Health Redfined – Pillar One : Nutrition
This is the first post in a four-part series.
Jody Moore, whom I love, talks about the five pillars she uses in her Be Bold coaching program. I love the idea, so today I thought I do a spinoff of it and share Four Pillars I believe create A Joyful You, which is just my fancy way of saying extraordinary mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health. Let’s jump right in with the first pillar.
Pillar Number One – Nutrition
This is the pillar most thought of and worried about when it comes to our health. When we think about good nutrition most people tend to only focus on the food. They think about all the things they probably should cut out of their diet or the “healthy” foods they should be incorporating more of. I have news for you: Nutrition is more than just the food.
Yep! Nutrition is about nourishing both the mind and the body. It’s about our relationship with food, and who we are as eaters. It also includes things such as our eating rhythms, our eating speed, listening to our built-in hunger and fullness signals, and food balance.
Let me talk a little bit more about each one of those points.
The first one is Our Relationship with Food – What is your relationship with food like? Do you see it as a friend that gives you the gift of life and energy and pleasure, or do you view it as an enemy that is out to make you fat? The way you treat food is the way it will treat you. If you don’t like the relationship you have with food and eating, let’s change it.
The second one is Who You Are as An Eater – Who are you as an eater? Are you a relaxed eater, a grateful eater, or are you a scared eater, an anxious eater, or a stressed eater? Not only does food affect our mood, our mood affects the digestion and assimilation of our food. The best eater to be is a Relaxed Eater. Eating while in a positive relaxed state increases our digestion capacity adding to our overall health.
The third is Eating Rhythms – The body likes rhythm and that includes a rhythm around when we eat. This is really just how often and when you eat throughout the day. A couple things to look for when it comes to your eating rhythm are: Are you’re skipping meals and putting excess stress on your body or are you eating regular meals throughout the day? Are you eating too often or are you giving yourself time between meals to let your food properly digest? Everyone’s eating rhythm is different. Make sure you tune into your own unique eating rhythm and figure out how often your body really does need food. Maybe it only needs three meals a day. Maybe it needs an afternoon snack. Figure out what’s best for you.
The fourth is Eating Speed – One of the most powerful things you can do for your health is to pay attention to your eating speed. Would you describe yourself as a fast eater, a moderate eater, or a slow eater? When it comes to eating, it’s important that we slow down and relax. When we’re quickly shoving food in our mouths as we run out the door, a few things happen. One, it sets off the sympathetic nervous system which halts digestion. Two, we breath less and take really shallow breathes. This means less oxygen, and our bodies need lots oxygen in order to burn calories. And three, we don’t really chew our food. Digestion begins in the mouth with us chewing our food into small pieces. Ideally it should take you at least 20 minutes or more to eat a meal.
Number five is Listening to Our Hunger and Fullness Signals – Our bodies were beautifully created with the perfect system to tell us how much food we uniquely need to properly fuel our body. If we learn to listen to its cues, we will never overeat. Eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re satisfied. Notice I didn’t say full. I said satisfied.
Lastly, we have Food Balance – This includes things such a macro balance, and micro balance. There are three main macronutrients in food – fats, protein, and carbohydrates. These make up the bulk of our food. When it comes to macros it’s important to find the balance that’s best for your body – a balance that will give you the best level of consistent energy, stable moods, and the brain power that you want. We also have micronutrients which are all the vitamins and minerals found in our food. Micro balance is achieved by eating a wide variety of foods in all the colors of the rainbow.
