Towards Better Health
Better health for all starts with better health for yourself. Change from the inside out.
What can we do to be healthier? To start that journey towards better health? To avoid the Subscription Prescription Model?
FYI: I am not perfect. In fact, my inner critic is fighting me on every word right now. Wanting to know who I think I am to be telling people how to be healthy.
I do not have all the answers. I’m learning as I go, too! I’m just sharing what I know.
It’s all a journey towards better health, not a destination:
Learn. Make changes. Get healthier. Repeat.
Step by step.
It’s more about balance than absolutes.
Start Fresh
Our food system is broken. There is no longer a connection between what grows in the ground and what winds up on the plate. No longer a connection between the animals raised for food and the food on our plates. Children grow up not even knowing about Old McDonald and his farm. Not realizing that farmers are the ones who grow the food that they eat. Not knowing what chickens looked like before they were on their dinner plate.
The US FDA puts out guidelines that are based more on the interests of Big Food than on nutrition needs. And Big Food creates processed products that are more about how to maximize profits than about the health of their customers.
It wasn’t always this way, though. In fact, just a few generations back, people knew more about eating healthy than we do today.
To move towards health means starting fresh. It means throwing out much of what we have been told. And it means avoiding the processed products offered by Big Food — including fast food and restaurants.
Eating Healthy Isn’t Complicated
Eating healthy by cooking at home, does not have to be complicated. It might take some time, but so does dining out. You spend time on traveling to and from the restaurant and then extra time sitting in the restaurant: waiting to order, waiting for you food, waiting for the bill.
It’s cheaper in the long run, too. Especially when you factor in the costs, in both time and money, of being unhealthy: doctor visits, time away from friends and family, etc.
It’s what my husband and I have chosen for ourselves. Pre-pandemic, we were dining out quite a bit. It had become a habit. First it was Friday night. Then Saturday night was added. Soon we were going out on Wednesday night to celebrate the mid-week. Then there were lunches. It really got to be too much, but we just kept doing it.
When the pandemic came along, we were forced to make a change. For a long while, all we could do was take out. And I vowed that we would not return to dining out (even as take out) as much had been doing. And we’ve kept that vow. It’s all about being prepared.
For us, since it’s just us two, it’s also about the leftovers. 🤣
This is the road not taken for most of us in today’s world. This is not the easy route. It requires more work. It requires more discipline. But it is do-able.
It also means acquiring new skills. Cooking skills. And that is part of the plan for The Sage Chef. In fact, my first recipe is coming up at the end of March. If you need personal attention in learning cooking skills, I offer coaching and cooking classes.
Body — Mind — Spirit
While I tend to talk mostly about food, that’s only part of the story. What you eat impacts your body, but so does what you think and how you move. So there are other things we can do that impact our health.
Being active: Take a walk. Ride a bike. Go for a run. Go dancing. Do yoga. Find movement you like and do it regularly.
Getting sunshine: It’s your best source of vitamin D. Not hours a day, 20 minutes is good.
Getting out in the fresh air.
Avoiding excess stress: limit your news consumption, limit your social media consumption. etc
Why I do this
I want you to be informed. To be able to make better decisions for your own health. To be empowered to take control of your own health.
Knowledge is power. The more we know about what is good and not-so-good for our health, the better our choices become.
Wouldn’t you rather make changes to improve your health, instead of taking a pill? Instead of being part of the Subscription Prescription Model? Especially considering that the prescriptions don’t cure the problem, they only treat the symptoms.
My Food Philosophy
I want to share with you my own food philosophy.
I lived most of my life without thinking much about what I ate. And certainly without any type of philosophy related to food. Who does that? 🧐
Eventually, I realized that I did have a food philosophy. As I learned more about what has been done to foods in modern times, I realized that my food philosophy was, for the most part, how I had been living most of my life. Now, though, it is much more intentional.
Here are the basics of my food philosophy:
Whole foods
Vegetables and fruits. Grown organically. I’m a big believer in the benefits of vegetables, but I’m totally an omnivore.
Animals and animal products that are preferably grass-fed or pasture raised.
Unprocessed or minimally processed foods. I’m not even one to buy pre-cut veggies, since that is processing.
Seasonal and local. I’m increasingly a believer in this approach for many reasons.
Choosing traditional fats, instead of the vegetable and seed oils that have shown up in the past 50-60 years.
Non-GMO foods. You just can’t beat Mother Nature!
Organic. Farmers using organic practices.
Avoiding added sugar
Following this philosophy most of the time, because life happens and it is meant to be enjoyed!
Along my journey, I have grown to love the concept of eating seasonally and locally. It’s an idea that seems fairly new, although for most of humanity’s existence it was the only way to eat. I believe it matters. So much so that I am devoting next week to talking just about eating local and seasonal.
Do you have a food philosophy? Even if you’ve never through about it, you may want to decide on your own food philosophy. Base it on good nutrition, not the Standard American Diet!
If you’re ready to start a journey towards better health and need coaching and guidance, contact me.