We all want peace of mind, happiness and good health for ourselves and our loved ones, isn't it? We want it because we do not like the feeling of being miserable. In other words, we want to have that happy feeling and one of the ways we have learnt to get it is by putting food in our mouth that tastes good :) To get that "happy feeling", we often end up putting tasty yet harmful foods into our mouth. It is one of the main reasons why we are seeing so many people now getting sicker much younger in their lives.
It is no secret that the state of physical and mental health is greatly dependent on our food and life style choices. It is never too late to make the necessary dietary changes and experience the health benefits that comes as a result. Over the years, I have seen many of my clients (some even in their 60's and 70's ) lose excess weight and reverse or improve many chronic health conditions including diabetes, constipation, inflammation, high BP, PCOD, high cholesterol and triglycerides just by simply following a health promoting diet and lifestyle.
Regardless of what we are currently eating, I encourage you to make improvements. You will see a lot of benefits to your health. You can start by avoiding/limiting restaurant foods, processed foods, sugary deserts, store bought unhealthy snacks, and oily foods. If you like to eat animal based foods (meat or dairy), limit them to no more than two times a week. These foods may provide short term joy but they are the reason for most of the health conditions that is ailing the world today. Make majority of you diet whole foods plant based. It means, eat foods that comes from the plant kingdom and are as close to the form they are grown in nature. In other words, avoid eating processed foods like snacks drinking sugary drinks. Instead, focus the diet around eating a variety of fruits, colorful vegetables, lentils/beans, and whole grains. Also, it is very important avoid or minimize the use of oils when cooking. Moving your body daily will help get rid of the toxins that gets accumulated in the body. you can start by walking for just 20-30 minutes a day and slowly increase the duration and intensity. If you are unable to move your body much than at least go and sit in the sun for few minutes and get fresh air.
Making positive changes to our diet can sometimes bring some unseen challenges. So in that case, my advise for you would be to take one step at a time. e.g. Maybe start with changing your breakfast to a super healthy one e.g. oatmeal with fresh fruits or a green smoothie. Have a salad with your lunch or dinner. Eat more vegetables, lentils and whole grains, learn to cook food without or with very less oil. With every healthy meal that you eat, you are moving away from making an unhealthy choice - a win win situation.
Also, don't feel shy to seek help if you feel stuck or overwhelmed when making these important changes to your diet and lifestyle. Just as it's essential to get the help and guidance of a qualified teacher/coach in different fields such as education, sports, yoga etc. It is best to seek guidance and support from someone who is experienced in the field of health and nutrition. Know that the journey towards establishing healthy eating and lifestyle habits is not always easy and challenges and resistance can come our way either in the form of our loved ones or even our own mind in the form of cravings/temptations etc. But when you have a health and wellness coach who is always available to you and has your best interest in his/heart heart, the journey becomes much easier and even fun.
In my experience as a health coach for over 5 years, you can improve the quality of your life and more specifically your physical and mental health at any age. It is possible that in some cases you may not be able to completely reverse your health condition, but you can surely make it more manageable and less miserable for the rest of your life. I have a client who is 75 years old and in just 18 months has turned her health around. Now she practices yoga daily, meditates and eats a super healthy diet that is best suited for her body. She has now more energy and vibrancy than her own kids who are in their 40's. Such is her enthusiasm that whenever I have a chance to catch up with her she asks me insightful questions on how she can further improve her diet further and get even more health benefits. Yesterday, I heard from another client who is in her early 50's and was undergoing some health issues for the past many months. In just 6 weeks of eating healthy, her inflammation went away and her medical tests vastly improved, even her husband lost 6-7 pounds without much trying. She was super amazed how quickly her body responded to good dietary changes :)
Our physical and mental health is our own responsibility. So have a sincere intention to being healthy for the rest of your life followed by taking steadfast actions to adopt a health promoting diet and lifestyle. Do not wait for others around you to join, you start your journey and have faith that others will join in due course. Seek help whenever you feel helpless or stuck- because help is always given to those who are sincere in their quest for something that is genuinely good for themselves or others.
Peace & Blessings :)
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