Feeding your Soul

One of my favorite nutrition topics has nothing to do with food. In fact, most of nutrition is not about what we eat- that’s why diets don’t work. How we sleep, how we eat, how we feel about food, how we feel about ourselves, our routine, how we move our body, etc. all have significant effects on our nutrition. The perfect example of this is sleep- where do we get our energy from? Sleep and food… if you don’t sleep enough you’re going to eat more to make up for lost energy and visa versa- if you don’t eat enough you are going to sleep more, again, to make up for lost energy. So before you panic and start the carnivore diet to try and out-protein your cravings, make sure you’re getting 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night. Food is typically the first thing people try to control, but if you’re working against basic human wiring you’re already setting yourself up for failure- and it’s not because you lack willpower… it’s just because you’re human. Another prime example of this is emotional eating, food is comfort for a variety of reasons but we can explain a lot of this by understanding carbohydrates synthesize serotonin- our body’s feel good chemical. Of course you’re craving ice cream and pizza after a hard day, it’s going to give you a (temporary) rush of happiness. But once the food is gone and you’re “stuffed to the gills” as I infamously said as a child when I overate, the serotonin drops right back down AND you don’t feel good, and for many now have food guilt. Nourishing your brain and body by means that have nothing with food are essential to unlocking consistent, non-restrictive, maintainable nutrition habits.