Nutritional Transformation - A Practice in Acceptance & Discipline

Nutritional Transformation - A Practice in Acceptance and Discipline

We can all identify with feelings of uneasiness as the demands of every day life seem to be piling up by the moment. At the end of the day we find ourselves wondering if we accomplished anything at all. So when you really examine these thoughts, it is not too strange to say they arise mostly from our own internal cues. Basically, we have spent the day with unsatisfactory results. Unfortunately, this gets us into serious trouble as we punish ourselves directly or indirectly for not living up to our own expectations. This is where it can be easy to get caught up in the trap of binging and purging on food.

As a nutritionist, I work with individuals on learning how these stresses affect their eating habits. More importantly, I emphasize how eating behavior, left unchecked, has a great influence on emotions, mood and general outlook on life. So you see, it is a “chicken and egg” sort of situation. What you eat is affecting the physical and the emotional aspects of life, and the opposite is true as well. When your body is polluted, it is almost impossible to function properly and find contentment and happiness in your day-to-day life.

So the road back, or recovery, must absolutely begin with some discipline. Many of us have forgotten the importance of discipline in our lives. Without working hard and following through on a project, we cannot achieve results. This applies to making all kinds of lifestyle changes and particularly those relating to eating habits.

When you begin a program of nutritional transformation, it is often helpful to start with a cleansing program because this forces you to follow a specific set of rules and guidelines. You have a formula to follow, a structure, which will bring you the results you desire. A proper cleansing regimen involves the consumption of pure, whole foods which are easy to digest. This is simple and straight forward. The real difficulty begins once the cleansing process is complete and you move on to transforming the way you approach matters for the long term. This requires ongoing discipline with regard to what, where, when, and how you eat.

People often get going in the cleansing stage, but they fail to understand, or perhaps they do not want to accept, that this is a process of learning how to work with your particular biochemistry. This is ongoing, and the real results you seek will come much later in the game. People are usually hoping for a “diet” or “magic bullet” which will take the weight off or solve the digestion problems quickly and easily. They want a start and finish. What they really need to do is accept they are born with a particular biochemistry and body type and that all else is in a constant state of change. The skill they must learn to develop is the ability to adapt to these changes. So once the cleanse is complete, you have gone through stage one. This is great, and you should congratulate yourself, but then you must go on to the next phase with as much enthusiasm. This is where working with a nutritionist can be extremely helpful in getting and remaining on track until you develop your own skills to stay the course.

Developing these skills is not easy to tackle, but you need to work on it each and every day until it becomes second nature to you. Stay away from the junk food and rediscover how enjoyable fresh, whole foods can be and watch the transformation!

So now when you look at it in this perspective, you realize you can be less harsh on yourself for little transgressions. Transformation is hard work and we are all human after all. Punishment and self-deprivation just set you up for disaster. So be patient and kind to yourself and mindful of the fact that food is for nourishment and not nurturing. Let this be your new mantra!