We all have moments when we feel tired or lacking vitality. When this happens very rarely we look at our diet to see if there is something we can do in that respect to improve our wellbeing.
We may think we are missing some vitamins and minerals and take some supplements. We may be needing rest and rather than giving ourselves the much needed rest, we continue as if we could feel better by some magical intervention.
To improve a situation is necessary to observe, reflect and change the habits that helped created it. How can we generate changes if we don’t attend the conditions that contribute to set up the problem in the first place. Perhaps our actions and attitudes have something to do with the symptoms we are experiencing, or with the lack of vitality.
As my work focuses on nutrition, I write here about adapting our eating to our needs.
Why adapting our diet to our needs will help you recover your vitality?
Nowadays there is so much information on diets and thousands of recipes available. But there is also great confusion about what is good or not. Sometimes we are so lost with our own health that we do not know how to continue. That was my experience years ago when I was experiencing health problems and did not know any longer what foods to eat.
When we talk about health and especially diet, there is something very important we must understand, each organism functions in a unique way and we have to give it what suits best its needs. The foundation is to have a balancing diet. But health is not a fixed state since everything is in constant change, to maintain our balance we might have to avoid or include certain foods at certain times.
For instance, we understand that in a family the small ones do not eat in the same way as the adults. So then we could understand that two adults may have different needs, as well as two kids may have different needs. It is not about cooking a special meal for everybody in the family, but there will be occasions when small changes need to be made.
What do I need to take into account to adapt my diet to my needs?
1. Energetic needs
Each organism uses a certain amount of energy in stillness and in action. This will depend on your own lifestyle. To know how much energy you need you need to observe your activity, which will depend on the type of work you do and the activity you engage with. The diet for somebody who works in an office all day will be different to that of someone who carries out a physical activity.
My suggestion is that you adopt a lifestyle that can last you forever rather than adopt a diet that sooner or later you will give up.
2. Macronutrients
Each person needs different amounts according to the specific characteristics. In Macrobiotics we have some generic percentages, but they may be different for you. As a general rule: 40-50% carbohydrates; 20% protein; 20-30% vegetables; 10% soups, fermented products, sea vegetables and oils.
3. The condition of the person
Depending on which stage of your life you are you might have specific needs. It will not be same eating style if you are pregnant, or you have a particular disease, or you are training in sports. This is very important when choosing how to eat, so to avoid creating imbalances.
4. The energy of foods
This is an essential aspect in Macrobiotics, as it really helps us to adapt our diet.
If you have never heard about the energy of foods I can help you to understand it in an easy way. Everything, absolutely everything has an energy or energetic quality, and we see this easily in animals. The energy of a bear is very different to that of a leopard. They need very different food. If a bear started eating meat, like a leopard, soon his metabolism would become similar to that of a leopard. He would not survive. Biologically he is not prepared for that change and cannot adapt. On the other hand if a leopard started eating like a bear, he wouldn’t be able to hunt. He wouldn’t have enough energy and would eventually die.
Human beings have specific needs. From thousands of years ago, our body is adapted to eat certain foods
If we consider how our ancestors ate, we see that they ate local foods and in season. The ingredients they used changed according to nature. They mostly ate grains, pulses, vegetables, fruits and fermented foods. This way of eating has brought us where we are now and is the one that can offer us more energy and vitality. There has been a massive change in our eating habits in the last decades with the introduction of foods that we were not having before. We have more access to food than any other moment in history, yet we are suffering from problems we are not able to understand and remedy.
Conscious eating, as well as conscious living, requires that you know yourself. It is essential to pay attention to how you feel and what your needs are. To know what you want to achieve in this life, what your dreams are and what is important for you.
Good health will always help us to enjoy life more, to reach our goals. That’s why taking care of the body is so important.
If you need help in this process, I will be delighted to be your guide towards a conscious and healthy eating path, respecting your needs and considering your goals in life.