Healthy eating is everyday self-care!

I love talking about dreams. In a nutshell, here is my philosophy on dreams:

Dreams are big and beautiful and they come true by setting and getting a series of goals. You reach your goals by mastering healthy habits. And as I wrote in my post, “The #1 way to achieve your dream life,” healthy eating is a cornerstone habit. You can read that post here.

I love to be future-focused, but I want to be clear. What you do now determines what you will be in the future. What you eat now determines how you will feel in the future. Start now. Your dream is not sitting around and waiting for you. So, why would you wait to eat healthfully? 

Don’t wait! Take care of yourself now and everyday. Eat well now and everyday. And this routine of healthy eating will help you reach your dream. More than that, when you do, you’ll have a body and mind fit enough to enjoy it to the fullest.

Healthy eating is everyday self-care.

In a previous blog post, called “What is self-care?,” I offered the following definition:

Self-care is the meaningful practice of taking care of yourself and your needs: physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual ... self care will help you level up your body, heart, mind, and soul.

It’s been shown again and again that healthy eating habits will make you more likely to sleep better, exercise more, and feel less stressed. Healthy eating maximizes your energy. What you eat builds and rebuilds you over and over again. And your body uses food in order to actively make energy. 

When you eat well, you’ll feel well and you’ll perform well. You’ll think more clearly. You’ll feel more powerful. You’ll even manage stress better! Well-balanced, nutritious meals are the information and fuel that your body needs to perform in every area of your life.

As you read, please keep the above definition in mind because self-care has become such a buzz word. There are almost 18 million Instagram posts that are tagged #selfcare. And there are millions of other posts with similar hashtags like #selfcarethreads, #selfcarepage, and #selfcaresunday. 

And the images in those Instagram posts are often epic. They feature breathtaking views of the mountains or a cityscape. Or they may include the work of a professional like a manicurist or a massage therapist or any other -ist. And these experiences often look like a big investment of time or money … like a 5-day wellness retreat in Fiji. Or Sunday brunch at The Palace.

Healthy eating doesn’t have to be Instagram-worthy.

But your self-care doesn’t have to be Instagram-worthy. It just has to be worthy of you. Self-care doesn’t have to be beautiful or carefully curated like a social media influencer’s highlight reel. And it’s not just for special occasions. And it doesn’t have to wait for a particular day of the week. Self-care, like the food you choose to eat, is or everyday. So, your daily meals might not inspire you to take a photo, and that’s ok.

Still, your daily meals should meet a certain standard. Here are two requirements. (1) your meals need to build you up and (2) they need to fuel you. In my previous blog post entitled, “What should I eat?,” I wrote a detailed description about the 4 most important nutrients to include in every meal. Click here to read that post, but I can assure you … photogenicity isn’t a nutrient. 

To wrap up this idea, think of two cars. Imagine two amazing red sports cars. They look identical. But one is made of plastic and one is made of steel. Which one would you pick to drive across the country? [Please say the steel one.] You’d look great in either one but only the steel one will keep you safe and go the distance. 

Now, keep that gorgeous steel car in your imagination and think of its fuel. How can you drive your car faster and farther? By giving it more food? No … By giving the car less fuel? Of course not! You give it better fuel - 93 instead of 87.

Is it obvious that you’re the amazing red sports car in this analogy? You’re a magnificent machine that is built up with high-quality food. Your nutritious food is like steel to the sports care. And you’re also fueled with high-quality food. You need to burn it for energy. So, choose your food wisely. Just like you can’t get more out of your car than you put into it, you can’t get more out of your body than you put into it. 

You literally rebuild and recharge yourself with healthy eating habits.

Healthy eating is non-negotiable.

As I alluded to above, the idea of self-care is pretty trendy right now. And like many other trends, it is either (1) being ignored or (2) being promoted as a luxury. Hopefully, by now, I’ve convinced you that healthy eating is important. 

But up until now, maybe you’ve been ignoring your eating habits. Perhaps it’s because you don’t know where to start. Or maybe you’re afraid to fail. You might even have FOMO … like how can you get through the day without a donut and a latte from your favorite coffee shop.

Or maybe you’re in camp (2). Do you think healthy eating is only for the rich and famous? That it’s not practical? That it’s too expensive or time-consuming?! You head to the drive-through for lunch on Wednesdays because you feel like it’s the cheaper, quicker option and you “don’t have time for anything else.” But how will that drive-through meal make you feel tomorrow?

To treat healthy eating as real-life self-care, you need to believe that you can do it. Choose to believe that it’s important. And not just important … it’s non-negotiable. It takes priority in your head, on your schedule and with your wallet. You have to eat well to take care of yourself. And you have to take care of yourself in order to take care of others. Choose to believe that over the stories that are holding you back. Now, give your eating habits their appropriate level of attention.

Healthy eating is a habit.

Healthy eating takes practice. Once you start, it may feel awkward. It may seem time-consuming. Or it may feel outright difficult. But hang in there. The magic of healthy eating is in your everyday. So, you have to make it a habit.

Now, to clarify - healthy eating everyday doesn’t mean you have to be perfect. Instead, I mean you need to choose healthy eating more than you make the unhealthy choice. You need to overwhelm the nutrition-poor food in your day with nutrition-rich food.

Another way to build your nutrition self-care habit is by keeping it simple. Building new eating habits is not easy. But it can be straightforward, especially with a little guidance. I repeat - don’t feel the pressure to prepare and eat an Instagram-worthy meal. Your meal might be packed in a BPA-free container or packed in a brown paper bag. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is the nutritional value of your meal. So, take the pressure off yourself. Take the emphasis off the aesthetics of your meal. Keep the focus on the nutrients.

And as you revolutionize your eating habits, start small. You don’t have to make a 180 degree change all at once. In fact, that doesn’t work for most people. Instead, a step by step system is usually more effective. Take on one small healthy eating habit at a time. Give yourself time. Get comfortable with it and then add on a new habit. Once you’re comfortable with a new habit, you feel confident. And confidence breeds more confidence and gives birth to the courage to take on more. It’s at that point that you add on another habit. Before you know it - you’ve mastered it!

Self-care is incredibly powerful, especially when it comes to what you eat. If you’re intentional, you can create meaningful, lifelong changes in your life. And I’d be honored to help you get started.

If you’re ready to take on new healthy eating habits, and you’d like some guidance and support, join  my 5-day healthy eating habits challenge! It starts on September 9th (the week after Labor Day). And Labor Day is right around the corner!