There are different ways for you to show yourself some love and care. It can be treating yourself with a nice hot bath at night, maybe pouring yourself a glass of chardonnay, or letting yourself have fun by going on a night out with a dear friend.
As you can likely imagine, as a nutritionist, I practice self-care and self-love through the food I choose to eat, how I prepare it, and how I eat it. I see all of these as acts of love towards my mind, body, and soul.
You see, I believe that good food fuels good thoughts. Good thoughts produce good emotions. Good emotions translate to good choices. Good choices equals good actions.
My Self-Care Regimen
It starts at 6 am, when I wake up. The first thing I do is go to the kitchen to drink 1 L of fresh filtered water. Sometimes, it has some lemon juice in it, and sometimes, it doesn’t. I’m flexible; it all depends on my body needs.
Breakfast is my next act of self care and sometimes is not having breakfast…because, yes, fasting is healthy. The art of connecting with my body and hunger come into play here. If I don’t feel hungry at all, I may simply skip breakfast and go straight to lunch. On week days, my breakfast will likely be a smoothie made with some lovely greens, ½ cup of berries , a scoop of my favorite protein powder, and a splash of MCT oil. On weekends, it may be more elaborate, if I have the time to cook. Eggs and bacon are my favorite!
Before you ask, yes, most mornings, I will have coffee. My choice is Swiss Water filtered organic coffee…more on my thoughts on coffee here.
I often prepare lunch and dinner ahead of time. Part of my self care routine is also a couple of hours on weekends dedicated to cooking food in larger quantities so I can have easy access to healthy meals throughout the week.
Lunch in the winter will likely be a big bowl of soup made with a lots of vegetables, a protein source, and half an avocado. In the summer, it will be a vegetable salad with some kind of protein, sprinkled with chopped nuts and some high quality olive oil. Simple, but delicious!
Dinner may be more elaborate: some meat, fish or poultry and some cooked veggies. Mostly, I prepare the meal during a weekend. I’ll toss 5 to 6 cups of chopped vegetables, drizzle it with some olive oil, and sprinkle some spices before I put them into the oven to roast. I simply reheat them in a frying pan on week nights. I’ll add a precooked protein source such as chicken thighs with my roasted vegetables and I’ll have a dinner ready in less then 5 minutes. A quick dinner made on the spot is often a pre-portioned wild salmon sprinkled with sea salt and olive oil, broiled in the oven for 9 minutes with a side of sautéed red cabbage. It’s ready in less than 10 minutes!
I Don’t Snack…and Here’s Why
Snacking is a hot-button topic among nutritionists. In my view, snacking is neither necessary nor healthy. Eating 5 to 6 times a day is not natural to humans. I aim to eat 2 to 3 meals a day and make then nourishing and satisfying enough that I’m don’t get hungry between meals. It’s so much easier to live this way.
Cooking real, healthy food is time-consuming no matter what people tell you. I consider that time as an investment in myself — my body and my mind. I have so much more energy and positive thoughts, and I’m able to make great choices all day when I’m well fed.
Nourishing yourself is an act of self-care and self-love. You either love yourself or destroy yourself with the choices you make.
Originally published at medium.com