My “worth it” list – A Lady Goes West

This post about my “worth it” list is sponsored by NOW®. I’ve been a customer and fan of the brand for many years. 

As a group fitness instructor and content creator who tries a lot of new things, I feel like I have a good handle on what works for me in the health, fitness and wellness world.

While I’m far from perfect in my efforts (it’s way more of an 80/20 situation), I stand by my choices. Today, we’re going to talk about what’s “worth it” for me to splurge on with my time, attention and money, and what’s just not. 

Let’s get right to it …

Food: Eating quality lunches out a few times a week. And buying quality food for home.

I used to be so strict with myself and tell myself I could only eat lunch out on the weekends. Not only to save money, but also to make sure I was always having a healthier home-made meal in the middle of the day. You often hear wellness experts tell you to make more food at home, because it’s the only way you can totally control the ingredients, and it is.

But I don’t live by that rule any longer. Maybe it’s because I’m consistently running from one thing to the other, or maybe it’s because I’m just so over trying to do everything right, that now, I eat my lunch out 2 to 4 times a week (including weekends), and I’m fine with it. I always choose a produce/protein/filling meal when out, and I always choose “better” fast-casual options that may not be the cheapest.

Maybe I’ll grab a smoothie at Life Time, maybe I’ll walk over to Clean Juice for a sandwich and juice, or maybe I’ll meet my mom at a fast-casual spot for a big bowl of something good. It’s not ideal to eat a ton of meals out, but it’s a choice I make (and hey, it sure saves a round of dirty dishes). I don’t do fast food though, because to me, that’s just not worth it.

As far as what we eat at home, it’s oftentimes a better-for-us choice. I go to at least two grocery stores a week to load up on what we need (Publix and Whole Foods and sometimes Trader Joe’s). And food is not inexpensive these days. I buy a lot of organic produce, a lot of yogurt, frozen veggies, nuts, dates, chicken, organic and pasture-raised eggs and grass-fed beef. Food is an area where I think money is well spent. To me, quality food is 100 percent “worth it.”

Beauty: Choosing nontoxic beauty, self-care and body products (mostly). 

Once again, I’m not perfect here, because I do a couple of beauty things on the more toxic side, but as a rule, any sort of product I’ve purchased to put on my own body at home is paraben free, as well as free of other harsher ingredients that can seep into your system. And the cleaner option is definitely not the cheapest.

Yes, I get my hair dyed, yes, I get the occasional facial injectable (my toxic choices, which are worth it in their own way), but literally everything else I apply to my skin is a better choice. To me, that evens it all out.

While I don’t think every single thing in your beauty and personal-care arsenal needs to be 100 percent clean, I think most of it does, and that’s definitely a choice I try to make. (With the exception of a couple treatments that I’m not letting go of any time soon.)

Fitness: Spending a lot of time in loud, dark, crowded group fitness classes working out.

Movement is medicine!

I try to be understanding of people and their sensitive needs, but when someone says they don’t like a loud, dark, crowded group fitness studio with pulsating lights or they don’t like busy gyms, I truly don’t understand them. Worried about ear health from music? Never. Too much time at the gym? Not a thing.

I know that when we live stressed-out lifestyles, we should seek calmer, more rejuvenating spaces to spend our free time. But I’m all for a loud, dark, crowded group fitness studio, where everyone is on a high. That environment is 100 percent worth it to me. And spending a lot of my time at my happy place working and working out is something that just feels right.

Yes, it’s an effort to head off to the gym six days a week, park, walk in, check in and get going in a sea of people, lights and sounds. But it’s something that makes me feel good, and I love the fun, connections and challenges that it all brings. Time well spent.

Wellness: Splurging on quality supplements that give me an extra edge.

On a daily basis, I put collagen in my morning coffee, I drink a protein powder shake with creatine, I drink BCAAs during my workout, I add hydration powder to my water, and I take a multivitamin too. It’s not cheap keeping all of these supplements in stock. Honestly, I try not to calculate how much I spend on my supplements, but if I did, I’d say … “worth it.”

Luckily, NOW products are on the affordable side, but as a whole, I’m willing to spend money on these items that help with my performance, recovery and growth.*

It’s worth it to me to know that I’m taking smart supplements to optimize all the work I put in at the gym and beyond. And I like spending money with companies that I can trust — especially NOW.

Other honorable mentions on my “worth it” list

And for some silly stuff that feels right in my life …

• Exercising to the beat of the music (it’s almost impossible for me to move off-beat if there is music playing, and I think music makes everything better, also louder is always preferable)
• Snoozing my alarm for extra puppy snuggles (so apparently we’re supposed to get up right after our first alarm, but I break all the rules by snoozing once or even twice, just to fit in more snuggles with Rudy, who sleeps on our bed)
• An occasional slice from The Cheesecake Factory (nothing about it is healthy, but the way it makes me feel is definitely a positive feeling, and positive feelings are good for the soul)
• Crossing things off my to-do list (trying not to wear busy as a badge of honor, but how good does it feel to cross things off a long list of things you need to handle in a day?)
• Being too much for some people (it’s okay for everyone not to like you, you just need to like you)
• Wine on the weekends (I know healthy lifestyle influencers are all giving up alcohol, but I like to have some wine on the weekends, and I don’t see that going away any time soon)
• Paying a house-cleaner to do the deep cleaning (we’ve had a monthly cleaning service for years upon years, and I think it’s worth every penny, we also have a lawn service, and Dave would vote a major yes on that one too)

And that’s my official “worth it” list!