Note To Self – Being Happy is Being Healthy.

Words by Ella Harkness (she/her) and Sofia Barriga (she/her)

​​Note To Self is a podcast that tackles heavy topics in a way that is fun and entertaining yet meaningful and digestible. We started the podcast because we wanted to discuss ideas about health and wellbeing, including topics such as mental health, sexual health, food, exercise, and relationships. Our key takeaway from this journey so far is that being happy is being healthy. 

The age of social media has transformed ‘health’ into a buzzword. The epitome of health is shaped by aesthetically pleasing, glamorised online content. This avalanche of information  and often misinformation) leads us to believe that to be ‘healthy’ we must follow the latest fad diets and fitness trends. We see photoshopped images of people with ‘perfect’ bodies waking up at 5am; each of them promoting a formula to achieve their level of ‘health’.

Our brains become wired to believe that health is about what you see, not about how you feel.

We have both participated in some of these fad diet and fitness trends. And we’ve learnt that health is nothing like what you see on social media. Health isn’t participating in hustle culture and forcing yourself to go to the gym when you feel tired or run-down. Health is not avoiding a sweet treat, being hungry all the time, or stressing about having a few drinks with mates. Your ‘health’ is not quantified by how far you run, how heavy you lift, or how early you wake up.

Being healthy is about how you feel. Health is listening to your body and understanding when it is time to slow down or rest. Health is about moving your body, not because of how you want to look, but because it is fun and it feels good. Heath is having food freedom and appreciating your body for everything it allows you to do. Being healthy is about moving at your own pace and finding your balance in life.  

For us, being healthy can be going out on a Saturday night and having a few too many cocktails without feeling guilty. It could also be doing a big run and going out for brunch. It could be eating a salad for dinner and a whole block of chocolate for dessert. We see exercise being about celebrating what our bodies are capable of. Health is no longer about what we see or do, but about how we feel.