Women In Wellness: Macy Sarbacker of MacyMichelle On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Switch to low-tox products. Slowly switch to low-tox products. There are so many toxins in our environment. We can make small changes to eliminate and reduce these toxins. One example is using a reusable water bottle. Ditch the plastic disposable water bottles and refill a water bottle. Plastic water bottles contain toxins that are endocrine disruptors.
As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Macy Sarbacker.
Macy Sarbacker is a personal trainer, wellness expert and Executive Editor of MacyMichelle.com. She is an advocate of intermittent fasting and real food. You can see Macy’s writing and media mentions on health and wellness across the internet on these sites such as Women’s Health Magazine. She lives with her fiancé and fur-baby in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
I grew up on a dairy farm in southern Wisconsin and am the oldest of 5. I then went on to graduate from Iowa State University with a degree in journalism and mass communication. When I graduated from college, I had gained weight and was dealing with painful hormonal acne. I was sick of feeling crappy and decided to start taking care of my body. It was then that I fell in love with health and wellness. It’s definitely been an adventure and it took time to figure out what worked for me, but I’m so grateful I got started and found my passion in this area.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
One of the most interesting things that has happened in my career was transitioning to working remotely for myself. On social media, being your own boss looks glamours. The reality is that it’s a lot of hard work. You have to show up every day, even when you don’t feel like it. There isn’t a boss looking over your shoulder and keeping you in check. There’s also other things to figure out like taxes, health insurance, etc. Overall, transitioning to working for myself was the best decision I have made. I have learned a lot about myself and how to be productive, even on days when I don’t feel like it.
Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
When I first started my health journey, I tried to do everything all at once. I tried to workout 7 days a week and I tried to drastically change what I ate. This ended up backfiring because it’s hard to completely change your life! From this I learned that baby steps toward better health are the best thing you can do. Start slow and take little tiny baby steps forward. What one choice can you make today that will help you toward your goals?
Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
The number one thing I hope to teach and share with the world is that being healthy and living a healthy lifestyle is affordable and can even be cheap! There are so many free things we can do to be healthier — like intermittent fasting and spending time outside! Prioritizing real food over packaged food is also more affordable and healthier!
Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.
- Add intermittent fasting to your daily routine. Intermittent fasting is free and is a great lifestyle tweak. Simply change when you eat, not what you eat. Intermittent fasting can help reduce inflammation, help with weight loss, help reduce insulin resistance, lowering your risk for type 2 diabetes, can help reduce oxidative stress, may help prevent disease, may help prevent cancer, can help extend your lifespan, has many anti-aging benefits and more!
2. Consume real food. Start eating real food. Real food is food that doesn’t come in a package. Focus on what ingredients are in your food and strive to recognize those ingredients or have minimally added ingredients.
3. Prioritize sleep. Sleep is a very overlooked part of wellness. Sleeping allows our bodies to repair themselves and our brains to consolidate our memories and process information. Make quality sleep a priority! You can set reminders in your phone to help you get to bed at a decent time.
4. Spend more time outside. Our bodies were not made to sit in an office all day and then sit in front of a television all night. Expose your eyes to sunlight, put your feet on the ground, go on hikes or walks. Spending time in nature is associated with lower blood pressure, less stress and can help reset our circadian rhythm.
5. Switch to low-tox products. Slowly switch to low-tox products. There are so many toxins in our environment. We can make small changes to eliminate and reduce these toxins. One example is using a reusable water bottle. Ditch the plastic disposable water bottles and refill a water bottle. Plastic water bottles contain toxins that are endocrine disruptors.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I would encourage everyone to start intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting is 100% free and therefore accessible to everyone. There are so many health benefits of intermittent fasting!
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
- Weight loss and getting in shape doesn’t come down to eating less and moving more. So often people are told to just eat less and move more. Weight loss is SO much more than eating less and moving more. Weight loss has a lot more to do with hormones and how the body stores energy.
- The most important thing on a nutrition label is the list of ingredients. We should all be counting ingredients and chemicals in our food — not calories! Eat as much real, whole food as possible and avoid packaged junk.
- Avoid seed oils at all costs. Seed oils like canola oil, vegetable oil, corn oil, etc. should be avoided. These oils are created, washed with solvents and sometimes even bleached. These oils are very inflammatory, highly processed and bad for our bodies. Stick to coconut oil, olive oil and avocado oil.
- The water you drink matters. We all know that water is important, but what’s in your water? It’s scary to learn what’s in your tap water. You can find out exactly what’s in your tap water by going to ewg.org. There’s lots of amazing water filters on the market. Take time and do your research to find a filter that is in your budget and can properly filter your water.
- What you put in, on and around your body matters!
Everything that you put in, on and around your body matters! From the makeup you use, to the body wash you use, to the containers you store your food in. All of these items can contain toxins and endocrine disruptors.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
Mental health is very important to me. Did you know that the food you eat impacts your mood? The food you eat has a direct impact on your mental health! Good food = good mood! I have dealt with depression and have close family members who also struggle with mental health. It is really empowering to know that we can change our mood and improve our lives with simple choices like what we eat.
What is the best way our readers can follow you online?
Readers can find me at my website: www.macymichelle.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heymacymichelle
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/macy-sarbacker/
Thank you for these fantastic insights!
Women In Wellness: Macy Sarbacker of MacyMichelle On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.