Sweet, refreshing rest J
That’s what I’ve been experiencing the last few days. I’ve spent some time with
my mom and my sister, enjoying their company and laughter. I’m so grateful for
it! Treat yourself this week to, at the very least, a break in your routine….even
if it’s only 10 minutes of time spent just on you J
One of the things I’ve spent time doing with my mom &
sister is cook wholesome, delicious recipes, make wonderful “tea” concoctions,
and preserve some of summer’s bounty for the winter months ahead. I have a rich
heritage of healthy eating and am so grateful for it. I’m realizing more and
more that I should not take this heritage lightly. Somehow, as I became an
adult and got settled into life I let some of this training slip and traded it
for some of the modern “conveniences” and fads in our food supply. As I’ve
shared before, after my journey the last few years, I have a renewed interest
and passion for skipping these modern conveniences and eating whole, natural
food with nutrients in the ingredients, as close to their original source as
possible. I love food and I’m loving this journey!
Taking Inventory…
There are so many opinions out there and diet plans and
advice. It truly is overwhelming. I’m not going to give you any advice on what
is right for your body. I think you know better than I do what is right for you.
I do however have many, many people ask me how and what I eat after my bout
with cancer and am happy to share my journey. While I’m always happy to share,
I don’t believe what has worked for me will work for everyone out there. What I
ask you is, “how is what you’re doing working for you?” Do you have any illness
or symptoms of illness? Do you have enough energy to get you through your day?
Do you have any chronic diseases? Do you have any digestive problems? The list
goes on but the main point is how do you feel? Rather than getting off on a
particular food/vitamin/mineral/etc that is good for you or a particular diet
regime and touting its benefits, I would ask first, “do you know what you’re
taking in?” Before you take any supplement you should know how much of it you
are getting and how much of it you are lacking. It may be the best thing in the
world for you but if your body doesn’t need it then why are you taking it? Do
you know how much vitamin c you get a day? How much selenium? How about zinc?
To say nothing of the minerals, etc, etc, etc. If getting these levels tested
is not practical for you at the moment then how about knowing how much you take
in in a day? That you can do! And for free J
I didn’t say it would be easy, but it is free and how can you know what you
need to add if you don’t what you already have or are taking in?
On a very basic level we all see this concept in our cars. We know how much gas, how much and what type of oil, how much transmission fluid, and the list goes on, that our cars need to operate optimally. We don't randomly over-fill the tanks or let them run out or the car doesn't operate. For some reason, however, our bodies (they are not cars!!!), which are so much more beautifully complex, we don't view this way. We can have a hard time taking care of them as well as we take care of our possessions.
On a very basic level we all see this concept in our cars. We know how much gas, how much and what type of oil, how much transmission fluid, and the list goes on, that our cars need to operate optimally. We don't randomly over-fill the tanks or let them run out or the car doesn't operate. For some reason, however, our bodies (they are not cars!!!), which are so much more beautifully complex, we don't view this way. We can have a hard time taking care of them as well as we take care of our possessions.
Journal! Journal!
Journal!
There are a lot of great resources out there. I use
Cronometer. I love that it tracks your micronutrients, which most programs
don’t. I really care much, much less about the macronutrients of
carbs/protein/fat in a day. I am much, much more interested on the
micronutrient level (vitamins & minerals). Cronometer is free if you use it
online. You can download an app to your smartphone for data entry but not much
else and it costs a few dollars for the app. However, if you are on the go it’s
a nice option to be able to put your lunch or whatever in via your phone rather
via your computer. There is a gold subscription service that I have played
around with but in all honesty I’ve found the basic free version to be great and
satisfied exactly what I was looking for. I’ve used several other tracking
programs over the last few years but none of them has given me the data that
Cronometer does on a micronutrient level. The biggest complaint with Cronometer
is that its food database isn’t as developed as some of the others and they
don’t have a barcode scanner where you can scan an item and download the nutrition.
This hasn’t really been a problem for me. I have found the food database
adequate for what I need and entered a few items that were missing for me. I
don’t really have a need for the barcode scanner so this hasn’t been a problem
for me.
But why????
Here’s a simple example of why I want to know this
information about my body and why it may be helpful for you:
There are too many reasons for me to list. In my journey it became important for me to know what was happening inside so I could manage the
symptoms that were surfacing and work on healing on the cellular level.
I also think its helpful because there is such a plethora of
information out there. It’s like the wild, wild west J What if you hear on TV, read
on the Internet, or your best friend tells you that you should be taking this
latest and greatest XYZ supplement? What if rather than running out to spend
money on it and forcing your body to ingest it and deal with it, you know how
much of it you are taking in any given day and know how much you should be
taking in for optimal health? You are able to make an intelligent, informed decision
about your body because you know it best. What if rather than riding the latest
wave of pop health education we knew what our bodies needed? What if rather
than relying on the food supply being offered to us, we took charge of what we
put in our bodies and what ingredients we ingested? Here’s the thing, I would
never ever force someone or even an animal I love to ingest anything harmful,
yet I throw harmful ingredients down the hatch all the time, forcing my own
body to deal with them (or at least I used to!), setting off chains of
reactions that can be very detrimental, and then getting frustrated when my
body doesn’t operate the way I want it to. What if we treated our own bodies
with the same care and respect that we treat those we love? What if? Do you
know what your body needs? It’s special! There’s not another one out there like
it J
On one hand, I find tracking my food can be a pain and an
all round nuisance in general. I also find that I need to watch myself as I can
become a very rigid tracker and get lost in the data and the need to hit
certain targets. Sometimes I need to disconnect and just lighten up J On the other hand, I
find that I have a pretty good idea of what I take into my body and how that affects
me. I know how many grams of protein I need a day to maintain my energy all day
long vs. the recommended daily intake. I also know how much of any particular
vitamin I am taking in so if I have deficiency symptoms or when I hear the
latest and greatest pitch on one I can easily tell if I really need it because
I know whether I’m deficient in it. I also know which vitamins are harder for
me to get in and which supplements may be worth me taking verses those I don’t
really need to take because I am getting plenty of them from my food. I know in
any given day what I need to eat to be at my best based on what I’ve already
eaten. I guess you would call this a love/hate relationship J I love the benefits of
knowing what I eat and how it effects me. I hate the “work” of keeping track of
it. I usually only track 4-5 days a week and may not track my whole life but I
have seen innumerable benefits over the last year and plan to continue with a
good dose of light heartedness about it. I would encourage you to maybe start
your own journey in finding out where you are with your food. There’s no doubt
about it: food does fuel us. So what type of fuel are you giving yourself? How
is it affecting you?
Here’s to eating for your health and enjoying every bite!!!
Here’s to light-hearted, playful education J
Lots of love,
Mary