Nutrition fact: Chapter 4. Stop thinking, Start feeling

As I told you many time in my former nutrition posts. It is important and even maybe vital for your sanity not to count calories. Nutrients are important and are the one you should care about. But more importantly you should always listen to your body! Yes, it talks, and no, it’s not just your stomach. In order to do that you need to forget what you know and focus on what you feel.

But first why should you listen to your body and what does it means to me?

Actually I believe our body knows what he needs and what he wants and if you focus on that you will automatically know what is best for you. When I lived in London I had a Californian roommate, her name is Heidi, and she told me that. She explained that sometime when you crave for a specific food it is for a reason and you need to listen to those cravings.

I stop you right there if you thought it’s eating croissant every five minutes.

It’s actually not that simple to learn back something that used to be natural. Our body is programmed naturally to know when to feed himself, when he doesn’t need to eat anymore and what he needs to eat. It’s in our genes. The problem is, we have forgotten how it works and that’s why we tend to over eat, and eat to fat, too fast* and to furious(ly) (I know it’s a bad joke). Also we move way less that we use to and so we burn less calories and have less muscles to naturally burns energy.

As a result we‘re just lost, never knowing what we want to eat, what is good for us blablabla … And living on assumption that this or that is bad and this or that is good and this or that is better… When really, it depends of each individual. Each kind of diet and sport is gonna have a different result on each and one of us because we are all individuals and we are all unique. This is why we need to focus on what works for us.

Focusing on how we feel.

You need to actually feel every part of your bones, flesh, skin be aware of it. I am not saying you’re going in some sort of deep meditation every time you wanna eat something… No, no, it is something you need to be aware of all the time on a daily bases, cause it doesn’t work only for food it works for everything you do day and night. I admit it’s a bit spiritual and you may not agree to that, but the overall idea, is first, to comprehend this idea that, your body is more than just your body but that it’s a part of you (sound silly but still, it’s true) and that it is connected to everything soul, mind, flesh. Then, well,  I actually don’t know how it works because I can’t seem to remember when I could do it, I guess it’s just that I admitted that fact and then it made its way slowly into… my consciousness, if I may say so.

When you know how you body works and when you know how to respond to its needs, life is way easier at every level!

Examples

For instance if you’re feeling a bit down a little tired, you’ll see that naturally you will be attracted to food that are able to keep your energy up. I actually had a period when I only wanted to eat oranges and kiwis for my breakfast… And it happens to be a time when I was working a lot and late at night so I sort of needed that good energy, as those fruits are packed up with vitamins. It could have been some other kind of fruits but it was those two. What I mean by that is, you need to put away what you know, like oranges is full of vitamins so if I am tired I am going to have an orange. That’s not how our brain should work. It has to come naturally cause there are so many different food that could work and maybe something that we be more appealing to you.

On other example: If you are feeling like bloated (Yes that’s one other women’s burden, once again  mother nature hasn’t been quite fair with us cause guys never get to feel bloated lucky bast***) Where was I, yes, when you feel like that in other word like shit (and sorry for being rude but there is no other word) if you focus on your needs soon you’ll see that naturally you are not gonna be attracted to heavy food, such as pasta, rice or savory food (cause salt girls, can cause a lot of damage like water retention, when feeling bloated, salt is the enemy!) But you might feel more like having some veggies, fibers, water and tea… It’s gonna come naturally to you.

On the other hand when you are feeling strong, beautiful and confident, a piece of chocolate cake won’t seem like an awful lot of fat and sugar but just like a yummy desert.

Last example, if you feel really low, like when you didn’t get time to eat or something, and then you might crave for sweets or pasta or a pizza cause your body just lacks to much energy and need a good pile of sugar to start back again.

What is it about…

It is not about depriving yourself or stuffing your face, it is about learning how you feel about things so that you bring exactly what you body need and ultimately what you want. And as a result, it leaves your body in good health and shape without being frustrated. It is learning how to balance without having to think about it.

It can sound a little weird and complex, but since my friend told me that and that I have integrated it, my life is so much easier. It leaves you free from any guilt you could have before. When my body aches really bad, I will for instance prefer yoga to running for a change… And it works for everything in your life. Choices are easier to make because they come naturally to you.

Well this little advice helped me, I hope it will  help you too and hope it’s quite clear. Don’t hesitate to ask me more about it I’ll try and answer.. Still I am no psychiatrist or nutritionist of any kind. This is just me..

*Satiety comes within 20 to 30 minutes. No matter what is the amount of food you’re eating (as long as it’s not less than half a green pea) you will feel full after 20 to 30 minutes.