What Does Being Healthy Actually Mean?
Why your body isn’t the problem and how to start listening to it.
Watch On YouTube
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Watch On YouTube 〰️
TLDR
This episode with Erica Ballard explores why so many people feel like they’re doing everything “right” with health, yet still feel tired, stuck, or frustrated.
Erica argues that health is not just about calories, workouts, or willpower. It is also about stress, nervous system patterns, self-talk, and what your body is trying to communicate.
One of the biggest shifts in the episode is this: no one wants to lose weight just to lose weight. People want to feel good, have energy, and live well.
The conversation offers practical ideas for building healthier habits without going all in, burning out, or making health feel harder than it needs to be.
It also opens up a deeper conversation about intuition, joy, and why health should create more freedom in your life, not more obsession.
🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Introduction
Have you ever felt like you were doing everything right with your health, but still not feeling the way you thought you should?
That is what made this conversation with Erica Ballard so compelling. Erica has a background in public health and studied at Tufts University School of Medicine, but her real turning point came when conventional advice stopped making sense in her own life. She was disciplined, worked hard, cut calories, pushed through, and still felt stuck. In her words, she was “starving myself and calling it healthy.”
In this episode, I sat down with Erica to unpack a question that sounds simple but changes everything once you really sit with it: what does being healthy actually mean? We talked about why so many people chase weight loss without understanding what they truly want, why going all in often backfires, how the nervous system shapes behaviour change, and why your body may be giving you useful signals rather than just “problems” to fix.
What I liked most about this conversation is that it moves from surface-level health advice into something deeper and more practical. It is not just about food and training. It is about freedom, awareness, consistency, and learning how to work with your body instead of fighting it.
Apple Podcast
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Apple Podcast 〰️
Spotify
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Spotify 〰️
Lesson 1: Define What Health Means to You Before You Chase Results
What It Is:
Erica’s point is simple: many people have never stopped to decide what health actually means in their own life. Instead, they inherit a version of health from diet culture, social pressure, or the idea that smaller always means healthier.
Why It Matters:
If you do not know what you are really aiming for, you will usually chase the wrong thing. You might say you want to lose weight, but what you really want is more energy, confidence, freedom, longevity, or the ability to be there for your family. When the deeper reason is clear, your habits become more meaningful and easier to stick to.
How To Apply It:
Write down what “being healthy” looks like in your actual life, not in someone else’s body.
Ask yourself what you want health to give you: more energy, less stress, better sleep, more confidence, or more freedom.
Replace vague goals like “get fit” with real-life goals like “play with my kids without feeling wrecked” or “have steady energy through the afternoon”.
Notice any beliefs you have absorbed, such as “small equals healthy” or “health means restriction”.
Build your habits around the life you want to live, not just the number you want to see on a scale.
Pro Tip:
Do not start with “How much weight do I want to lose?” Start with “Why does this matter to me?”
Try This Today:
Finish this sentence: “When I am healthy, my life feels like…”
Lesson 2: Stop Treating Your Body Like a Problem to Fix
What It Is:
A major theme of the episode is that your body is not working against you. Erica describes symptoms as information. A 3pm crash, poor sleep, or constant hunger may not be proof that you are lazy or broken. They may be signs that something is off with fuel, stress, or recovery.
Why It Matters:
When you treat every symptom as a failure, you usually respond with more restriction, more pressure, and more stress. But when you see your body as something communicating with you, you become more curious and less reactive. That leads to better decisions and a more sustainable approach to health.
How To Apply It:
Pick one recurring issue, such as low energy, poor sleep, or afternoon cravings.
Ask what might be contributing to it before trying to “fix” it. Are you under-eating, overtraining, or running on stress?
Track a simple pattern for three days: meals, sleep, movement, stress, and how you feel.
Look for cause-and-effect links instead of judging yourself.
Make one supportive change based on that data, such as adding a proper breakfast, eating more real food, or reducing late-night screen time.
Pro Tip:
Curiosity gets better results than criticism.
Try This Today:
When a symptom shows up, ask: “What could my body be trying to tell me here?”
Lesson 3: Small Changes Beat the ‘Go All In’ Trap
What It Is:
Erica is firm on this point: going all in feels productive, but it often fails. Instead of changing everything at once, she encourages people to start small enough that the change feels doable and safe. She shares an example of a client who made real progress by changing just one thing.
Why It Matters:
Big, dramatic change can trigger more stress, more resistance, and the familiar cycle of starting strong and falling off. Small changes build evidence. They prove that progress is possible without overwhelm. Over time, that builds trust, consistency, and momentum.
How To Apply It:
Choose one habit to work on this week, not five.
Make it specific and measurable, such as “eat a proper breakfast” or “walk for 10 minutes after dinner”.
Keep everything else the same for now.
Track that one habit for seven days.
Only add a second habit once the first starts to feel normal.
Pro Tip:
One solid change you can repeat is more powerful than five changes you abandon.
