Nourish Your Body

We often hear phrases such as... "eat well", "make good choices", "eat your fruits and vegetables", "eat (fill in the diet... Paleo, Weight Watchers, South Beach, etc.)"... but how often do we hear... nourish your body? Isn't that, after all, the point to feed our body with nourishment? Nourishment is not just calories, protein, fat, carbs and countless other macro and micro-nutrients that we love to compartmentalize, count and keep track of. To nourish something is to provide all of the substances necessary for life and growth, to feed, and through that foster healthy development.

When we are in the grocery store, how many of us are thinking about the "substances necessary for life and growth and the health of our development"? Based on some of the most popular food choices today, not too many! Here is a look at the top 10 selling grocery items as of June 2009:

1. Carbonated beverages ($12 billion in sales)
2. Milk ($11.2 billion)
3. Fresh bread & rolls ($9.57 billion)
4. Beer/ale/hard cider ($8.17 billion)
5. Salty snacks ($8.09 billion)
6. Natural cheese ($7.64 billion)
7. Frozen dinners/entrees ($6.13 billion)
8. Cold cereal ($6.11 billion)
9. Wine ($5.49 billion)
10. Cigarettes ($4.63 billion)

Source: Information Resources Inc., a Chicago-based market information services firm.

When thinking about nourishment, it is helpful to think of food in terms of getting the most "nutritional bang for your buck". Every single item on the list above is processed. The more highly processed the food, the less bang for your buck. Many processed foods actually create a nutritional deficit, meaning it takes more for your body to process them than actual value you get from the food. The stuff on the above list actually IMPEDES our growth and the health of our development! Isn't it wild that this is where we are spending our grocery store dollars?!?! And folks, that's at the grocery store, that is not even including fast food!

Now, the produce section with fresh, organic vegetables and fruit; bulk nuts, seeds and whole grains; eggs and raw dairy; and the butcher, that's where you will find an incredible nutritional bang for your buck! That is where you get substances necessary for life, growth and healthy development.

Food isn't the only nutrient necessary for life and growth. As we talked about in last week's blog, air is the most essential. Healthy breathing patterns ensure our body is being well nourished with oxygen. Water is another vital nutrient our bodies need. Every single physiological function in our body requires water, including the elimination of toxins. So, staying well hydrated with good quality water is of the utmost importance to the nourishment of our body. Alcohol (which shows up twice on the list!), caffeine and sugar can contribute greatly to dehydration and are not normally what one would consider nourishing to the body. Remember the 80/20 rule... if you truly nourish your body 80% of the time, your body can easily handle 20% of life's little pleasures.

So don't stress about counting calories or the latest diet fad, simply focus on nourishing your body with a healthy relationship with food. Listen to your body and be aware of how you feel when you eat. I've become so attuned to my body, I can feel the shift in fall when I no longer want salad and become fixated on soups; and then again in the spring when I'm no longer interested in soup and I crave big plates of raw, fresh veggies. You see it is an ebb and flow and it is up to each of us to take the time to get to know how and with what to constantly nourish the greatest gift we've been given - our body.

How are you breathing?

Did you know that we breathe 25,000 times each day? Every inhale is a contraction of muscles, followed by the relaxation for the exhale.  Imagine doing 25,000 pushups or squats every day. That’s a lot of repetitions! The main muscle we use to breathe is the diaphragm. The diaphragm is a large muscle, when it contracts along with other smaller muscles in between our ribs they open up our entire abdominal and chest cavity so our lungs can fill up with air. It’s very similar to a chimney bellow. When this is working properly we get a full deep breath.

Benefits of Proper Breathing
Simply put, breathing provides us our primary nutrient; oxygen.  Yes that's right, oxygen is our most important nutrient; before fats, carbohydrates, proteins and even water.   Proper breathing effectively brings fresh oxygen to our blood and helps remove unwanted toxins out of our body. Breathing is also one of the best tools we have to manage stress. A few minutes of deep breathing can bring us out of a stressed state into relaxation.  Breathing is also used as tool in many meditation practices, yoga and  for effective exercise.

