Nutrition

“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” Jim Rohn

Let’s face it.  Our bodies are complex. That is an understatement really.  It is more like a miracle!   And we only get one of them.  We cannot go to a dealership and pick up a new model if we get tired of the current one or if it doesn’t work very well anymore.  A city full of the greatest inventors could not create a human body to work the way ours do; even an imperfect body with below average development or one that has been injured.  On top of that, our bodies are ever changing. It will respond differently (or not) to different things at different times of our life.  How many times have you heard someone say ‘I used to be able to stay up all night and still be able to function well the next day’  or ‘I can’t eat spicy food any more’.  So it stands to reason our energy source i.e. nutrition, will be complex as well and there is a lot of conflicting information out there about what is ‘healthy’ and ‘good for you’.

My Fitness Pal has kept me honest with regards to what I put in my body.  I love the feature that tracks the nutrition levels of not only calories but fats, cholesterol, sodium, potassium, carbohydrates, proteins and vitamins and shows me the optimum levels I should have per day based on my age, gender and dietary goals.  It can be customized to my hearts content and tracks what I consume through a five star application on my iPhone (including a scanning feature) or on my computer. I can even add my own recipes!  Entering what I’m consuming in the database and watching how it affects the levels, and turning certain numbers red, prevents me from eating certain things .  Sugar for example is my utmost weakness. It is in EVERYTHING!

One thing it doesn’t track however is the reasons I overeat or eat things that (basically) poison me. So every time I overate this summer I wrote it down and came up with the following extensive list of triggers:

–       When I’m happy
–       When socializing and during holidays
–       After having company to get rid of leftovers
–       To use up food before the ‘best before’ date
–       Out of obligation i.e. when someone gives you food as a gift such as a birthday cake
–       When not paying attention or when bored
–       Because I think I’ve burned more calories than I actually have
–       Because I want to try a recipe
–       When procrastinating
–       As a reward for doing something I didn’t want to do
–       When I’m thirsty (but don’t recognize it)
–       When in a hurry or feeling anxious or resentful
–       
Because (I tell myself) ‘I’m already fat’
–       The more I eat the more I want to eat
–       When I’m angry
–       When I’m lonely
–       When I’m in love
–       Because it tastes sooooooo good
–       When I’m over hungry
–       When I eat too fast

That’s a hell of a lot of reasons and I’m STILL finding new ones.

Mantras have had no effect on what I consume. I had been telling myself ‘garbage in, garbage out’ for decades while stuffing my pie hole with chips and chocolate covered jujubes while washing them down with pop or beer or wine.

What has worked the absolute best in the past, if I can discipline myself enough to do it consistently, is to eat very slowly and mindfully and not doing anything else while eating; not watch TV or read or even listen to the radio. Just eat and chew slowly and pay attention to every detail of the process; the flavour obviously, and the texture, are easy to notice. But when I really pay attention to all the elements of the motions of eating and the sounds and my bodies reaction to the food, my whole being really appreciates it.  My digestion is better, I lose weight, I crave whole simple foods, and am repelled by processed and sugary foods.  It’s like magic!

‘The body is the sacred sanctuary of the soul.
Care for it like you would a flower garden.
Only when you honour, love and cherish your body can your spirit soar.’

IIana Rubenfeld