Healthy and Healthy for You are Two Different Things
How to choose the foods that work best for your unique chemistry.
If you were to go on ten different health or weight loss websites, you are likely to find ten different approaches to achieving your goal. One may stress that going vegetarian or vegan is the best diet. Someone else may recommend an all raw foods diet. One expert will tell you to eliminate all carbs while another will be just as adamant that healthy whole grains are absolutely necessary for health. And on and on it goes!
There are nuggets of wisdom in each of these but I honestly believe there are just a couple of basic principles that would apply to all of us and then it becomes a matter of choosing what works best with your unique chemistry, regardless of what any expert tells you. It can be as simple as paying attention to how your body responds to the foods you are eating and then making the necessary adjustments.
If you are gaining weight, experiencing digestive issues like bloating or constipation, experiencing low energy levels, hormonal fluctuations, aches and pains or any other health issue, perhaps you need to listen more carefully to your body! Those annoying symptoms are actually your body speaking to you loud and clear that something you’re doing is not working.
I mentioned that I believe there are only a few basic principles that apply to everyone and form the foundation of healthy nutrition. Here are my foundational four:
- Eat the best quality, whole, real, one-ingredient foods you can afford.
- Avoid processed foods as much as possible. (Those that come in a package and have ingredients. Real foods are ingredients.)
- Don’t eliminate any macronutrient – you need clean protein, healthy fats and non-starchy carbs (vegetables). Quality is the critical factor – choosing the highest quality and best form of each.
- Keep a food log so you can track what is working for you and what isn’t.
This is why I call my "Today’s the Day Plan" a blueprint. There are no hard and fast rules and it’s not a diet – it’s a plan we personalize to fit your needs. I had one gentleman who needed to drastically lower his triglycerides and in the process of doing that he lost 20 lbs. Another lady was diagnosed as pre-diabetic and in the process of normalizing her glucose levels, she lost 35 lbs! All on this plan, personalized to their needs.
Weight loss can be a pleasant side effect of eating the right foods for your body.
There is no one diet that is right for every person. Our bodies change with time and even though a diet worked well for you in your 20’s and 30’s, you may find you need to make adjustments in your 40’s and beyond. That is natural and normal. We are not static beings, we are always changing and adapting so why shouldn’t our nutrition?
Are you choosing the foods that work best for your unique chemistry?
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