My Gilmore Girls health epiphany 😂
I was doing my annual fall rewatch of Gilmore Girls the other day — because apparently Stars Hollow is officially part of my seasonal routine now 😂 — when something made me laugh.
I realized that one of the things I’ve spent years learning through nervous system work could basically be summed up as: maybe I needed to live a little more like a Gilmore Girl.
And no, I’m NOT recommending the Gilmore diet of way too much takeout, movie theater candy and zero exercise. Please don’t do that. 🤭
What I mean is the lightness of it. They eat the burger. They order the pizza. They laugh, do silly things, and move on with their day without the guilt. They’re not constantly wondering if every little choice is the healthiest possible one.
And that part really hit me.
Because taking care of our health absolutely matters. I believe in eating good, nourishing foods. I believe we need to exercise, build strength and take care of our bodies as we get older.
But I also know what it feels like when taking care of yourself turns into being hyper-focused on yourself all day long.
I was like that even before I got sick. I worried about food, calories, exercise and doing everything “right.” Then when my health started falling apart, I doubled down.
I researched EVERYTHING to death. I tried supplement after supplement. I practically had a supplement graveyard in my house. There was always another doctor, another blood test, another diet change, another theory and one more thing I thought I needed to fix.
At some point, I started to realize that maybe one of the things I was missing wasn’t another health strategy.
Maybe I was missing more life.
More laughter. More fun. More time with people I love. More dinners I enjoyed without analyzing them. More moments when I wasn’t thinking about my health at all.
And I also had to face something else: maybe getting back to my “old self” wasn’t actually the goal. Maybe some of my old ways — the pushing, controlling, monitoring and constantly trying to do everything perfectly — were part of what needed to change.
That has completely changed the way I look at exercise too.
If every workout feels like another duty, another thing to push through, another test of whether you’re disciplined enough, then exercise can start to feel like one more stressor in a life that already has plenty of them.
I don’t want that anymore.
I want movement to leave me feeling stronger, more capable and more at home in my body. Sometimes that means strength training. Sometimes it means a fun walking workout, a gentler session, or five minutes of stretching.
I’m still exercising. I’m still taking care of myself.
I’m just not trying to win an award for it anymore. 😂
And that was my little Gilmore Girls realization.
💛 This Week’s Tip:
Take care of yourself.
But also laugh, have fun, eat the pizza sometimes and actually enjoy the life you’re working so hard to feel better for.
Your Next Step:
The next time you open CLF TV, instead of immediately asking, “What workout should I do?” try asking:
“What kind of movement would actually feel good to me today? What sounds like the most fun?”
Maybe you want something to build some strength. Maybe you want something more upbeat. Maybe you need slower movement or a short stretch.
I know I sound like a broken record on this but: Choose what meets you where you are today.
And here’s the hopeful part: our brains learn from repetition. When exercise keeps feeling exhausting, punishing or another thing to stress about in our lives, it’s easy for our bodies to start bracing for it before we even begin. But when we repeatedly choose movement that feels manageable, enjoyable and safe, we start giving our brain a new experience of exercise.
Over time, that can help movement feel less like something your body has to survive and more like something that actually feels good to do.
And because you enjoy it, you’re much more likely to keep coming back to it. That consistency is where so much of the good stuff happens — you gradually build more strength, mobility and stamina while teaching your body that movement doesn’t always have to mean stress.
Sometimes letting go a little is exactly what helps us move forward.
Maybe we all need just a little more Gilmore Girls energy. 😉
Until next Sunday,
xo