We are all familiar with the standard adage, “you are what you eat” and as old as that advice may be, it still holds true. In every sense of the word, we ARE what we eat; each bite passes through our body ultimately incorporated into our next generation of cells by way of nourishment or toxins. But it isn’t that simple, food also offers an experience of enjoyment and functions as a social agent as well. Nourishing ourselves can be complicated.

At this point in time, there are more options for food than ever before. We have a full range of foods that span the gap between absolute garbage and apparent super foods. What can makes feeding ourselves so confusing is that the media is terribly wonderful at continually spinning the ever revolving door of information; one day bagels are the best, the next they’re the new cigarette… One day the simple egg yolk is going to kill you, the next it’s liquid gold. To add to that, our bodies seems designed to crave all the wrong things! I don’t blame you for feeling confused if you do. But, like most other things, it will do you a world of good to stop reading the headlines, avoid any food that you see advertised or wrapped in gimic and head back to the basics.

When I say basics I mean REALLY basic. Like before you were a kid, basic. Go back to a world where there was no new fangled contraptions, machines, packaging or preserving. Back to a time where food was prepared by hand and for the immediate consumption of people that lived very nearby. If you’re great grandmother couldn’t make it, don’t eat it. In fact, just like fitness and intention, the more complicated or glamorous its made out to be… the worse it probably is for you.

This is generally where a lot of heal digging happens. When I talk about this with my clients, friends or people in general, specifically when I say ‘eat more vegetables’… I hear all about the time it takes, the expense it incurs or the effort it requires to shift ones palate to accommodate this simple way of eating. And to that, I respond with a curt, ‘suck it up Buttercup!’ I’d even add that it SHOULD (even tho it doesn’t) take more time, be more of an investment and require more effort. This is your one and only body, you’re one and conceivably only life that you are literally creating with every meal. To hand over the control of your health and wellness in exchange for convenience or indulgence is irresponsible and given the suspect ingredient lists of so many ‘foods’ these days, each morsel really does take you either closer to or farther away from health. Which brings me to another phrase I return to often. “We feed ourselves the food we feel that we deserve.” And I invite you to ponder that for the next few weeks. Consider it at each meal and see your choices thru this new lens. Food seems complicated, I understand, but we can uncomplicate it by seeing it as a tool for health and allowing it to be truly enjoyable because of it’s value and not the other way around.

As the theme of this month is about engaging with yourself and building an awareness of where you’re at and where you want to go, nutrition is yet another opportunity to do so. Experiment with your likes and dislikes, try new things, substitute something natural for an old standard convenience food; discover a new perspective, reconnect with a simpler more wholesome way of attending to yourself.