If you are finding it difficult to eat well in this day and age, you are not alone! We are continually assaulted by information on what to eat, and what not to eat, and when to eat, and all sorts of other rules.
It is very easy to get confused.
Aspirations and Instagram
Social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook mean that anyone can be an expert. We have so much conflicting information available to us that it’s hard to make any kind of intelligent decision. We don’t know who to believe, or who are backed by any kind of nutritional knowledge.
We see pictures and videos of influencers who look incredible, and who base their whole look on some extraordinary diet or magical product. We aspire to be what we see – it is completely natural to want to look this good.
But we forget two main points:
- We don’t know how much of it is true. The facts could be made up or not based on any medical evidence. The images and videos are rarely reality, and may be highly edited and photoshopped to get the look they end up with. It is at best a distortion of the truth, and at worst, could be all completely false.
- This person has a completely different body from yours. Even if the diet or product that they claim worked miracles for them (which could all be a complete lie), it won’t necessarily work for you.
We read one blog that says that a certain food or food group is good and another is bad, but then the next blog will say the complete opposite.
The increasing amount of ‘Insta-famous’ people preaching about diet is doing more harm than good. Women, men, and children of every age are following people because they want to look like them, but sadly this may be impossible.
Influencers become popular by speaking to our insecurities and our aspirations. People have lost touch with themselves now by always chasing that magic pill.
You have to work on yourself and find what works for YOUR body…
Every body is unique
While we generally have all of the same healthy diet requirements, how each body responds to each individual food or exercise may vary.
If you are eating something that isn’t right for your body it can tell you this in all sorts of ways, including:
- Aches and pains including headaches
- Difficulty losing weight
- Skin problems such as rashes, acne or dullness
- Mood problems such as irritability, anxiety, and depression
- Lack of energy, fatigue
- Impacting your brain, focus, and memory
- Impacting your digestion causing stomach and bowel problems
One person’s amazing diet that helped them shed 30kg and transform their life may not work for you – because your body is different.
The key here is to listen to your body. It’s giving you signals every day about what’s happening. Aches and pains can be associated with inflammation caused by the foods you eat. The best way to get to bottom of why you feel so bad is to cut out the crap and see for yourself!
Understand that your body will change with age as well (as forgive it for that!). Your metabolism will change as you get older, and also, for women, after you’ve had children.
You may have been able to eat any old junk when you were younger without gaining weight, but suddenly now have to watch every calorie. Or you may have had no trouble with gluten or lactose or sugar before, and now suddenly your body seems to be revolting against the food you eat.
Listen to what your body is telling you now. Treat it with respect and kindness and pay attention to how you respond to each food that you eat. Then plan your diet from there.
There are some lovely, easy guidelines that you can follow every day which will help.
Any quick and easy weight loss will just as quickly and easily come back on
Drastic weight loss through fad dieting will not stay off when you return to your normal pattern of eating and exercise.
The only way to transform your body is to adjust your diet to eat healthy every day, and exercise on a regular basis. It takes some time and effort to see permanent results.
If you want to lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories than you expend through activity and exercise.
A healthy eating plan needs to work for you
This means it needs to fit your lifestyle and be sustainable long term. It needs to make you feel good – no drastic dieting that makes you miserable or gives you weird side effects like headaches, flatulence or bad breath.
It needs to work for your body inside and out, as well as your life and your mental state. All of these parts of you should benefit from the right healthy eating plan.
Just be you – because everybody else is taken
You shouldn’t try to look like any other person, because your body has subtle differences, and sometimes pretty massive ones.
Eating right means aspiring to be the very best version of yourself.
Choose Simple Whole Foods
Simple and easy is the way to go. Do not complicate things when it really doesn’t need to be that way.
The best way to start can be to stick with whole foods, fresh fruit, veggies, and lean protein, then throw in some good quality fats for that brain function and go from there.
Think of every meal in terms of the circle of your plate. Generally, you should fill half of your plate with non-carb vegetables, the more colour varieties the better. Then fill a quarter with whole grains or healthy carbohydrates. Then the last quarter should be healthy fats and protein.
You should aim to eat foods in as close as possible to their natural state – so aim for the least amount of processing and chemical additions as possible.
Strip back the things that you know are bad for you like high sugar, deep-fried, heavily processed garbage. Limit your alcohol. Drink water.
Remember you are human and give yourself a break
Most diets work best if you allow yourself cheat meals or even cheat days every week.
Unless you are allergic to something there is no food that you can never have – so if you love something as a treat then you should have it, sometimes.
Put your social media feed on a diet…
Lastly, my best advice is to stop following people that are totally out of reach as far as body goals go. Be real and think about your body and make your body the best version of itself. You are never going to look like someone else, so why would you want to?
You have it all going on yourself you just need to find it.
If you need a hand with a meal or exercise plan, please let us know so we can get you back on the right track, to a better more healthier you!
