I am talking about you 🙂 and not your car! Do you have a hard time waking up? Do you wake up in the morning with a headache or just plain exhausted? Maybe you just seem to drag your feet or feel brain fog till you have downed a gigantic cup of coffee? Do you feel your clothes don’t fit you well and you hide in group pics? This is basically your body just trying to nudge you by these signs that mean “Hey please take care of me”!

Our life is like a jigsaw puzzle. We have complex lives so there are a ton of pieces glued together. They could be our job, our career, our family, house, pets, friends, religion, community etc. Then there are the things we enjoy, like maybe our cars or playing any instrument or any hobby that we might have or a passion that maybe we enjoy! And so forth…..But at the base of all these there is one “foundation/board/plate” that keeps it all neatly laid out, balanced as you might say it. And that is our Health.

Just think about it! Without health, none of the above things will matter. Without the stability of ones’ HEALTH, all the pieces in our life’s jigsaw puzzle, fall apart, become disarrayed.

Every goal you have, success you have, every dream you have, every person you love, everything you own, is all resting on this foundation called your Health. The moment you take away your health, there is nothing!

Recently I listened to a podcast that compared your body to the most expensive luxury car.

What a concept! Can you just imagine it?

You’ve just won the lottery, or you have been gifted this magnificent $250,000 dream sports car. We all would love that, right? But what would you do next?

Will you fill the gas tank with soda instead of premium fuel? Will you throw junk food like chips and cookies on the seats or keep it nice and shiny? Will you drive it in dirty, plashy puddles and park it outside in the hail or make sure it is washed and safe in the garage? Will you never get an oil change, or get any maintenance services done or be super prompt and keep it up to date?

So why do we treat our bodies – the most magnificent gift we’ve ever been given – like its junk?

Why do we fill it with processed food and soda and sugar? Why do we never maintain it or take preventative measures? Why do we treat it poorly physically and mentally? We torture ourselves with unrealistic expectations set up by the ever-changing social media. We hold ourselves to unreal standards. We keep pushing it and never let it get enough sleep or downtime. And we are so proud of the fact that we can do so much with barely any sleep! Why do we beat it up so badly and expect, in return, that it still carries us around without any issues?

It doesn’t make sense, right? So, the next time you find yourself doing something that isn’t benefiting your body STOP and ask yourself these three questions.

WHY are you doing this?

HOW can you change this behavior?

WHAT can you do to only treat your body with the love and respect that it deserves?

This is food for thought! No pun intended 🙂 It can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it honestly!

We do have certain “Pillars” of our health if you want to call them that. They are the foods we eat, exercise/daily movement, quality, and quantity of sleep we get, and our mental health. Rather than overwhelming oneself, we can start simply and with the lowest hanging fruit of all, our Food. It all begins with the food we put in our mouth every single time, every single day. We have absolute, total control of this one very important yet simple act. But we do need to take the responsibility of that choice in our hands. Every aspect of our health is impacted by what we eat. We are what we eat.

I think pretty much everyone agrees that the more Whole Food Plant Based Foods we eat like vegetables, grains, lentils, nuts, and fruits, the better it is for our health. What that means is to eliminate/reduce the processed foods from our diet. Eat what grows on plants and not what is made in plants! As the famous writer also Michael Pollan says, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” This isn’t just good for your health. It’s also one of the best things you can do for the environment and earth’s sustainability.

Every bite that goes into your mouth is a decision. Ultimately it will come down to commitment. How committed you are to your health and fitness journey. Just remember to not wait for the perfect moment to start, that you will get off the track sometimes, and don’t think it’s too late!

One meal at a time.

Just get started today and you will soon see results and realize that getting healthy is actually FUN!