Let’s talk about nourishing your body.
There are so many ways we nourish our bodies without even thinking about it. Perhaps the most common ways, which probably come to mind first, are through what we eat and drink, as well as physical activities we may engage in through the day. These are things that we do on a daily basis without even thinking about.
But do you know just how much of an impact these practices are having on your overall health?
Truth be told all three of these practices can impact your overall health in various ways. Some practices may have a significantly great impact on your health, others may not. This is because our bodies are going to respond and react to certain things differently than someone else’s. This is why it’s super important to know your body and how it functions.
You don’t want to get caught up in the trap of doing things to achieve a better health just because it’s the latest trend, some celebrity you look up to is doing it, everyone you know is doing it, or simply because someone told you do to it if you wanted to reach a specific goal faster. Here’s why.
When we get down to the nitty gritty of it all there’s no right or wrong way to nourish your body. Yes, there are healthier options that may be a more ideal choice than what you may be currently doing. But again, everyone’s body responds differently to certain things. So just because it’s a healthier option doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right option for you personally. The only way to truly know if something is right or wrong for you is for you to understand your body and what it needs to be what you want it to be.
I learned this the hard way and I want you to avoid falling into the same traps that I did. So, in today’s post I’m sharing with you a few ways you can nourish your body that don’t necessarily follow the latest health/wellness trend.
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What’s the current trend?
Before I share with you some tips that I have found to be super helpful, I first want to discuss the current trend in the health and wellness lifestyle world. Lately it has been all about detox teas. The only detox anything I ever knew of before this tea was detox waters…which you have to prepare by going to the grocery store, buying fruits and veggies, and then cutting them up to put in your water.
When detox teas became a hot topic, I was so intrigued. Here’s why.
I love tea. Like seriously I’m a fanatic. I drink tea every morning, most days at least once in the afternoon, and if I need some help going to sleep at night, I’ll drink a cup before bed. You may be thinking that’s a lot of tea in one day and I’m not going to disagree with you because it is.
I, like most people, have my own health and wellness goals that I’m working towards. So, when I heard about the detox teas, I was curious as to how it could help me reach my goals. The curiosity wasn’t about reaching my goals faster, it was simply about the wellness aspect of it and how it could realistically be incorporated into my current daily wellness routine.
Back in June an opportunity presented itself to me to be able to explore my curiosity. For a whole month I drank the Total Life Changes detox tea daily, on top of working out, and honestly guys I was super disappointed.
While I felt like the tea definitely did what it had “promised” it would, I also felt like it wasn’t performing at the level that it “guaranteed” it would. My homemade detox waters were way more effective, a lot cheaper, and produced more promising and consistent results than the detox tea itself. As a result of this I was having a hard time wrapping my head around what the obsession with detox teas was, especially if they didn’t hold the consistency they claimed they did.
After June I decided to take a break from the tea to see how long the little results I was seeing would hold up. Within a week I was bouncing back to where I had started. This is because it was all temporary. Detox teas promise to do things such as increase regularity, promote weight loss, and change your eating habits. While detox teas can help achieve such results you have to understand that it’s all temporary.
What’s going to maintain those results is the consistency and discipline behind the hard work. While I’m not 100% against detox teas, I’m also aware that it is very much just a trend. Which means that it’s hot today but tomorrow it could be cold (catch my pun?).
I’d rather work hard and make necessary changes the old school way to help me reach my goals, than to rely on a quick fix solution. After all, it’s more ideal to have practices in place that never go out of style. So here are some ways that you can nourish your body doing things you are already doing on a daily basis.
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How to nourish your body
As mentioned earlier there are many ways you can nourish your body. The most common and automatic habits are through what we eat and drink, as well as how we physically move our bodies throughout the day. Let’s take a closer look at each of these.
1. Food
This is so important. Our diet has such a huge impact on our overall health. All too often we don’t think about the foods that we are fueling our bodies with. This is because we been preconditioned to have a survival/appreciation relationship with food.
We never take the time to be conscious and aware of the foods we eat, how much of it, and why. While survival and enjoying food are important factors, so is putting foods in our bodies that make us feel great. I’m a firm believer in the idea that you can eat whatever you want and still be in the nest shape of your life.
How do you achieve this? By eating certain foods in moderation, being mindful of your portion sizes, and incorporating the necessary food groups into your daily meals. Honestly, I could go on and on about what to eat, what not to eat, how to do this and that, why this diet is “better” than the other one, but I’m not going to.
You know your body, you know your habits (good and bad), you know your personal health and wellness goals, and at the end of the day you know what you are and are not going to eat and do. Therefore, I can’t tell you what’s best for you. Only you can. What I can tell you is that when it comes to food the key to nourishing your body is to fuel it with foods that fuel you.
