Nutrition: Part 2

When thinking about nutrition, preparation and choice of ingredients is also important. That's a good reason to prepare your own food, doing so will give you control and clarity on what you put in your body. When I cook, I can modify ingredients to healthier ones, I can add herbs and spices that adds lots of flavor to the food and promote health in the body (will be discussed in future posts) and I can add the most important part, my love and intention to nourish my body and the bodies of my family and friends! You wont get that from your average line cook (no offense guys...). Everything that we eat was alive at one point, so for the most part, we should treat it with respect.

There are so many diets and schools of thought when thinking about nutrition. And all of them are right in their own ways. On top of that, there are so many ways to market food and types of diets – based on body type, based on eating habits, based on health goals, etc. Everything changes depending upon your specific body type and metabolism.

Regardless of what type of cleanse, diet or nutritional goals you are considering, being realistic about your body and its health is the most important part. Keeping track of how much you eat, what you eat, and how it makes you feel will help you determine what food works for you as an individual. Consider everything, and be open to successful strategies, but don’t get caught in ideas about “the right way to do it” LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!

Nutrition: Part 1

Keeping track of your food and having awareness to what we put in our body is essential for our health. Logging your food intake, even for 3-4 weeks, is one easy way to keep track of what you are feeding your body, and understand the motivations behind eating. You would be surprised at how many times you go to eat out of boredom, stress, emotional state or just habit. But are you really hungry?

We prioritize eating for so many things that are unnecessary – social events, celebrations, and more. There are so many habits around food, especially here in the United States – it’s such a cultural thing. When people talk about doing cleanses and prioritizing food, they also talk about up-coming holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, summer BBQs, etc. They have to schedule their nutritional efforts around pre-existing commitments.

Furthermore, the more natural and unprocessed the food is, the better. Everything that has been on this planet and not transformed into fried chips and put into a plastic bag – if your food has been handled, processed, bleached, painted, dehydrated, packed and bagged, you probably don’t want to eat too much of it. Generally, the closer the food is to its original form, the higher the nutritional value. And when things are natural, they are usually already in their natural serving sizes. We as Americans just like to Super Size our meals, and don’t think about proportions at all.