Primary Foods

There comes a time in everyone’s life when you must face the truth. You’ve got to take a good hard look at yourself and reevaluate who and where you are and why. Being honest with yourself can bring about huge change for the better or can cause you to recoil. It can be an arduous journey, but can free you up to rebuild your physical and mental bodies. Resolving Primary food issues can be a source of fear, worry, doubt and pain. But to walk through the fire is to become reborn in ways never known. Primary food is the ultimate self-nourishing and if in balance will support healthy eating habits curb cravings and emotional eating patterns. It can be the key to your awakening and progression. Ordinary food is what you put in your mouth for nourishment. Primary food is emotional nourishment, the primary importance in your life.

Primary foods are your personal relationships, spiritual practices, physical exercise, and career. Most of our waking time is spent running from, immersed in, stressed out about, or in some way concentrated on these things. The question is, are these areas providing you strength or are they draining the life right out of you? If these elements are out of whack then they are most likely affecting your efforts to eat well and maintain healthy lifestyle.

I usually talk about whole foods and how you can prepare a quick and healthy recipe. But this week I’m having my own challenges, and they can’t be fixed by whole foods. No matter how healthy the meal, the imbalance of my primary food will not only take center stage, but hinder my efforts eat a good meal. You can bet if I’m really stressed out, I’m reaching for the coffee and the sugar!

I am neither a physiologist nor a board certified blah blah blah, but I think this concept is something we can all agree on. Have you ever had a relationship so draining it caused you to lose sleep or become depressed?

A job so stressful, it caused ulcers and headaches? Maybe you forgot you lived directly across from the beach and forgot to watch the sunsets because you were caught up in some superficial drama? But darn tootin’ your diet was right on track. So why couldn’t you sleep? Why were you having trouble digesting?

What was with all the break outs and hearts palpitations? Hmm? We are not only fed by the food in our lives, but also by the energy. Could it have been the completely draining relationship, the fight with your spouse, the fact that you forgot to give yourself a bit of quiet time and your mind was racing a million miles an hour? Or was it that you were living in complete fear and worrying about the next 24 hours and the next 24 years!

Do you remember the times when you were happiest? Maybe you were in a healthy and loving relationship, or you felt at peace with your job, or you spent time listening to your heart’s needs, or maybe you were exercising regularly, giving our body the love it deserved, and eating whole foods and full of energy. Sometimes we veer off track and get distracted, things fall out of sync and we forget what it was like, sometimes for months and sometimes for years. Then one day you look up and wonder what happened? Where did YOU go? Where are YOU now? How the heck are you gonna get YOU back? Well, I can see you. You were right there all along!

As humans we hunger for play, touch, romance, intimacy, love, achievement, success, self-expression, excitement, and spirituality. All of these elements are essential forms of nourishment. How we incorporate them determines how enjoyable and worthwhile our lives feel.

There are small steps we can take to uplift our lives. Small changes yield big results, a little life recipe that’s sweeter than any sugar and stronger than any caffeine.

Small changes that bring about big results.

Relationships: having healthy relationships that support you

Evaluate the people in your life. Are they uplifting and inspiring you?

Love deep, committed and intimate connections

Honor the love and relationships in your love and only except which is doing the same for you.

Work: Find work you love or a way to love the work you have

Try to find contentment and except your job or find the courage to change it!

Movement: physical activity that you enjoy and doing it regularly

MOVE YOUR BODY!
Start with a 10 minute walk!

Breathing: practicing ways to bring oxygen and calm into your body

Spend some quiet time with yourself!

Enjoy the sunset, close your eyes and breathe!

Laughter: the healing sound of joy

Man does a good laugh feel good! HA!

Creativity: express what makes you uniquely you Cook, Draw, write, craft…….do something you like to do to foster creativity.

Spirituality: honor your relationship to God (by whatever name you choose) and to the spirit part of yourself

OM, Shalom, Amen, hug a tree, and so on………

Purpose: a way of being in the world that transcends living just for your self
Help someone in need, however you feel appropriate.

Listen to someone who needs to talk, volunteer, or donate your time in someway

Adventure: explore, get dirty, learn, grow, leap forward

Build a sandcastle; take a class,

DANCE, zip line!

EATING: nourish and energize your body and mind with whole foods!

Enjoy the delicious, fresh and local food Vallarta offers. Make your own meals!


FIND YOUR JOY
through PRIMARY FOODs!

Integrative Nutrition teaches a holistic approach to nourishment and focuses on whole foods as well as Primary Foods; your relationships, spirituality, exercise and career. As a student, I learned to reject culinary dogma, the status quo, and standard medical doctrine. I learned I could help people discover themselves and a healthier way of life, not by providing answers but by posing questions. Ultimately the student, based on their own intuition, would find their own answers and their own way.
www.integrativenutrition.com