Isn’t it Time to Change How You View Nutrition and Health?

Do you ever get the feeling that it’s time for a dramatic change in the fields of nutrition and health?

Are you tired of hearing about the latest supplement, magic pill, super food, diet or exercise program?

For the majority of people, the majority of time, these “latest” supplements, pills or fads do not work. While they may be interesting and definitely pique our curiosity, it is obvious that we are in need of something completely different in order to transform our relationship with food and body.

As we continue to observe nutrition related diseases increase year after year, and are now witnessing even our children becoming obese, it should be apparent that the latest information and trends around food and diet are not working. Yet nearly every week there is another new pill, exercise program or diet book on the market.

Nutrition and Our Emotional Health

Our relationship with food and body is also at an all time emotional low. Many studies now reveal:

• 9 out of 10 women dislike or even hate their body
• 8 out of 10 women are currently on a diet
• 40% of 9 year old girls are either currently dieting or say they have dieted
• 40% of 3 to 6 year olds are worried about becoming fat
• 30% of 3 to 6 year olds already want to change something about themselves

Wow! These are staggering figures demonstrating that what we are trying to do nutritionally is not working!

There is no One Magic Pill or Diet

Now don’t get me wrong. There are plenty of people who claim they have found their ideal diet and have proof that it has worked for them.

But what about all the others who have been trying different diets for decades only to proclaim that they are still unhappy about their body and unable to lose the weight they desire? Women in their 70’s are still trying to achieve their “perfect” body.

While there are many general guidelines around nutrition that do benefit most people, it’s time to stop looking up to those celebrities or companies who claim they have the answer for you to reach perfect health or that perfect body.

Time to Listen to Your own Body Wisdom

What would you say if I told you that you have your own innate body wisdom that knows what is good and what is bad for you? That’s right; you have the ability to tap into your own internal nutritionist.

Wild animals do not wonder what they should or should not be eating. They instinctively know what their body requires to maintain optimum health.

Listen to the “experts” read their blogs and books, but take what they say with a grain of salt and then begin to make your own choices based on your understanding of your own body and its needs.

It is Time to Experiment

It’s time to listen to your own body and its desires. What do you crave to eat? What foods are you attracted to? Eat these foods and then listen to your body. How does it feel after eating these foods?

After all, food is information for your body. Everything you eat contains information in the form of macro or micro nutrients for your body. Your body will recognize, welcome and utilize many foods. But there will also be many foods your body does not recognize and does not know what to do with, or perhaps foods that simply do not agree with your body.

It’s Time to Embrace the Wisdom of Your Body

Knowing that food is in fact information, what information does the food you eat provide to your body? Are you able to sense the subtle messages from your own body after a meal? Is it saying that that food was good for you by providing you with more energy, better skin, good mood, weight maintenance, regular bowel movements, a good night’s sleep? Or does eating a particular food leave you feeling tired, bloated, not able to think clearly, cause weight gain, headaches, digestive complaints, gas or irregular bowel movements?

It’s time to tune in to your body’s own innate wisdom when it comes to food. Yes, you will make some mistakes, but this is your own personal nutritional experiment. Stop listening to what others are telling you to eat, and instead listen to what your body truly desires and needs.

To do this you need to get out of your head and into your body and begin to access this amazing wisdom of your personal biology. Your “gut” knows what it needs and is constantly sending messages to your brain about its desires and requirements in order to maintain your maximum health and well being. Are you listening?

Your Health Isn’t Just Limited to Nutrition

While the nutrition you receive from your food is very important for your health, you also need to receive nutrition from many other aspects in your life. What “feeds” you?

Your health is governed by who you are as an eater as much as what you eat. So who are you as an eater? What are your beliefs? What are your nutritional values? More importantly, what are your spiritual values? What is your purpose in this world? Are you living your life authentically?

What you think, feel, believe and how you live your life all contribute to your health and wellbeing. How much pleasure do you get from your life? How much time do you allow for rest and play? In order to fully nourish yourself on all levels, it is all about balance.

Your Symptoms are Messengers

Do you ever stop to listen to your unwanted symptoms? Have you ever thought that perhaps your symptoms are lessons here to teach you about how you are living your life or treating your body?

Many will run to medical professionals when they experience symptoms and ask to be fixed as though something has broken. But what if you listened instead?

Instead of attacking your symptoms, what if you took the time to listen to their hidden message? These unwanted symptoms may just be telling you that it is time for a course correction. Maybe the food you are eating is not serving you well.  Perhaps that job you hate is causing a little too much stress. Maybe the relationship you are in is not a good one for you.

Your Symptoms if Ignored Become a Disease

How many times have you heard of someone who developed a “disease” which was in fact a wake up call for them? Their disease was a course correction. By listening to the message contained in that disease they began to go down a new path, a path leading them to evolve into the person they were meant to be and to live the life they were meant to live.

If you do not listen to your symptoms, they will often get louder and louder until they become a disease. You can choose to ignore your symptoms or perhaps go to the doctor for a pill to mask them, but that does not address the symptom nor allow you to hear its message for you before allowing it to be released.

Do you currently have any symptoms that have a powerful message for you?

You Need a Reason for Being Here

While achieving good health is very important, there is so much more than just being healthy, or achieving that “perfect body”.

Have you ever pondered what your body is here for? What is your body’s purpose for being here? How can you use your healthy body to give back to others? After all what good is a healthy, trim and toned body if you are still a miserable human being living an unhappy life?

It’s Not All About You

You are here to serve others; it is not all about you. What if you took a whole new perspective on life to ponder that the world is a community of people who are meant to live in harmony and serve one another from a place of love and connection. Wouldn’t that make so much more sense for a more peaceful and harmonious planet?

It’s time to change how you view nutrition. Good health by itself doesn’t have meaning unless it goes hand in hand with a reason or purpose for you being here.

Can you begin to see the importance of changing how you view nutrition? That achieving a healthy body is meant to serve a deeper and more meaningful purpose in this world?

I invite you to question your own assumptions about food and body, to examine your own nutritional strategies and explore what truly works for you as an individual being. Then I invite you to put that understanding to work to become the person you were meant to be and begin to serve your purpose while here on planet earth!

I would love to help you transform your relationship with food, body and health and empower you to achieve a balanced life of health, purpose and vitality!

Your Nourishing Nutritionist,

Lynne Bowsher

Nourishment for body, mind and spirit