Keepin It Real

Some of you may have noticed that I’ve recently started taking a more laid back approach to being healthy and I’ll tell you why.

1. We have an obesity crisis in America.  Today, 5 out of 7 people on the elevator at my college were not only overweight but they were obese.  Beside myself, they were all under the age of 21.  We have to start from the basics and teach people realistic guidelines.  There are so many of you that are far ahead of the fundamentals of good nutrition and exercise that I decided to take a step back and re-evaluate how I can help those that are not equipped with the same information.
2. My years of study have taught me that you don’t need to give up certain nutritional food groups unless you are actually having a problem, intolerant or allergic.  I’ve come a long way since I was at the point where I could barely eat anything and I still can’t tolerate lactose, milk and soy.  I try to stay away from those foods.  I feel better if I don’t eat a lot of meat products but I’m fine when I eat fish.  You have to figure out what works for you.  For example, I’m not going to tell someone who feels perfectly fine when they eat gluten to give up gluten.
3. Balance is key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  A lot of people get stuck on either intense workouts or restrictive diets (or both) but they don’t understand that being healthy long-term requires a balance between high nutrient food, realistic exercise programs and taking care of themselves mentally as well as spiritually.
4. For those of you that don’t know me, I’m a medium size person and I’m okay with that because I know I’m healthy.  Study after study shows that being obese takes a toll on the body but it’s just as dangerous to be skinny or medium if you are eating junk and spending most of your time being inactive. I’m pass the days of forcing myself to be a size I wasn’t born to be.  When people force their bodies to be thinner than they are meant to be, they are most likely cheating themselves out of valuable nutrition.  If you come to me for help because you want to be “skinny”, unfortunately I will have to turn you away.  I will not compromise my beliefs for vanity.
5. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, “Diets” don’t work but guess what, neither does eating processed food, tons of sugary foods and junk food.  You want to eat as much high nutrient food as possible.  People make it harder than it needs to be.  Don’t get me wrong, there are times, I go through phases where I want to eat an entire cake in one sitting (PMS) but again, it’s all about balance.  Obviously, eating cake everyday or even once a week, wouldn’t be good for me but having an occasional piece at a b-day party isn’t going to kill me either.

I’m committed to continuing my education so that I can learn the best ways to instruct people how to be healthy sensibly.  Unless someone has a food allergy or intolerance, I won’t be suggesting they give up a nutritional food group.  “Skinny” will be thrown out of my vocabulary.  Anything we become obsessed with usually doesn’t turn out well.  Eat clean, move your body and be kind to yourself and those around you.

Vitamin De

Unfortunately, I can’t remember where I found this simple but powerful saying.