Can I admit something a little embarrassing?
I have peptide FOMO.
Which makes no sense, because it’s completely out of alignment with me. I don’t even want it. And I don’t even believe in it for myself. And yet here I am, watching it play out in real time and feeling something tug at me anyway.
Do you feel it too?
It’s like all of a sudden everyone is skinny. And with it, a new unspoken standard has quietly moved in: fit is out, skinny is in.
I’m really not okay with that. And yet I’m still not immune to it.
Oh, the irony.
Having FOMO about something while being completely turned off by it. Our minds are a wild ride, aren’t they?
And yet I know I’m not the only one having FOMO (right?!?).
Here’s what makes me think you might be, too.
The social experiment that helps us understand peptide FOMO:
Dr. Todd Rose talks about a social experiment in his book Collective Illusions that shows how human biology pulls us to conform to a crowd, even when we don’t actually agree with it.
It has to do with our brain’s reward center. Researchers found that participants unconsciously changed their ratings to match the group, even when it wasn’t what they believed. This shows how easily our brains can literally alter our perception of reality just to avoid the discomfort of standing out.
Now obviously, just because it’s the norm doesn’t mean it needs to be the standard. There are a lot of things in life that are very normal and yet very harmful. And I think it helps to understand that more people than not probably think more like you than they don’t.
It’s just the noisy few who create a mirage.
Also, can we note that we could all do a better job of distinguishing the difference between “fitting in” (ahem, following) and “belonging” (genuine authenticity).
I digress….
What I really wanted to say, it’s “normal” to have FOMO about something you don’t even want, because we’re naturally inclined to move with the masses. We don’t want to be left behind.
AND YET, it’s so much better for our world, for our lives, if we stand up to the pull and opt for what is “HEALTHY.” Or maybe better said, what is true for us.
Which is why I actually wonder how many people have weighed the costs and the benefits and chosen this path with their own well-being in mind. Or how many are just doing it because they’re scared of being the last one to reach skinny?
I’m not judging. Truly.
I’m just curious, and I'm asking you to get curious too.
Because there’s absolutely no point in letting FOMO steal our energy to something we don’t even want to do. When we could use that energy to work toward what we do.
Which is why I feel the need to mic drop a PSA: YOU CAN STILL LOSE WEIGHT NATURALLY.
PSA: You can still lose weight naturally.
Don’t let the mass rush of people all of a sudden looking skinny deter you from the truth of the matter: health is possible. And not just possible, but it’s actually easier to be healthy than unhealthy.
The natural movement of the body is ALWAYS TOWARD HEALTH.
And the world needs more of this story. The story of choosing to live out health, to nourish it, and create it not necessarily for the sake of being skinny but simply being well.
We just have to be brave enough to stand up and do it. To drop the FOMO and do the work of moving toward what we want (which is why I’m still begging you to give it a year).
Because here’s the spoiler we miss when we chase the world: Our nervous system can only hold what our story believes.
Which is why following and fitting in, never really works, because deep down it’s not what feels most true to. You. And when it’s not true, your body resists it, eventually and always leading you back to what is true.
It’s also why forcing yourself to be like someone else never works. Because you’re not them. You are you.
And it’s why history repeats itself. Not because it has to, but because we keep chasing things that never work out.
As I recall, we already had a skinny decade, and where did that lead?
To the opposite extreme and then right back here again.
I was only a kid when the skinny era was a thing, but I picked up enough that it altered my perception of reality (and not for the better). In some ways, I feel like I just healed that story only to be tested by it again.
Which is a beautiful thing… and it leaves me with a choice. Which is the same choice you’re probably finding yourself in — feeling the FOMO but not aligning with it.
It’s the test that asks: what do you really believe about health?
And maybe more than that, it’s inviting us to define what health means to us.
Some version of skinny might be part of it. And yet, it might be something completely different. Only you know and can define that for yourself.
My definition of health actually isn’t a number on the scale. It’s how my body feels and how it expresses who I am. Because, truthfully, skinny is more of a judgment than a destination.
If I’m not the only one having a FOMO-to-peptides reaction. Then before you jump ship and start peptides, I want you to get curious with yourself.
01: GET YOUR STORY STRAIGHT
Ask yourself: Is this FOMO really what you want, or is this just a product of living out of a story you hate?
Listen to this week’s podcast to learn more about this: How I Stopped Living Out of The Worst Thing That Happened To Me
02: Define for yourself what it means to be healthy.
If you don’t define it, the world will define it for you. And that almost always ends in you chasing a place you think you have to arrive at but don’t really feel called to.
It’s the rat race of health and why people do a lot of things but never really arrive. Because they don’t know what they believe or even if they believe what they’re chasing.
When you define it, you have something to work toward.
03: Live it out in REAL TIME.
A better story than “just being skinny” is only an idea (similar to health is skinny) if you don’t live it out. You have to do something to support that story, creating the evidence that supports what you believe is true.
It could be as silly as my moment of God in my closet when he reminded me I just needed to get dressed.
It’s also why I posted myself in outfits for the whole world to see. Not because that felt comfortable, but it felt right. And it felt like it might have been just the thing you needed to show up and choose you (over the world).
04: Be confident in YOUR story (and ignore the skinny).
Okay, I know it’s hard to ignore the skinny. Because we’re very perceptive (especially as women). But the more you focus on it, the more energy you give it, and the more fuel you provide the old story. Notice it, but then filter it through what it is you really believe.
When you do that, you’ll start to see the story the world is attempting to portray isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.
You’ll see happiness isn’t really found in being skinny. Neither is confidence.
Next week, I’m going to share something powerful that shifted this process. BUT before you can do that, I need you to redefine what health means for you. Legitimately, it’s required.
Also, this kind of shift is exactly the work we do inside the Freedom Story Workshop.
Your story doesn’t have to feel impossible, and you don’t even need to have “trauma” to be working out of a crappy story. It’s for EVERYONE.
Literally, if you’re human, you need story work because your story was created before you had a chance to correct it (your parents programmed it… mostly your mother). I explain more inside the workshop.
If you have questions, feel free to message me.
Also, before you go, I’d love to know:
What definition of health did you come up with that resonates with you?
Drop it below!
I’m sharing mine in the comments.
To me, health is having the energy and capacity to create beauty, be a light, and share love with the people around me. It's a body that lets me fully live out what I was made for.