Overloaded by Wellness Content? Start Here.
I am very excited to be diving into this topic with you all, because it’s one that gets me very excited (and a tad frustrated if I’m honest, but said frustration drives my pursuit of helping people feel more well). The “wellness” world has become a real Wild Wild West, and as a Nutritionist, my clients, in general, find the plethora of wellness information available to be more confusing and stress-inducing than helpful and supportive.

I think that it’s important we make information around feeling well and taking care of our health easily accessible, and resources like Instagram and TikTok have certainly done that. But we also live in a capitalist society, and sadly, so much of the useful, supportive information is un-glossy and not very Instagrammable, so it gets tucked away in the corners of the internet. It’s also more tedious and takes discipline and goes against the “quick fix” marketing that gives us pings of hope and dopamine. These days, wellness products, or influencers paid to use/promote them, get fed to us as these glossy solutions that will solve all our problems. The fact is – some of these products may move the needle a touch on how you feel – but if you don’t have the foundations (which I’ll get into below) – these beautifully packaged capsules, powders, products, programs, etc. won’t do a whole lot for you other than drain your bank account. The same is true for any kind of extreme, headline-grabbing wellness or diet strategy – eating only meat might work for a very select few, but it’s definitely not going to work for most of us. Fasting can be supportive for some individuals, but for many of us, is not an ideal eating strategy. Cold plunging can be an amazing tool for some, and a dysregulating one for others. So what I share below is applicable to all, simple, and tried and true when it comes to supporting your health. It’s not going to give you the ping of dopamine that a 4-week-program-to-change-your-life download will, and quite honestly, that’s a good thing.
Before we dive in – I want to emphasize that the outcome of the below strategies is about feeling well, which more often than not translates to looking well. This can’t be said for a lot of tools out there designed to look our best. I share this as a reminder to us all that even if someone has a “fit body”, “great skin” or “nice hair”, it’s not necessarily indicative of how they feel and the state of their overall health. You can have plump skin because of fillers, shiny hair because of topical treatments, and abs with an abundance of cortisol raging through your system. Here, we’re prioritizing FEELING well.. My priority is to help people feel well while achieving optimal health from the inside out.
Take a deep sigh and unclench your jaw because it's (hopefully) going to feel like a breath of fresh air in its simple nature. Let's goooooo!
#1 MOVE YOUR BODY CONSISTENTLY, IN DYNAMIC WAYS, FOR A MINIMUM OF 3O MINS/ DAY

The most effective movement routine is the one that you enjoy. Moving dynamically – opting for lots of different modalities and intensities – can be a really nice way to strengthen your body holistically while keeping things fun and novel for your brain. This is one of the reasons I am so proud to teach at TurF – our community can experience such a diverse way of moving under one membership. Beyond carving out a minimum 30 minutes a day of conscious movement – think “I’m putting on my workout clothes or rolling out my mat or grabbing a weight” movement – WALK! Lots! Increasing your daily step count can do wonders for all facets of our health. Take your meeting for a walk, take your coffee with a friend to go for a stroll, walk to work a few days a week, walk 15 minutes after your meal to support digestion and blood sugar…walking is CHIC and free! Start with 10,000 steps a day and keep upping your goal in a way that is sustainable.
#2 EAT FIBER... AND LOTS OF IT. FOR YOUR DIGESTION, DETOX PATHWAYS, SATIETY AND MOOD
20-40 varieties a week can be your goal. Start slow as you integrate new sources and have fun with it. I have a note on my phone where I have a list of 50+ sources of fibre – think legumes, fruits, herbs, spices, vegetables, grains etc. – to help me with my grocery shopping to ensure I am getting ample fibre each week.
Why? Fibre acts as an internal brushing system and helps clear excess cortisol, hormones, and toxins. We now are finding that consuming more fibre is associated with lower rates of perceived stress (via the psychobiome, a subset of the microbiome that impacts mental health and brain function via the gut brain axis), and improved weight management due to its ability to promote satiety (fullness) and the balance of microbes that promote leanness versus weight gain. It also helps you poop regularly, which I wrote a whole post on, which is massively important!