Try This Today:
Circle one habit that would make the biggest difference if you actually did it consistently.
Lesson 4: Behaviour Change Starts With the Nervous System, Not Just Willpower
What It Is:
One of the strongest ideas in the episode is that health habits often fail because they do not feel safe in the body. Erica explains that if putting yourself first feels unsafe, then healthy behaviours can feel unsafe too. That is why people sabotage routines they say they want.
Why It Matters:
This reframes a lot of frustration. Instead of seeing inconsistency as weakness, you start to understand it as a pattern. If a habit clashes with your internal story or your nervous system’s idea of safety, you will struggle to hold it. Once you understand that, you can stop shaming yourself and start working with the pattern.
How To Apply It:
Notice a health habit you keep resisting.
Ask, “What does this bring up for me?” Examples might be guilt, panic, pressure, or fear of failing.
Name the story under it, such as “If I put myself first, I’m selfish” or “If I don’t do it perfectly, I’ve failed”.
Replace that story with one grounded thought, such as “Taking care of myself helps me show up better”.
Lower the bar so the habit feels safer and easier to repeat.
Pro Tip:
Sometimes the real work is not the habit itself. It is the story attached to the habit.
Try This Today:
Write down one health habit you avoid and finish this sentence: “Part of me resists this because…”
Lesson 5: Health Should Create Freedom, Not More Obsession
What It Is:
Erica says she wants health to become a “non-issue”. That does not mean health is unimportant. It means the goal is not to spend your whole life thinking about food, weight, or your body. The goal is to feel well enough to live fully.
Why It Matters:
A lot of people are technically “trying to be healthy” while using so much mental energy on calories, rules, and body image that they have little space left for joy, purpose, or presence. Real health should support your life, not take it over.
How To Apply It:
Audit how much brain space your health routine is taking up.
Identify one rule that creates more stress than benefit.
Swap rigid tracking for one supportive anchor, like a balanced breakfast or consistent movement.
Use your extra mental space for something that makes you come alive, such as a hobby, a walk outside, or time with people you love.
Keep asking whether your routine is helping you live better or just making you more anxious.
Pro Tip:
Healthy habits should support your life. They should not become your whole identity.
Try This Today:
Drop one unnecessary food rule for the next 24 hours and notice what changes.
Lesson 6: Joy, Intuition, and Contentment Are Part of Health Too
What It Is:
The final part of the episode goes beyond nutrition and exercise into something deeper: what lights you up. Erica talks about joy as a valid pathway to health and describes the need for both practical action and inner awareness, like “two wings of a bird”. She also shares that many people do not know how to sit in contentment because they have been taught to chase achievement instead.
Why It Matters:
Many people know how to push. Fewer know how to listen. If your whole life runs on fear, praise, pressure, or constant striving, it can be hard to know what genuinely feels right. Learning to slow down, notice your thoughts, and pay attention to what gives you energy can help you make better choices in work, health, and life.
How To Apply It:
Set aside two minutes in the morning to sit quietly and notice your thoughts without following them.
When you feel overwhelmed, pause and name what you are feeling in your body.
Ask yourself, “What would feel supportive, steady, or life-giving right now?”
Follow one small cue toward joy, such as getting sunlight, calling a friend, listening to music, or making time for a creative outlet.
Let contentment count as progress, even if it does not look like achievement.
Pro Tip:
Not every next step has to be dramatic. Sometimes the right next step simply feels lighter and more honest.
Try This Today:
Set a timer for two minutes and do nothing except notice your thoughts.
Mini Case/Example
“I was starving myself and calling it healthy.” - Erica Ballard
“No one ever wants to lose 30 pounds just to lose 30 pounds.” - Erica Ballard
“If it worked, you wouldn’t be in front of me right now.” - Erica Ballard
“My favorite pathway to getting healthy is figuring out how to be joyful.” - Erica Ballard
Quick Wins Checklist (Do These Today)
Write your real reason for wanting better health in one sentence.
Add one thing to your routine instead of cutting three things out.
Notice one recurring symptom and treat it like information, not failure.
Replace one harsh thought with a more honest, supportive one.
Spend two minutes sitting quietly and observing your thoughts.
Do one small thing today that gives you energy instead of drains it.
Closing Insight
This conversation with Erica is a strong reminder that health is not just a body project. It is not just about weight, calories, or trying harder. It is about understanding what you actually want, listening to your body’s signals, and building habits that feel supportive enough to last. It is also about recognising that freedom, joy, and contentment are not extras. They are part of the point. The more you stop fighting your body and start paying attention, the more health can become something that helps you live, rather than something you constantly chase.
🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Watch me on YouTube
Listen to the True From Podcast:
Apple Podcast -
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-true-form-podcast/id1593804496
Spotify -
https://open.spotify.com/show/6RVH2O6MbLOCohBKPhXO0L?si=ZI8D3MnhSfSjnohSXYN_MQ
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