For example, if you eat and burger and then find yourself drifting into food coma, or you’re low on energy, or maybe you get sick afterwards, maybe limit the number of burgers you eat in a day/week/month. On the other hand, if you love french fries and eating them daily is not holding you back from reaching your goals, eat as much as you want.
You have to listen to the way your body responds when you eat certain things. This will help you identify what food intolerances you may have and need to remove from your diet, as well as what necessary food groups are missing from your diet. That’s the only way to know what foods properly nourish your body.
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2. Beverages
Another big one is being mindful of what you are drinking in a day. If you’re the type of person who avoids water at all costs, this needs to stop now. Water is so good and essential to our bodies. We need to be drinking plenty of water throughout the day if we want to always feel and perform at our best.
No, it’s not the best tasting beverage in the world, but it is the healthiest for you.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with indulging in a sugary drink here and there, but these drinks should not be the main beverage you are consuming for most of the day. This is because they are packed with tons of sugar, they don’t help to breakdown the food in our bodies for proper digestion, and they don’t increase energy, help with sleep, or do anything else positive for our bodies.
If anything, they’re a great pick me up during the day, but even that burst of energy is temporary. Try to avoid pop/sodas if possible.
While they taste great, they will not help you achieve the results you’re after. If you find yourself craving a sugary drink lean more towards juice, flavored water, or green tea (just not a detox tea of any kind). While these options may still contain sugar, they’re more on the healthy side of ideal drinks to better your health.
Juice tends to have natural sugars derived straight from the fruit, but always check the label to be sure. Flavored water is essentially water just with a kick to it to trick your brain into thinking it’s not. And tea is always a great option for your health. Yes, some drink it with sugar but a great substitute for sugar that won’t have you sacrificing taste is honey.
Again, you know what’s best for your body and how it responds to certain things, so whatever you choose to do just do it in moderation. Unless it’s straight tap/distilled water. Then drink as much as your body can handle for optimal results.
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3. Physical movement
This is perhaps the most important. The truth is while we like to think we move our bodies a lot during the day, we actually don’t. We associate necessary movement with necessary daily activities. So, like going to work, walking our dogs, going grocery shopping, cleaning the house, etc. While any kind of movement no matter how big or small is great, we need to aim higher.
Maybe on top of all your daily activities you also add in a 30-minute cardio workout session. Or maybe you take an hour long walk daily. Or possibly you spend an hour outside playing with the kids or your dogs. Or maybe every weekend you go on a mini hike. There are so many physical things we can do to increase our movement throughout the day.
It’s vital that we nourish our bodies through movement because it helps for proper blood circulation, strengthens our immune system, keeps our muscles and joints strong and healthy, it’s good for heart health, and most importantly it has a positive impact on our mental and emotional health.
Being physically active can also assist with other areas of our health. Such as losing weight or maintaining a certain weight, gaining muscle, and toning your body. It can also help to relieve yourself of anxiety, take your focus off of negative thoughts, and help you get a clear focus on your goals.
This is by far one of the greatest ways to nourish our bodies simply because it really does directly impact all areas of our health.
All in all, there’s no limit to the types of physical activities you can do to improve your health in a natural and safe way. Get creative, explore options that are already available to you, and make increasing your daily body movement a necessary part of your daily activities.
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Conclusion
I get it, we all tend to look for the latest trends as a means to improve our health. While there isn’t anything wrong with this, we also need to make sure that we are taking the time to educate ourselves about what that trend is.
What does it look like? What is required of you? What results does it promise or guarantee? How long do you have to do the activity? Are these permanent or temporary results?
I also encourage you to ask yourself deeply rooted questions. Such as why am I wanting to follow this trend? Have I explored other options or alternatives? Is this the best decision for my health? Is this safe for me to participate in? Am I doing this because of the trend or maybe because of who I see promoting it? What is my ultimate end goal?
All decisions you make in regards to your health matter. You’re going to change something you are currently doing to replace it with something you are not doing in the hopes of achieving what you want.
Experimentation is key to any health and wellness journey. You have to figure what works best for you, what’s not helping you in any way, and what it is you actually want to do. Only then can you find the right routine coupled with the right practices that are ideal and make sense to you.
The next time the latest health/wellness trend pops up on your newsfeed stop and ask yourself a series of questions (like the ones above) before jumping on board. If it makes sense for you then go for it, but if you can find other healthier, safer, more easily accessible options, and more ideal practices outside of the trend, great.
Ultimately only you know what’s best for you. No matter how you nourish your body, just make sure it’s the right choice for you, and it aligns with your over-arching goals.
-Xo
Kimora