#3 PRIORITIZE PROTEIN AT EVERY MEAL
30 g per meal if you can, and if that means having a protein shake or two somewhere in the day, go for it
As someone who eats predominantly plant based, I simply make this a priority with each meal I consume, and if I am going out for dinner, often I’ll have an extra protein shake that day to ensure I’m getting enough to support all of that effort I put into strengthening my muscles, and to support with satiety (not to mention mood, skin and hair health…all to say protein is very, very important). Contrary to what you may have heard, all protein powders are great so long as it agrees with your digestive system, and that can take some experimenting. I am a huge fan of plant protein powders and plant protein in general, and upon digestion, our bodies do not differentiate whether an amino acid came from tofu or beef.
If you want a simple way to remember the above three tools, consider the 30-30-30 principle each day

#4 CREATE A MENTAL HEALTH TOOLKIT
This one's will be personal and unique for everyone
Life is hard! Having tools at your disposal to help ride the wave is, in my opinion, incredibly integral to the pursuit of feeling well and achieving optimal health. This could be working with a therapist (just you or couples, I love both), reading books of the self-help nature, listening to podcasts on therapy styles that peak your interest, finding practices or communities that are a safe space for you to work through emotions…whatever works for you so that if and when you feel emotionally triggered, you can bolster yourself up versus spiralling out. It’s also important to remember that our brains are organs too, and just like our liver, heart, intestines, skin etc., how we nourish ourselves through food impacts its function and therefore our mental health.
#5 NURTURE YOUR SOCIAL CONNECTIONS AND FIND YOUR COMMUNITY
I think we all know this one in our bones, but it can’t be overstated. Loneliness does not set the conditions for good health, and human connection has been shown to prolong health span. I dove into this in one of my first Substack posts, specifically the data showcasing just how impactful it is. I think it’s important to emphasize that social connection will look different for everyone and we all have different needs. For you, that might look like gathering in big groups and feeding off of collective energy, while for others, it might look like a few individual friendships where you emphasize one on one time.
I’d be remisced to not mention just how perfect TurF is as an environment for fostering connection – it certainly fills my social cup, whether that means sitting beside someone on a mat, dancing with my students or enjoying a coffee or brunch on the patio.
#6 YOUR OUTPUTS - WORK, MOVEMENT, SOCIALIZING, PARENTING - NEED TO BE BALANCED WITH REST
In order to show up fully for yourself, and others
I use the analogy of an iPhone here a lot because, well, we basically all have one so it’s highly relatable. The more you use your phone in a day, the faster its battery drains and the sooner you need to recharge it. We are no different! I think the girl boss, hustle trend made us think that to be successful and produce a lot of output, we had to be go-go-go and on all the time. You can sleep when you’re dead! In reality, the opposite is true: if you are active and fully participating in all facets of your life, you must, must, must replenish and take time to recharge.
This is why I was passionate about integrating Restore on the TurF schedule, as well as Flow – creating moments to recharge, re-energize and balance our more vigorous classes. I can confidently say the reason I can teach as many classes as I do and consistently build strength in my personal practice is because I take rest very seriously. Prior to carving out conscious time to breathe slow and ungrip, I felt this forever sense of plateauing. So, perhaps start with 30 min a day where you can find some calm – I wrote a post about this recently tracking what activities took me into a restorative state based on my Oura ring data, and most of it is free!
#7 YES DRINKS LOTS OF WATER. But do it the RIGHT way.
Adding a sprinkle of sea salt to your glass of water or bottle is a great way to ensure you are properly absorbing all that water, and if you drink filtered water, mineral drops are a must!
This prevents water from simply passing right through us and allows our cells to soak it up. It’s an important and often missed step in our pursuit of staying more hydrated. You can also add in electrolyte powders or tablets anytime you’re doing a class or practice that gets you sweaty.
#8 WHEN IT COMES TO MEAL PREPPING, THE MORE COLOUR, THE BETTER.
I find it quite amusing how many topicals now include antioxidants (think vitamin C serums) and yet there isn’t much discussion on how to take in antioxidants through food – which is far more cost effective and beneficial to our overall health. Put simply – any food that is (naturally) colourful is going to be an abundant source of antioxidants. And if you need a refresher on why we want them, they counter all of the cellular damage that occurs from things like exercise, stress in general, toxins, high UV exposure, pollution etc. You can do this in small but impactful ways, like adding a scoop of puréed pumpkin to your oats or yogurt, sprinkling herbs onto your bowls, toss pomegranate seeds onto your salad, blending beets into your homemade hummus, etc. TurF does an excellent job at incorporating lots of colour into the current menu, and it’s nice to know that your post-movement meal is full of protective ingredients to buffer the cellular stress of lifting weights or doing 50+ burpees!#9 DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE SUN
I speak of this so much and will continue to shout it from the rooftops: The sun gives us life, just like plants, and while sitting out at high noon with no protection for hours is not advisable for most, getting daily exposure to the sun, especially when the UV is above 3 and therefore able to stimulate vitamin D production, is VITAL to our overall health.
