Nutritional Paradigm Shift

In The Trenches

Happy Post Holidays.

I don’t know about everyone else, but after days or so of not eating optimally, I feel like CRAP.

It’s really amazing how my body after a couple of days of eating hors d’oeuvres and Chinese food is SCREAMING for broccoli, and chicken and other fruits, veggies and good protein sources.

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not perfect in regards to my nutrition, but I've come a long way. Case in point, here is what a typical day looked like for me back in the day.

• ·        Breakfast: Cereal most likely honey nut cheerios OR I’d pick up a cinnamon bun or doughnut with a cup of coffee
• ·        Lunch: sub, sandwich, hot dog and French fries, whatever
• ·        Dinner: cheese raviolis with veggies, butter and Parmesan cheese.

I also would often make a meal out of nachos. I ate a huge amount of cheese AND I’d always have something for desert, cookies or ice cream.

You get the picture, my nutrition was a mess.

Now that my nutrition is so much improved, I can’t even imagine eating that way for any length of time.

Last week I watched the documentary, “Hungry for Change”.  It’s about how the food industry misleads consumers into believing that chemically engineered “food” is good for us, but in reality is quite the opposite.

There were two key points that I took away that I would like to share:

First was a discussion on how our bodies instinctively know what foods it should eat to maintain optimum health and wellness.  WE just need to get re-connected and learn to listen and trust our natural instincts.

The second and we have all heard this before: “DIETS DON’T WORK”, at least long term. The reasoning, the moment you tell someone NOT to eat something, all they think about is what they aren't eating.  There needs to be a paradigm shift from, “I can’t eat such and such” to “I don’t want to eat such and such”.

How is this accomplished?  Simply concentrate on ADDING in the healthy stuff: vegetables, fruit, lean protein sources, healthy fats from nuts, avocado, and cold water fish.  Eventually the healthy foods and the desire for healthy food will crowd out the less healthy foods, as your body and your mind start to work optimally and efficiently.