Employee Health Spotlight: Becky Rinehart

GlobalFit interviewed employees of all ages and identities to learn about how they live our mission of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, both in and out of the office. Here’s what they had to say.

GF: Thanks for volunteering your time today. Can you please introduce yourself and your role at GlobalFit?

B: I’m Becky Rinehart and I’m a Registered Dietitian for CHARGE.

GF: Hi Becky! What does a “healthy lifestyle” mean to you?

B: A healthy lifestyle encompasses so much! It includes nutrition, exercise, and self care which is more the mental side of a healthy lifestyle. If we can take care of ourselves in a physical, nutrition and exercise, and a mental, self care, way then I would say we have a pretty healthy lifestyle.

GF: When did you begin focusing on a healthy lifestyle and why?

B: I had the exercise part down from a young age. I was a competitive gymnast which was 20+ hours per week from age 8 to 16. I've always had the active part down, but nutrition wasn't in the picture until college when I decided to major in nutrition after my first semester of college. I actually didn't even know you could major in nutrition until I got to college. I really started to focus on what I was putting in my body in college to see how it would affect my fitness performance. The mental side of things really hasn't come in until recently. Journaling has always been a good stress relief for me, but until recently I didn't have much else to help decrease my stress and take care of my mental health. The why behind living a healthier lifestyle isn't always easy to pinpoint, but I would have to say longevity is a big driver. I want to live a long and healthy life. I also really love being active and being healthy allows me to continue to be active, the way I like, for longer.

GF: How do you stay physically active?

B: I LOVE lifting. I started with gymnastics, then competitive cheerleading, then became a personal trainer and was personally trained by my colleagues, then found Crossfit, and most recently transitioned to more bodybuilding type workouts.

GF: How do you practice mindfulness or mental “fitness?”

B: Mental fitness has just recently become a big focus for me. Every morning I write in a log book that requires me to write down 3 things I am grateful for that day. This has really shifted my focus to being positive in the morning. I also try to do things on the weekends and at night that really recharge me. For example, staying in bed on the weekends to watch TV a little longer or going on a simple walk with my pup and husband.

GF: Does your wellness routine include a certain way of eating? If so, can you describe it?

B: With Crossfit I was very into Macros. It was actually really important that I ate enough and enough of the right things as I was training at a competitive level. Now with much less activity, I have been trying to follow more intuitive eating, which very simply put is focusing on eating when you are truly hungry and stopping when you are comfortably full. It's not always successful and it's very hard to practice, but I find it much more freeing than counting everything that goes into my body.

GF: How do you make time for your wellness routine amidst work, family, and other responsibilities?

B: Physical activity is very important to me and is ingrained, so my husband and I actually get up at 3am to go workout together. We do lose some sleep, but exercise really sets my day up right and decreases my stress as well. I do the meal planning a few days before we go to the grocery store and then on Sundays we meal prep those meals for the upcoming week. This way we don't have to worry about cooking at all during the week and are set up for success. Fitness and eating healthy are priorities for me, so the time is easy to carve out right now.

GF: In regards to your wellness routine, what have you tried before that didn't work for you, and why not?

B: I have tried a few more rigid diet structures like vegan, low carb, south beach, etc. These don't typically work for me because there's extra thinking that goes into the process. I am actually more focused on plant based eating right now and that hasn't been a huge change, but anything that causes too much thinking, planning, prepping, etc isn't going to work. I don't want to spend hours on thinking what I'm going to eat and then more hours on making sure that happens. Also, I've tried meditation, which is incredibly hard. I've tried multiple times to incorporate it, but I tend to fall off the wagon because it's hard. Not a good excuse, but it's the truth.

GF: What does it take for you to be consistent in your wellness routine?

B: Consistency takes time! With time it becomes routine. Patience is a big factor in this process as well. You have to figure out what works best for you and your life and sometimes that involves trying multiple things. When you find what works best for you then it's easy to do those things and they happen more often then now, which is consistency.
To be honest, the nutrition and exercise are really just a part of who I am and what I do now, so it really doesn't take much effort or thought. However, the mental health, self care portion takes effort. I have to think of one thing per day that is going to increase my mental health and then devote time to doing that one thing. It's not part of my routine yet, but if I can get one or two things as part of that routine then it will eventually be just like my nutrition and exercise.


GF: What are your top three tips for someone looking to live a more healthy lifestyle?

B: 1. Start small!!! Make small changes and small goals to start. Small changes eventually add up to big differences and sometimes the smallest change can make the biggest difference.
2. Find something you enjoy to be active. The best predictor, I find, of sticking to an activity is making sure you enjoy it. If you don't love the gym, don't go! Find a recreational basketball league or a masters swim class. Go to a studio that does dance fitness. Simply just walk your pup! Active doesn't have to mean hours either.
3. Prioritize your mental health. I feel like mental health is put on the back burner all too often. We overwork ourselves then go home and take care of our families and we are burning the candle at both ends. Where's the time for you?! Find 5 minutes a day, maybe start with 1 minute, to do something for you!!!! Listen to a podcast, take a hot bath, sit quietly...something to recharge yourself.