Featured Nutrition

Ditch the Rules

Most of my life I ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it. I was overweight for a chunk of time where life was difficult, but even when I wasn’t, the nutrients I was choosing to give my body weren’t optimal. I would occasionally try and follow a diet or program, but nothing ever really stuck.

It’s ok if you fall down and lose your spark, just make sure when you get back up you rise as the whole damn fire. ~ Colette Werden

Two years ago, my life was jolted by a diagnosis of Muscular Sclerosis. It’s a story for another time (Wanna grab some chai?). But what ended up being the major result is that I looked at the nutrients my body was lacking, and I tried to provide it. For the first year I followed the Wahls Protocol developed by Terry Wahls, MD. Only level 1 (there are 3), but very strictly level 1 and some parts of level 2. I combined this and exercise to jump-start myself into the mindset of repairing. I chose to remain medication free – which is also another story – and I focused on sleep, meditation, and stress reduction as well. Fast forward another year, and I have eased myself back in to eating some of the things restricted on her diet. I continue to strive for whole, real food and multiple vegetables, mostly greens, at every meal. I recently completed the requirement to become a Holistic Nutrition Coach from the AFPA, mostly to further my own knowledge on this whole nutrition journey.

For so long I believed that a fad diet would make me a better person, and if I could just follow their rules I would be in a better place.

So, to say the least, understanding nutrition has been a journey for me. For so long I believed that a fad diet would make me a better person, and if I could just follow their rules I would be in a better place. What I have come to understand most though, is that my diet and my nutrients are up to me and my body. Following someone else’s way of energizing themselves is stressful for me because it does not fit my life or who I am. I can learn from others, I can use their suggestions, I can try recipes, but if it is not authentic to my life, my family, my experiments in the kitchen then eventually I will “fail”. Sometimes failure can spin us into a not so great place.

When my nutrition is my own journey, I never fail…and that keeps me in a good place. So, I read and read and try to understand what it is that our bodies need to work best. I make choices and changes that resonate with me, I try and provide the same for those around me, and then I let it go.

I don’t give myself the rules of eating this or counting that, I give myself knowledge and resources. And then I trust myself 100% to believe I am worth it to make the best choices. There is definitely a time and place where following a strict set of rules is a must, and there are definitely days where I feel like I didn’t do a great job. But allowing myself to ditch the rules, allows me to forgive myself easily and try again the next day.

I feel freedom in the choice. Because really, it’s all about making today better than yesterday, right!?

 

 

You Might Also Like