Diet. It’s often a frightening word. Images of Iceberg Lettuce and shredded Carrot often spring to mind all mounted onto 1 tasteless unsatisfying plate. “Eat your greens.” “Drink Milk.” “Don’t drink Milk.” “Wine is good for you.” “Wine is bad for you.” It’s often hard to navigate the ever changing road as to what is healthy and what isn’t healthy.
I have also stuck to a simple memoir; ‘Eat whole foods – mostly plants’. I can almost hear the sheer disappointment within you all. “He’s one of those vegetarian hippies” I hear you cry.
We need to remember that food is fuel. Food is medicine. Food is life. What works for one, doesn’t work for all. What we put into our bodies either fights disease or fuels it. If you had a bruise on your leg and you banged it three times a day, then it would never heal. This is the exact same stories as with our bodies – breakfast, dinner and tea.
We also need to remember that we are only human. We crave junk food, and that’s fine as long as it’s the minority and not the majority.
Rather than flog yourself over a slip, embrace it as simply an integral part of the process of change. Punish yourself and you’ve just made a second mistake – because holding yourself to an unrealistic standard is a pattern that can lead to defeatism. A shame spiral that can take you out of the game altogether. And the game is all about long-term sustainability over short-term temporary gains.
If we are fuelling our bodies with the best nutrition, then we can expect to give ourselves the best possible chance of firing on all cylinders. After all, there is more and more evidence mounting that there is a very strong brain – stomach link. We urge everyone here at Omnis to live well. If we live well, then we work well. We are sharper, we have more energy and everything is tinged with a sheen of positivity.
Diet is also more than just food; it’s everything that we consume. Radio, TV, News, positivity, negativity. As a nation we need to understand the importance of consuming not only proper food, but proper content. If this pandemic has highlighted anything, it’s that it’s very easy to get bogged down with negative news headlines, which in turn really affects your mental health.
Don’t crucify yourself, but give your body the chance to fulfil its potential, which in turn will make you fulfil your potential in all aspects of life.