Thursday 10 July 2014

Nourish Yourself from the Inside Out




After getting active for 10 days straight, it's now time to concentrate on Nourishing yourself from the inside out for the next 10 consecutive days.  The question that I am going to put to you, is what does Nourishing Yourself mean to you?  The reason I ask this is because what works for me may not work for you.

We live in a world of modern nutrition.  Almost everyone is on one diet or another.  So many people dwell on calories, carbs, fats, proteins, restrictions and lists of good and bad foods.  It would seem that each day we are hit with a new discovery, proclaiming the health benefits of a certain food or the best way to lose 5 kilos in a week.  Diet books are best sellers, cooking shows are more popular than ever, while more and more families are eating out.

The world of nutrition has become incredibly complex.  How is it possible that one expert can prove dairy is a necessary component of a healthy diet, while another expert can prove dairy is extremely detrimental to health; one expert can claim meat is essential to a healthy human body while another expert says meat is an unnecessary and unhealthy part of the the human diet?

So to avoid and navigate myself confidently through a media-driven an perplexed diet industry, I now take a new approach to nutrition and that is one of bio-individualtiy.  

No perfect way of eating works for everybody.


The food that is perfect for your unique body, age and lifestyle may make another person gain weight and feel lethargic.  Similarly, no perfect way of eating will work for you all the time, what may have worked for you a number of years ago, may not be right for you now and what you eat during the week may be totally different to what you eat on a weekend when you are relaxing.

One thing that you need to remember is that being healthy is really not that complicated.  Trust that your body knows what it needs and what it wants to eat.  It's the brain that makes mistakes.  It's very easy to convince yourself to follow some diet plan and after a week it may leave you feeling lethargic and bloated.  You don't need to read nutrition books to know what to eat, instead you have to foster a deep relationship with your body in which it naturally tells you what it needs to function at its highest potential.

So for the next 10 days I don't want you to think about restricting anything from your diet, I want to you concentrate on ADDING IN the right clean foods.  

Here is a list of things that I would encourage you to ADD IN to your diet each day:

  • Upon rising have a warm glass of water with 1/2 a lemon. 
  • Pump up your green vegetables, have at least 4 servings of vegetables per day - you might do this by having a green juice or a green smoothy in the morning, then one serving of greens with lunch and one serving of greens with dinner.
  • Don't be afraid of fruits, have 2 servings per day - this could be an apple with a spoonful of nut butter, strawberries, blue berries, add a banana to your smoothie for breakfast.
  • Eat good quality and properly prepared whole grains - have at least 2 servings per day - think quinoa or oats for breakfast, sprouted bread, sourdough bread for lunch
  • Lean meat and protein sources - have at least 2 servings per day - think chicken, pork, wild salmon, sardines, and white fish
  • Good fats - have 2 serving per day - think coconut oil, olive oil, fish oils (essential fatty acids), seen and nut oils and organic butter - use coconut oils for cooking, pour olive oil over your salad, add seeds to your salad, spread organic butter over your toast.

Real food is medicine.


Great food and a healthy diet means enjoying full flavours and invigorating meals while relishing the fresh, simple and unadulterated.  Remember that processed food is loaded with sugars, artificial sweeteners, damaging hydrogenated fats and oils, white flour, chemicals, fillers, synthetic vitamins and minerals, food additives, preservatives, heavy metals and pesticides, all of which contribute to the toxicity with our bodies and are damaging the health of our planet.

Over the coming days I will go over some of my favourite super foods, we'll have a guest post from the fabulous Clair Power from Power of Wellness and plenty of fun recipes and healthy tips and tricks that you can incorporate into your diet.

Nic
xx

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