Diet

Dieting with purpose. One of the hardest things to do. Because a human’s diet – eating and drinking – is so much more than food. Diets are part of our social lives. They can contain art, experimentation, travel, marketing messages, or mind-altering chemicals.

The ideal diet is one that serves the individual, not the other way around.

The basics of a diet are simple. Just enough calories to fuel our activities. The right amount of nutrients to both grow and stave off illness. Finding the right diet, however, is complicated.

The body is complex. There is so much about a person’s body that is just really hard to identify. Emotions, thoughts, and personalities are even more complex and mysterious. Properly fueling all of this can seem overwhelming. Especially when factoring in the entirety of our lives. Work, family, sleep, celebrations, and all the rest.

Scientific, anecdotal, and historic evidence tells us that whole, natural foods as close to their source as possible are the best.  All of the vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats, fiber, and other nutrients that people need to both survive and thrive can come from plants. Although animals and animal byproducts can provide some of what you need in better concentrations.

Beyond taste, how much do you think about what you are putting into your body? To recover or grow requires a thoughtful diet. A shift in thinking that may be required is to consider your diet relative to tomorrow and with respect to your goals.

Is what I am eating now going to benefit me later? Does it help take me where I want to be?

Diets first must fuel our insides. We need enough calories for our organs, muscles, and bones to function. This isn’t the type of living that most consider, though. People want to do things, think, interact, accomplish. The diet becomes more than just calories.

Depending on your lifestyle, or your desired lifestyle, you may want more of some nutrients than others. Intolerances and allergies. Immune system strength. Ability to process sugars or fats or proteins. All things on a spectrum that vary from person to person. As the human body ages, dietary needs change with it.

Diet is the basis for your ability to fend off and cure illness.

Because we need food to survive, there are lots of people and companies offering advice and solutions for an individual’s diet. There is so much information. So many recommendations that work for many people, but don’t work for many more.

For more information on your body, genetic or DNA testing can help. Regular bloodwork can provide insights. I find that fascinating. Many do not. As well, it takes a lot of time and money to obtain usable information. Whether you have that data or not, a lot of trial goes into finding your optimal diet. It takes time. There is no exact science. Understanding your own body and your own goals are the driving factors to finding a successful diet.

Because it can get so complicated, here are a couple of questions that can be used to simplify the decisions around what you are eating and drinking. What does my body need? What food and drink make me feel bad? How do I feed my purpose, my goals, my values?

Eat for your tomorrow.