When it comes to your health, stereotypes or generalized lifestyles that work or don’t work for someone else don’t matter.
All that matters is how you and your body react to the individual strategies you choose to be healthy.
As a nutritionist, when I started helping clients, I thought they should listen to me. Today I teach them to listen to their bodies and minds.
Are you ready to:
Think outside the “diet box”?
Listen to your own body rather than someone else’s (meal) plans?
Here are three truths that will guide you to healthy eating for the rest of your life:
1. Your body is smart. Listen to it.
If the thought of tofu makes you miserable because your body is telling you that it genuinely needs a steak, have a steak!
We all have a completely individual and innate food navigation system that tells us what to do (this is called somatic intelligence). When the signals in our brain and body aren’t distorted by chemicals or artificial ingredients, we can actually learn to use our somatic intelligence effectively.
2. Your mind is very powerful. Use it to your advantage.
Your mind can be a powerful asset — learn how to listen to and use it efficiently.
I, for example, dropped out of therapy, ditched all prescription drugs, and healed my depression on my own, because I strongly believed I could get better without pills, and I thrived on my personal holistic program.
But I would never recommend the same approach to someone who’s convinced that alternative health strategies are a load of crap.
What you believe is ultimately what drives you and will make or break you. If you’d like to change your mindset because it’s actually doing you harm, take a look at your beliefs first. See if any beliefs are limiting your potential for success and happiness.
3. Stay flexible around food rules.
I know staying flexible and adjusting your strategies can be exhausting, time-consuming, or downright scary.
But what was right for you a couple of years ago (or maybe even yesterday), isn’t necessarily in your best interest today.
When I took control of my own well-being, I went from being a lover of junk food to a vegetarian. After that I went vegan, then raw, then gluten-free.
Today, there’s nothing I tell myself I can’t eat. I might go all plant-based for months and then get back to eating animal products, if my body tells me to do so.
One month yoga might be the perfect thing for me to stay balanced; the next month it could be running.
Nothing is set in stone, especially when it comes to your health and happiness. Adjust, stay open-minded, and never be afraid of change.
I successfully healed myself from depression, an eating disorder, codependency, and bacteriophobia without drugs because I was fortunate enough to be able to educate myself along the way and because I believed I could do it.
I also believe that others can do the same, which is why I’ve become a holistic health strategist to help those seeking advice.
If you don’t have a condition that requires a specific diet, there’s no need to complicate things. If you want to live as healthfully and happily as you possibly can:
Start by keeping both the things you put into, onto, and around your body simple, clean, and natural.
Once you’ve cleansed your system, get rid of toxic self-talk and self-sabotage by learning practical self-development strategies.
Make sure there are no hidden nutrient deficiencies disturbing your communication with yourself.
Be ready to adjust your holistic health strategy along with your life.
I always tell my patients to not get obsessive about following a diet. The body has infinite wisdom. Listening to the body always works.
Remember, nothing is set in stone.