Is your plate of food making a deposit or a withdrawal on your health?
Ok my friends…this is a common topic with practically everyone and a main one among my clients. Food! our life depends on nourishment…in my opinion as nature intended. Our lives revolve around food…we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner mainly….but also festivities and events like birthdays, celebrations, holidays and even funerals. Practically every aspect of our lives food is involved from the daily to the special occasions. Have you ever started your day, week or month with the intention on “This is my start to eating healthier” and you’re off to a great start then Oh Ho! You find yourself at a wedding shower or at a restaurant for your friends birthday and your streak on healthy eating just got struck with the Mac food truck…metaphorically speaking. We’ve all been there, myself included.
I expressed a lot in my podcast and a previous blog post about what goes on between your ears has practically everything to do with the outcomes in our lives. Well eating healthy is one of those outcomes. I feel a mindset of having a healthy relationship with food is critical. I am not a life coach or a physician by any means, just here sharing tools and tips that have worked from myself and my clients. What I am referring to as a healthy relationship with food is this… Thinking of it like a bank account, healthy food is like a deposit an investment in our health. When we eat crap we end up taking a withdrawal as our body has to take extra effort to process food that really isn’t healthy for us.
I have been on the weight roller coaster my adult life the ups of weight gain then I’d lose the extra pounds then down the road of life weight would climbing back up again. The initial climb on that first hill came in my mid 20’s when the single life of eating whatever I wanted with no repercussion started fading away. I was getting older and I was told by someone wiser than I at the time that one day my metabolism was going to start slowing down. But was it that or was it the crappy food? Knowing what I know now it was more likely the food I was eating had very little nutritional value. Sure metabolism plays a part but even if you burn the calories and you’re skinny doesn’t mean your body is getting the nutrients it needs or actually craving. Because of eating crap, my body reacted with what is commonly talked about today - inflammation. There has been a lot of research and studies done about inflammation and the body.
So What is inflammation? For starters our body is such an awesome yet complex machine. Each one of us has a built-in detox system or systems. The lungs, liver, kidney, colon and our largest organ the skin along with our lymphatic system. Each one of these have a unique role in helping the body detoxify on a regular basis. It is what nature designed them to do. We are exposed to toxins all day long, our environment, the air, possibly the water, our food and if you are in a line of work dealing with chemicals basically the exposure is all around us. Unless you live on your own island in the middle of the ocean. There’s a lot that can contribute to our exposure to toxins. The detox organs work to remove toxins from the body. As a daily natural occurrence, it would be ideal in most cases that it all balances out. Sadly, many of us take in more toxins than our bodies can get rid of and thus all the excess toxins have to go somewhere. That place is in our body in our fat cells. This is a way of the body protecting itself. Yet too much toxin build up leads to inflammation and that can lead to a range of health issues. Some of the toxin exposure we have very little if any control over. Fueling our body with food that dense in nutrition is all in our control.
Here are some of my tips in making small changes to going for the gusto as call it.
Drink water…at least half your body weight in ounces every day. You may need more if you are working out or in a line of work where you sweat.
Omit or limit sugar – Sugar is addictive and can contribute to a range of health issues. Artificial sweeteners are not the way to go to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Avoid Gluten – can cause gut inflammation, possibly other health issues.
Along with Dairy – I'm talking cows milk, it can cause inflammation in the body. And it is not the only way to get healthy dose of calcium. More on that later.
Purchase non-GMO foods – GMOs are Genetically Modified organism. – In my opinion messing with nature by altering DNA of food.
Eat whole foods organic or from your local farmer
Lastly to going for the gusto…..Enroll in a Body Reset program to help you cleanse the body.
I love having dinner with the family around the table. Nothing beats sharing a meal with your lovies. When I eat clean whole food meals and avoid items as mentioned, I have experienced with my own body that I move better and the aches and pains tend to fade away. Some of my clients have experienced this as well. This is Why….I believe I got rid of inflammation and my clients did too.
A few years ago, I was carrying an extra 30 pounds or so. So much of it was stress from years of dealing with litigation that just wouldn’t end. One morning I remember It was mid January 2017. I fell down the steps, hurt my tailbone that took about 3 months to recover from, but it was my foot that would take longer. When I went down the stairs on my derriere my heel hit the wood base of the stair rail. I hit it so hard that it made a small curved indent in the wood. Months went by, the bruising feeling went away but I developed a different type of pain like a heel spur. Once I was moving through the day I was good but when I sat for a long period of time or getting out of bed in the morning the pain was there. I was on this continuous cycle for about 8-9 months when I finally decided to see a podiatrist. At the end of my initial exam, he ruled out heel spur and told me I had inflammation. At the time I was working on getting a better handle on my eating….again. So in January 2018 both my husband and I did a 30 day full body reset also known as 30 Days to Healthy Living. By the end of the first week the pain in my foot had really subsided and by the end of the cleanse the pain was all gone. I know it was fueling my body with food we are meant to eat along with ingredients that help fight inflammation and nourish the body. Just the way it’s supposed to happen.
So I want to wrap up with a quote. I love this quote by Ann Wigmore who was holistic health practitioner, naturopath and raw food advocate “The food you eat can be either the safe and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison.”
This blog is for information purposes only. It is not to diagnose or treat any medical condition. If you are not feeling well or need to talk to someone, or looking to make changes in your diet, I encourage you to consult your physician as soon as possible.
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