How to make better (food) choices

This is not just about food. We have to make tens or hundreds tiny choices daily and only some of them directly relate to our food.

Yet in larger context, the food is the driving force behind the way we live.

What do we listen to when asking internal questions? Is it our logic or knowledge (our mind)? Is it our heart or our emotion (ego?), craving? Is it our experience? Traditions? Or we call our friend? Do we ask questions at all? Or do we just run an automatic pre-recorded “tape” of our life?

My clients are clever and intelligent people and already understand what good food means today. After 3 months of coaching they have even better understanding and motivation. Do they always choose good food? No.

Do I always choose to eat well? No.

Sometimes it’s a choice between ‘eating bad’ or ‘not eating’. The ‘not eating’ part is becoming popular through movement of Paleo and intermittent fasting. The ‘not eating’ part has always been embedded in our culture and is practised to some extent in nations who take fasting periods of year seriously. It takes time to re-learn this ‘not eating’ part… or should I say 'un-learn' the way we eat today? There are several stages to grow through, before fasting becomes easy, natural and won’t cause more harm than good. Please always seek advice from sources you trust.

What makes us to choose wrong food is not completely up to us. Many times we just don’t know what’s inside that meal. If the packaging says "healthy", "natural" or "good for you" it means absolutely nothing! If it has NO packaging, there is a better chance this food is fine. Much like some houses – they have attractive front cover, layer of new paint, or solid entrance gate, but rooms can be uninviting, cold and full of toxic air and mould.

Much too often we end up hungry in places or situations we have no choice. We cannot always carry a suitcase of food with us.  Do not stress if there is no choice.

Frustration can weaken digestion and make it all even worse. Look at the situation as an experiment, if you are really hungry and have no allergies, try again your old fast food. Observe your reactions and feelings of well-being days after.  Do you feel slightly unwell, crampy, forgetful or irritated...? It might be a good sign your body is clean enough to sense what's bad for it! Next time, be better prepared, seek different solutions.

If we do have various choices (as we mostly do), it should be a huge celebration and reason for happiness and feelings of resource abundance. By the way - did you know that feelings of 'resource abundance' is one of the mechanisms to increase gut serotonin, hence the gut motility to prevent constipation?

Embrace the situation when the choice is wide and do the best you can.

Why choose food wrapped up in plastic if we can have it without? Less waste, less estrogenic plasticisers, less wrong kind of bacteria. Why choose drinks in plastic PET bottle if we can filter tap water and add lemon, put it into glass or steel bottle, or even drink directly from the spring. Why choose boxes of industrially made flavoured snacks, if the aisles (or markets) are full of fresh vegetables, fruit, whole nuts, some of it organic and some even local and seasonal. Why to spray our home with toxic “air fresheners” and our bodies with toxic perfumes if we can open window or use few drops of pure essential oils diluted in suitable base, for whatever use we need.

Celebrate your freedom of choice, and uniqueness of your ideal diet and lifestyle.

We all have slightly different needs and we should be proud and free to ask for it. If the people around do not understand yet, we have an opportunity (and calling) to become creative and have our small mission in this world. We can show others a different way of life, be an example, or try to explain, if they care... Or we can learn to ignore the situation or even leave such place if it becomes too detrimental and people are just not ready. This may be very hard decision at first but the good side of any crisis is that it can bring us to those who vibrate on similar frequency. Such move can change our life and make us happier and healthier.