Mood, Nutrition and You – A Guide to Eating Better and Feeling Better
Let’s take a look at our eating habits. Are we eating the right foods? I like to think of food as mood providers in addition to a comforting pastime and an enjoyable thing to do overall. Being a certified personal fitness trainer in addition to a psychotherapist, I am very in tune with the mind-body connection.
What you put in your body absolutely affects how you think, feel, and perform your daily activities. Food can even affect your sleep! There are a lot of fads around saying “low carb” “no carb” “Paleo” “Atkins” and even detox juices.
While there is truth to some of these claims, not all of them are sustainable for long periods of time and some have been found to even be harmful! America is surrounded by FDA claims, marketing scams and some just plain awful ideas that people get wrapped into false beliefs.
The key to life is BALANCE. For instance, I know a woman who used to have a very bad problem with alcohol. Through treatment she was able to heal from the alcohol addiction and now has a passion in the gym lifting weights. Is being a gym rat more socially accepted than alcohol issues? Yes, by most definitions. But there still needs to be a balance.
Same with food. The food you put into your body plays a big role in your health and your mood. How many carbohydrates are you eating a day versus how much energy you burn? How active or stressful is your job?
Are the carbohydrates the quality carbs that you need which will help fuel your energy stores and make you feel better? Or are you eating the processed refined carbs which cause a spike in insulin levels making you crash and become moody and tired?
When things in life seem out of control, put change into something you can control- your food. Your food = your mood.
Tips for Better Overall Health, Mood, and Sleeping:
It’s all about the quality of foods, not the quantity of foods (eating the right kind of foods, rather than just “cutting out carbs”, etc).
Add more fresh fruits and veggies. Canned veggies are overcooked and most of the nutrition is leeched out and replaced with sodium.
Base your food intake on your activity levels. If your job demands you to climb towers and stairs all day out in the sun, you will need more calories than a person who has a desk job.
Eat small snacks (200-300 cal) every 3 hours to maintain a healthy blood sugar level and avoid insulin spikes. The more refined sugar and carbohydrates you eat, the more sluggish your body will feel, and the poorer rest you will obtain.
The list could go on and on but before I get carried away with health and nutrition, just know that the bottom line is that your brain feeds off of the food that you put in it.
If your body is feeling sluggish, not firing on all cylinders, take a look at the less noticeable things in life. What are you putting into your body?
Contact The Wellness Counseling Group and find out more about the connection between your mood and food.
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