You Are What You Eat

We live in a world where eating healthy automatically means being on a diet but eating processed foods is normalized. Ordering take-out every other day is a relaxed lifestyle, but eating cleanly is a person who takes life too seriously. Choosing to eat healthier needs to be normalized because clean eating has numerous positive effects on the mind and body. We are warriors, and we should dine as such! We are soldiers that need to perform at elite levels, but that cannot happen if we do not eat properly. Gentlemen, you are what you eat. What do you want to be?

Healthy Mind, Healthy Body

They say we are what we eat, so naturally, if we eat like crap, we will start to feel like crap. It’s no longer about not eating junk food or avoiding the deep fryer. It is about beginning to make healthier choices when it comes to food. We don’t have to go on a “diet” to start choosing more nutritious food options; we should be more mindful of what we are putting into our bodies. From infancy, we have been told by our parents repeatedly to eat more vegetables but as we’ve gotten older, with the luxury of choice and the freedom to do as we please, much of that has gone by the wayside.

Let’s start eating more whole foods and reducing our processed food intake. What this means is eating less french fries and more potatoes. It means eating more chicken breasts and fewer chicken fingers. A healthy mind functions at a higher frequency when equipped with a healthy body, and the continuing focus has to be on an abundance of mental health. With said focus, our body and mind will continue to thank us.

Baby Steps

Studies have shown that by making small lifestyle changes, bit by bit, we can reverse a lot of the damage caused by years of neglect. Simple tasks like replacing fruit juices for fruits, eating more vegetables, and adding another 10-minute walk are great ways to start. The goal is to implement minimalistic changes so we can start seeing results without changing who we are. It’s a lot easier to cut down on a couple of Big Macs a month than to try and eliminate fast food completely. Remember that results are a dish best served with baby steps because it’s not a sprint; it’s a marathon. Rushing only forces us to cut corners.

The most important thing is that we reach our goals, not necessarily how quickly we reach them. There’s a massive priority on sustainability. What’s the point of hitting a target if we cannot maintain it? Get the thought of going on a diet out of your mind and simply focus on eating nutrient-dense foods, more often. Gentlemen, it’s not just “healthy” to eat fruits and vegetables; it is natural to eat fruits and vegetables. Please, let’s normalize this.

Feature image credit ABDALLA M