Healthy Eating IS Self-Care
Self-care is a phrase that is thrown around a lot especially in the wellness world. We know it as a pivotal way for us to tend to our body, mind, and spirits! For definition, self-care is the practice of taking an active role in protecting one's own well-being and happiness. Take a moment and ask yourself... have you practiced protecting your well-being today? Hint, hint: you can gift yourself something magical (and delicious) every day and we'll tell you how! 👇🏼
Think of yourself as a seed, anything you do to water yourself is tending to the garden that you wish to become. Taking a long bath, listening to your favorite playlist, and even what you make yourself for dinner. Yes, food is a form of self-care! For some (or most,) finding and prioritizing 'me' time may get lost in the translation of life in 2020. It's more important now than ever to get back to ourselves and tend to our physical, emotional, and mental well-being.
The good news? We can tend to all three through food.
What we fuel our bodies with is a form of self-healing and self-tending because it is literally what we are nurturing our bodies with. Our relationship with food has the ability to create balance in our life. When we pay attention to what foods make us feel good, what our bodies are craving, and making sure we get a balance of nutrients - we do better, because we feel better.
Tending to ourselves in this way is what will allow room and open our capacity to tend to more things in our lives. Nourishing ourselves may be the most important form of self-care. Here's an example, remember the last time you were hungry... were you productive? Patient? Kind (to yourself + others)? This is the reason there are cards out there saying "Forgive me for what I said when I was hungry." If we haven't given ourselves some nutrients and vitamins to work with, our mood, brain, and personality can temporarily suffer.
Food is our best way to boost our performance and energy levels, impact our moods, and offer comfort and satisfaction to our bodies. When we look at fueling ourselves through this self-care lense, we effortlessly place an intention into our foods - like how we want to feel or what we want this meal to do - and by this active listening to our needs and desires, we honor our bodies with the foods we eat. We reach for more colors on our plate, more healing ingredients, and more foods with a purpose.
When you take a moment to tend to your hunger, you are listening to your body, honoring its cues, and giving yourself the fuel to continue to do the things you want to do, happily as opposed to hungrily. Nourishing our bodies with essential vitamins and minerals is the foundation of self-care. It's self-tending, self-healing, and self-nurturing. Food is medicine, fuel, and nourishment.
When we
balance our nutrition, our lives can follow suit with:
- A healthy work-life balance because we are listening to ourselves (from hunger to boundaries!)
- Less stress and anxiety thanks to adding everyday adaptogens like ginger and turmeric that help us combat stress from the start.
- Feeling productive and energized because every snack break is purposeful when we choose foods like fresh fruit for their natural boost to our energy levels.
- Being more present with our inner circle. When we are spending moments every day tending to ourselves, we are truly capable of doing the same for our family and friends.
If you've ever found yourself rescheduling your self-care plans (a ritual bath, finishing that audiobook, taking a drive through the canyon to your favorite playlist, having 10 minutes of quiet time to yourself at home) start your practice by tending to yourself through nutrition - then watch your garden grow.