(With a lot of hard work) I’ve gotten to a point in my life where food deprivation, exhaustion, sickness, pain and fear is a thing of the past. With this freedom comes the ability to tap into the smallest imbalances in my body usually caused by not taking the time to relax, not remembering to breath, and losing my awareness.
If our diet is not optimal we have a challenging time picking up on the imbalanced signals caused by external factors, usually because we’ve lost touch with our internal gauge. Only when we begin to eat whole foods, prepare meals that are right for our body, and respect the types of foods that our body needs, will we pick up on these signals and vastly improve our quality of life.
But how can you get to this point and where does nutrition, awareness, and mindful balance come into play?
Steps to health
The following steps are what I work through with each of my clients and something you can begin on your own as well. Bringing awareness to where you are in each stage is a huge step forward for your health. Each stage has different challenges, goals and outcomes.
I would like to note that becoming healthy is owned by you. You are in control of your own healing and where you see yourself. Only you can determine; in the end, what’s of highest value to you, and where you want to be. With that also comes the responsibility that you own your progress. Not anyone else. Instead of taking that as a burden I challenge you to feel empowered by being in control of your future and know that you have people around you to support your journey.
Ingrain – The first step to health is to incorporate healthful foods, change habits, and educate yourself on what foods are healthful and which are not. This process is about learning how to prepare foods and how to make smart choices, while addressing key issues one step at a time.
Personalize – Second, is to understand what’s best for your body – what foods do you feel energized from? Which leave you feeling down and out after just a couple of minutes of eating them? Just as everyone looks different on the outside shows us that everyone works and looks different on the inside.
This step really challenges us to move inward and pay very close attention to the signals from our body; good or bad, and adjust our foods according to what our body tells us. There are steps you can take with a nutritionist to make this stage a lot easier and give you the tools you need to understand what foods fuel you best.
Grow – Once you’ve ingrained yourself with healthy eating habits and have tapped into your body to search for the answers on what foods fuel you… it’s time to reflect, take a step back and welcome:
Gratitude
Relaxation & breathing
Awareness
Love
For the next 4 weeks I will be reviewing each of these growth values by reflecting on why they are important, why they’re often forgotten on the path to healing and balancing our body, mind, and soul, what they’ve done for me personally as well as what I’ve seen these values bring other people.
Let’s kick off 2011 with a bang and allow ourselves to grow to our fullest potential!
a Functional Medicine Practitioner, host of the Healthful Pursuit Podcast, and best-selling author of The Keto Diet & Keto for Women. I want to live in a world where every woman has access to knowledge to better her health.