My wonderful husband (and I may be a bit bias but I absolutely adore the man and think he's pretty fabulous) encouraged me to write about what nutrition means to me now before I start my Health Coaching program next month. He though it would be a great way to see how my view of things change or remain the same over the next year.
You might remember that popular Wear Sunscreen song/speech/column by Mary Schmich (1997) but more recognizable though the voice of Kurt Vonnegut in the graduation commencement speech of 1999 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwVVpwBKUp0). When I started to think about all the things I currently believe about nutrition it started to sound a bit like this speech rambling through my head.
So here you go...
Privileged people of the world if there is one thing I can't stress enough it's DRINK ENOUGH WATER. I say privileged because we can turn on the tap and trust the water that comes out enough to put it straight into our body without worry. Invest in a quality water bottle, take it everywhere with you, decorate it, look after it, fill it up every chance you get and sip all day long. From the wise words of Derek Zoolander, "moisture is the essence of wetness and wetness is the essence of beauty."
Learn to love yourself. love your shape, your imperfections, your personality, your passions, your weaknesses and strengths and from that love you will draw to you wonderful people who love themselves just as fully. From that self love you will be a more caring genuine person who people seek out for companionship. This nutrient may not be the kind that you put in your mouth but it will nurture your body just as well if not better than any food. Nutrition is not just what you put in your mouth.
Take the time to learn about food and nutrients and learn how to make at least one complete meal from scratch. Don't be afraid of butter, whole milk, flour, eggs, cheese, salt and many of the natural foods that go from healthy to unhealthy from year to year. Educate yourself on how these foods can give you the nutrients you need to maintain a happy healthy body and mind. You need fat to exist, a little chocolate can release endorphins, your muscles are protein and you have to eat to feed your physical body. These foods are not bad if you get quality products and eat them responsibly.
Get creative with vegetables as if you're a mom trying to get your kids to eat them. Food does not have to take hours to prepare and does not have to be gourmet. Learn to use your stove, shoot, even your microwave can help you out in a pinch. Just cook for yourself and know what's going onto your plate.
Don't breakup with Ben & Jerry, Nabisco, Dryers, General Mills, Kellogg's, Ruffles, Better Crocker etc. Just have a distant relationship with them like a 3rd cousin twice removed and take a good hard look at why you are drawn to them when you visit each other. Notice the relationship between emotions and foods, you'll be fascinated to see a correlation.
Feed your skin just as well as you feed your stomach. Yes, wear sunscreen but also use natural lotions and play with cutting antiperspirant out of daily routine. If you're mindful you don't eat foods with chemicals so why would you put them on your skin?
Exercise. Walk, run, bend, stretch, jump, make love, do something, anything, every day that gets your heart rate to go up and stay up for 30 minutes. Even better if you do this with a friend because then you're sharing the love of health, connecting with someone and motivating each other to work a little harder.
Find a way to make money doing something that you have a passion for. You don't have to love your job or the people that you work with or for but you spend enough hours of your life earning money to comfortably exist that you really should generally enjoy what you do and have job satisfaction. It doesn't matter what you do as long as you find a way to make it enjoyable because at the end of the day I hope you want to think 'I did my job well and I don't mind that I spent my valuable time doing it.'
Make reasonable goals and don't make drastic changes all at once. We are creatures of habit and need little changes in order to keep on the right path. Again make friends who share the same interest of good health and inspire each other to be creative with holistically finding ways to nourish yourself.
There is so much more that I believe about nutrition but I think these are the primary things that stand out to me.
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