The Truth About Healthy Energy: Why You Don’t Need to Be 100% Healthy to Feel Good

Do you ever see those glowing girls on Instagram who just look super healthy, super glowy, super energised and refreshed all the time?

And you're thinking, well, if I want to feel as good as she looks, then I guess I must need to be 100% healthy, 100% of the time.

I need to be eating clean.

I need to give up coffee.

I need to drink only matcha lattes.

I've got to give up all the little things that bring me joy because if it isn't "healthy", then it's going to be screwing with my energy.

And this gets to you, because right now, you’re not sipping a matcha on a mountaintop, looking out over a peaceful fecking sunset.

You’re reheating your coffee for the third time and still not feeling as good as you thought you would after doing everything “right.”

You feel miles away from that Instagram picture of glowing energy.

Well, rewind 6 years and I was absolutely running off fumes. Working crazy hours in my fashion job in London. Commuting even crazier hours. Caring for an unwell family member. Going through a breakup.

And oh my gosh, whatever was keeping me going? It wasn't healthy energy, that's for sure.

But here's the thing.

I didn’t want to give up the things that brought me those little moments of joy in life.

A warm, tasty cappuccino in my hand with the smell of cinnamon wafting up my nose as I sipped it before work.

The vegan chicken nuggets I loved because they reminded me of eating round a friend's house as a kid.

The margaritas I'd have on a Friday with friends, venting and belly laughing about the latest Hinge date one of them had been on.

I did want to stop feeling so on edge of a crash the whole time.

But I didn’t want to become such a bore that I could never do anything unless it was super healthy for my body.

Somewhere along the way, we were taught that to feel good in our bodies, we had to be super disciplined.

On some crazy diet or another.

Avoiding all the “bad” stuff. A woman who never sips coffee in bed. Who swaps joy for discipline. Who earns her glow by giving up the things that make life soft and delicious.

And I just don’t buy that anymore.

And if you feel the same? Then I’ve got good news for you.

You don’t need to give up everything that brings you joy to feel energised, refreshed, glowing, and good.

For most of us, what we do need is a few tweaks and little shifts to what we’re already doing.

And from those small changes, we can see massive results.

Here’s what that looks like for me:

• I still have coffee, but only after eating, and I aim to wait 90 minutes after waking up.

• I still eat vegan nuggies, but I make sure to load my plate up with veggies on the side.

• I still drink margaritas... no, got nothing. Sorry. Alcohol is what it is. But you know what? It’s still a little treat over a fun catch-up with friends. And that fills my cup and my energy too.

You don’t have to be 100% healthy, 100% of the time, to have healthy energy.

You need balance. You need joy. You just need some tweaks to what you're already doing.

The truth is, our energy is affected by so many things.

Social connection.
What we eat.
How we move.
Our finances.
Our living situation.
Our relationships.

The list goes on.

So we need to let go of this idea that discipline is the price of feeling good.

Because joy, catching up with mates, feeling nostalgic about the past — these things are good for our health too.

When we find that sweet spot, that middle ground between healthy for our body and healthy for our life?

That’s when our energy actually gets better.

We’re not mentally drained by a rigid diet.

We’re not lacking little moments of joy because we’ve sworn off tasty treats.

We’re finding balance. We’re getting our glow.

And we’re doing it in a fun, free way that supports our whole deep health.

Not just what “healthy” looks like on Instagram.

But what actually feels good in your body, your life, and your day.