If you wear sunscreen 365 days a year, you must must must be supplementing with vitamin D + K2 (helps with absorption) and getting your levels tested -
Low levels of vitamin D increase our risk of getting sick, poor recovery, chronic disease like cancer, depression, and much more. The snag is that not everyone absorbs vitamin D from a capsule very well. So, when the UV gets to 3 (beginning in March), soak up those lower UV rays which will continue to be present in the morning and late afternoon until about October in Vancouver.
A moderate amount of sun exposure, paired with lots of antioxidants (as listed above), is a recipe for feeling well, no matter what your skin type. Oh, and what they say about sunrise exposure is true: that red light is incredibly healing for our skin and triggers a very elegant cascade of hormones to set our tone energetically and emotionally for the day. Might I suggest getting a coffee post 7am or 8:15am class and sitting out on the patio for even just 5 minutes to take in those healing rays (I’ll be there Tuesdays and Wednesday mornings joining you!)
I saved this for last because while simple, it’s probably the most challenging thing for us to dial in on thanks to a) our environment and b) our high levels of stress.
While all of the above things certainly help you sleep better (especially if you’re riding the hormonal shifts of perimenopause which can have a disruptive effect on sleep), and I would argue are necessary components to optimizing sleep, ultimately, we have to make a very conscious effort to set the conditions for 5 star sleep.
Blue light exposure in the evening will affect the quality of your sleep. So will caffeine late in the day, even if you don’t feel it affects your ability to fall asleep. Eating right before bed will decrease the quality of your sleep, as well alcohol and THC.
I don’t think any of this is surprising or new info to most of you, but if you are serious about wanting to sleep better, you gotta address the above interferences. Keeping blue light at a minimum in the evening takes effort! But, speaking for myself, it is so, so worth it based on how I have improved my sleep depth. Same is true for opting (or not opting) for alcohol or late night eats: if you are going to do it, accept that your sleep will be compromised, and plan for a 30-90 minute nap the day after, or opt to skip the beverage or late night snack to choose sleep quality over the gratification of that spritz or ice cream. Simple but definitely not easy!
I also appreciate that it can be hard to prioritize good quality sleep when you haven’t experienced how good it feels…once you get a taste of life with solid slumber, there’s a lot more resistance to doing the things that interfere with it…in my experience, anyway! What’s nice is that with a few tweaks of your evening ritual, you can reduce a lot of that blue light exposure, and when eating ample fibre and protein, you’ll likely find snacking at night less enticing.
These rather boring, kind of annoying shifts will improve your sleep quality if you commit to them, and when paired with tools 1-9, will really level up your ability to experience that gooooood good rest. I did a deep dive on what actually moves the needle on our sleep if you want to pursue this one further.
With ALL of the above, you’ll have the most success if you make it as enjoyable as possible for yourself.
Find daily movement that you enjoy. Pick fibre sources that appeal to you. Make protein intake easy with a protein powder you like the taste of and don’t fuss over the ingredient list. Get curious around what tools bring you mental calm. Make midday naps or any r&r opportunities a little more pleasurable with a red light or face mask or heck, Selling Sunset. Take 2 seconds out of your day to add a sprinkle of salt to your water to boost your hydration. Make social plans that light you up versus deplete you. Think about brushing your teeth…not many people can say they love or enjoy doing it, but we just do it because we know it’s important if we want to avoid cavities, gum disease, root canals and the like. When I think of my own wellness rituals and routines, I can happily say I genuinely really enjoy practicing all of the above – it no longer feels like a drag or fun-zapping because the reward is so felt in how I navigate through life. So if someone of these tools feel like brushing your teeth at first, that’s normal – but with time and repetition, you may just find you become a little bit obsessed with them!
As always, you can read more of my writing on my Substack, Poetry in Motion, and expect lots more post here from me!
If you have any questions about the above tools, feel free to send me a DM at @trilby_
xo T
2 comments
Great simple review, Trilby. Very relatable!
obsessed with every bit of this.