Is it hard to adjust your nutrition to what your body really needs? No, it is not – if you take the time to decode your cravings.
Eat fewer carbs. More fats. Only healthy ones. Like coconut oil. Wait, is that actually really as healthy as people say it is? Maybe switch to Avocados instead. But what if you live in Northern Europe and all the avos you get are imported ones? What about only eating local produce? Organic and non-gmo, of course …
The thing with those sexy superfoods
We hear about superfoods. About diets. We see them on the social media accounts we follow. Companies tell us about the foods which are supposed to make us slim and sexy, and the ones that will make us blow up like balloons. We read influencers blogs about that one berry from South America, this specific seaweed from Japan which is the golden grail and the secret to infinite youth, beauty and health.
We want that sexy superfood power.
And we want that superfood power. We want what’s best for us, for our bodies, for the bodies of the loved ones that we prepare meals for. But what we tend to forget in a world where everyone wants to sell you that one healthier, better, more exciting food product is to ask ourselves:
Which nutrition is it that my body really needs?
Do I need to go all fancy with exotic fruit, with a very particular seed, with one specific herb from overseas? Can’t I nurture myself with ingredients that are more local?
Take the time to learn your bodies language – and then listen!
I’m a very strong believer in the philosophy that your body will tell you exactly what it needs and when it needs it. But it will only do that if you take time to learn its language and to listen to it. Deep inside, we know what’s good for us. In the real world, the constant noise coming from social media can be louder than our own thoughts, can implant wrong, negative thoughts about self-value into our brain. And when it comes to food, exciting products in shiny packages with otherworldly promises oftentimes intoxicate our hearing and ring louder than our bodies own voice.
Reset, relisten, Experiment
But the more we cut out processed, trendy, hip foods, the better can we understand what it is that our body actually needs. It will ask for protein if your muscles have worked hard and need to be repaired, it will crave carbs if you went through an endurance workout. It will react with irrational cravings if you rob it of healthy fats and too much energy. Whenever you feel the urge to reach for a specific type of food, ask yourself:
What is in this that my body needs right now – and can I supply it in a more natural way?
And once you’ve reached that stage, the stage of understanding your body’s desires and appetites, you can start experimenting with variations of your go-to-foods. Switch in one nut butter for the other. Next week, you can try an exotic berry. Is it more satisfying than a basic strawberry? Or can it go into the one-off-treat-category? Because that is also one that you should have. Supply the needs, treat with treats. And shift your focus inwards.
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