But when we're not breathing using our diaphragm, our breath tends to be shallow using smaller muscles in the neck and shoulders.  This makes every one of the 25,000 breaths we take each day less efficient, resulting in less oxygen, more toxins,  increased stress and less effective exercise.    

So how are you breathing?
 

Use this simple technique below to help train yourself to breathe using the diaphragm.  

1. The first 2/3rds of your breath should be into your belly
2. The second 1/3rd of your breath should be into your chest (without engaging the neck and shoulder muscles)
3. The exhale is a relaxation of all the muscles

Watch the video below to see what it looks like when breathing with your diaphragm.

Staying Centered

We often hear how we should “stay centered”. What does it mean exactly to be centered and how do I stay there? As we all know our lives can become pretty hectic. Whether you are a busy mom or dad, a busy professional, a busy teen, etc. we all have things in our lives that keep us occupied. Being centered as we go about our daily tasks can bring a great sense of relief and purpose to our day.

What does it mean?

The dictionary defines centered as a) a point of origin from which ideas, influences, etc. emanate. b) a place of concentrated activity, influence or importance c) headquarters, the hub.

I would define it as the hub of our self. Being centered is a state of being. Making sure we are taking care of ourselves in body, mind, and spirit. We are establishing a spot that we can start from or come back to that will create and receive our best experience.

Finding that state of being centered requires awareness:

• Awareness of our thoughts - are they positive?
• Awareness of our vision for the life we want - am I making decisions to support the life I desire?
• Awareness of our breath - Am I breathing deeply and slowly?
• Awareness of our selves - I am being present in the moment now?

We can use our awareness as a tool to come back to our center, our optimal state of being. If we treat being centered as a foundation to return to during the day as things get hectic or overwhelming we will start to feel more secure and balanced. When we gain conscious control of our thoughts and our breathing we are able to make decisions and take actions from a place of true choice and not simply from habit.

How do I stay centered?

• Be aware of the power of your thoughts whether they are negative or positive.
• Take time each day to focus on your breathing. Breath in deeply, hold your breath for seven counts and exhale slowly.
• Practice quieting your mind on a daily basis. Even just a few minutes of meditation each day can bring us a sense of calmness that we can then use to enter into our next task.

Getting centered and staying there is a practice. Practice it a bit each day and you will quickly feel the benefits of approaching your day from an optimal state of being.

Guiding Principles

Can it be easy to live a life filled with abundant energy, health and vitality? Yes!

Do we have to be Superman/woman in order to fit it all in and hold it all together? No!

I think it can be easy! How? By placing values around health. By making it important enough. Perhaps, even more important than some of the things that do end up occupying our mental real estate, physical space and precious time. For example…

Stinkin’ Thinkin’ – 27 million + Americans are on antidepressants

Stressed Out – Stress has been referred to as the “black plague of the 21^st century” as by organizational psychologist Cary Cooper

Fast, Processed Food – 8% of our population has diabetes and that number is growing rapidly

Screen Time, Drive Time, Desk Time – In order to maintain good health, we need to be walking 10,000 steps (or roughly 5 miles) per day. The average American racks up less than ½ of that, however we spend nearly 4 hours watching TV per day.

Staying Up Late – For all of my “night owls” out there… this one is simple… there has never been a tribe of human beings on the planet who have been nocturnal. Our biological rhythms are set to follow the sun.

Over Scheduled – Work, meetings, email, etc. No time for play time.

What I am suggesting is that, as a society, we are placing far more value on negative thoughts, multi-tasking, poor quality food and late night TV watching than we are on healthy, happy lifestyles. So, you see, the answer is simple… place more value on the things that you want…

VALUE Staying Centered – spend time each day sitting quietly

VALUE Deep Breathing – and its ability to calm your nervous system

VALUE Nourishing Your Body – with whole foods and good quality water

VALUE Moving Daily – walk to local errands and have a fitness routine

VALUE Resting Well – limit screen time at night and get to bed on time

VALUE Playing and Having Fun – make it an important part of your schedule

This is what we value at Plabase. It’s simple and empowering.

You are sure to feel great just by making it important enough to you!

The key is consistency.