Recently my Mum announced that she eats an avocado just about everyday – then she paused and looked at me ….
In the silence that followed it seemed she was waiting for a response and I slowly toyed with a few possible options.
Should I say “Bravo” and go on to list all the nutritional benefits?
Or, as my Mum had once been fat-phobic, the naughty part of me considered saying “Good-God Mum, think of the calories!”
Once my naughty streak gets going, it keeps going, so next I thought I might say, “ONLY one? I eat three per day, each drizzled with oodles of extra, extra virgin olive oil!”
In the end, I left the silence hanging and said nothing!
When it comes to nutrition, there’s rarely one right answer and normally it will depend on many factors. What works best for me may not be best for my Mum or anyone else and vice-versa; you see, it depends!
Mostly, I don’t teach my clients what to eat, I show them how they can find out for themselves what will work best. I share knowledge that will help them decide but even more importantly I encourage them to notice how different foods make them feel. It took me years to figure out the foods that suit me the best but I started gathering the clues early. Before it was common to cut out gluten I noticed that taking sandwiches in my school pack-lunch left me feeling bloated and tired all afternoon. I switched to making salads – with added legumes or nuts – and never looked back. Other things took longer to figure; for a long time I battled with a dairy intolerance, completely clueless that my digestive problems were being caused by my love of yoghurt. But when I did give up dairy my health slowly transformed – I had clearer skin, more energy and no more debilitating stomach pain.
I do think there are some real benefits in breaking all the rules and letting our bodies be the “laboratory” – at times we’ll feel terrible with the choices and other times our food choices will leave us feeling great. Intuitive eating comes when we’ve figured this out and consistently choose what nourishes us the best. Plus, denying ourselves something, because someone else says so, invariable leads to cravings, which move us further away from intuition and can actually drive us towards addiction.
So, I am especially excited about my new Wellness Mentorship, which offers month by month guidance on how to really “go figure” – personalised nutrition that will ultimately be designed by you!
