Nutrition is so much more than simply eating correctly, finding the right diet, or avoiding certain foods. The beauty of nutrition happens when you a create a nutritional lifestyle. Nutrition, left on its own, leads to burnout and breakdown. How many times have you or someone you know gone on a ‘diet’ only to stop a few days later, or create “New Year’s resolutions” that barely make it past January?
A nutritional lifestyle begins with mindset. There are three primary results that a nutritional lifestyle brings, which are:
Increased energy
Maintenance of optimal weight
Better mental health.
Knowing these elements helps refocus the brain to desire, crave even, peak health.
Then What?
Once we know or become aware of what the result can or should be, we now have a choice to make. Sometimes it can feel impossible with everything out in the market to truly navigate the path to peak nutrition.
So…
Here are 14 recommendations that will help guide you towards living your nutritional best.
- Don’t diet. That’s right. Dieting puts the brain in a ‘give up’ mode. Think lifestyle.
- Track occasionally. This is great to see what you are eating from time to time. Do it for 1-2 days every quarter.
- Build relationships. Social interaction lifts our spirits.
- Spice it up. Using herbs and spices in cooking will develop your palate for other foods.
- Strengthen your muscles. Exercise builds muscles and allows you to do more.
- Eat Vegetables and fruit. This is well known. Just a good reminder.
- Get some sun. Vitamin D helps keep our skin intact and natural D comes from sun exposure (another reason to get out and get moving).
- Turn down the lights. An hour or so before heading to bed, turn down as many lights as possible so your body begins to slow and prepare itself for rest.
- Drink water. Often when we are hungry it is because we are dehydrated. Keeping our body hydrated also reduces extra eating.
- Your gut is priceless. Taking care of your gut results in long term overall health. Probiotics, cleansings. Your gut in central to where all food ingested goes.
- Sleep. The more sleep we get, the more we accomplish. Believe it or not, sleeping 8-9 hours a night results in being more focused. A better focus leads to more productivity and less grogginess.
- Eat often. Smaller meals more often drive the body into knowing it will be fed. Skipping meals leads to overeating as the body does not know when it will get its next fix.
- Cheat a little. It’s ok to indulge occasionally. When we don’t, we feel bad about ourselves, and end up eating more, and often worse.
- Ask why. When something feels off, ask yourself why I am feeling this way.
This is just the tip of the iceberg for recommendations that will carve your path to peak nutritional health. Start small. Start small, implement one new recommendation each week, and before you know it you will be operating at a peak level. Comment below if you would like the entire list of 30.