat loss, so "toned" = lose weight.)

After a while, those aesthetic goals just sit further down on the list. Not just because they take a long time to achieve, but because they simply aren’t that important. Maybe aesthetic goals have no room on your list – and that’s fine! But they’re not in your top 5, and they become a “nice-to-have.”

This isn’t something that happens on its own. We don’t wake up one day and decide not to care. But these other things, like getting a mental health boost or social plans that involve movement, are just way more fun. They’re way more interesting, and they reward you faster.

The first time you walk away from a movement experience feeling better and not worse, your life will be changed. I promise.

You'll have more energy, not less.

You'll have more confidence, not less.

You'll have more strength, not less.

So take some time today to think about the last time movement felt good, and carve out some time to recreate that. Whether it was a walk to the deli, a dip in Lake Michigan, a stretch between meetings, or a ride on the Lakefront Trail – give yourself permission to prioritize what feels good.

With you in caring about what matters,
Dana