The other day I started thinking about what life was like without social media or the internet in general. How did we know what to eat before wellness influencers could show us their every meal in real time? Or before you could do a quick google search to see what the newest fad diet is all about? How did we know what foods to stay away from or which ones to fill our plate with? Back when comparing your fridge to a strangers on the internet wasn’t even a possibility, let alone normal.
The short answer: we listened to our bodies.
I share a lot of my life online. And as someone in the “wellness world”, I want to be as open and transparent as possible about what my lifestyle actually looks like; both the pretty plated food and the lazy-ass dinners.
My hope is not to convince you that you need to be doing the same things, but more to inspire or spark a conversation. Don’t get me wrong, social media is incredible and is responsible for so many wonderful connections and experiences in my life. I love seeing how others eat, hearing someone’s perspective about a certain topic, or just connecting with strangers about nutrition in general; it truly makes my day. But the reality is that I’ll never be able to know your body better than you do.
I was vegan for a few months once. I stopped eating chicken for 2 years after a crazy documentary about factory farms. I was mostly vegetarian for a bit. And now? My diet doesn’t have a label. There are phases where I’m eating more [high quality] meat and fish. Other times I’m craving strictly vegetables. The point is: it’s ever-changing. It’s taken me years and a lot of trial & error to get to a place where I feel like I *mostly* know my body and can listen to what it’s telling me. But guess what? Just when I think I have it figured out, something shifts! Our bodies are always evolving because our lifestyle, stress, environment, and cells are changing too. So if you were to strictly follow the way I’m eating, it might be totally wrong for your body.
Here’s the scoop
I eat 80% plant-based, grass-fed meat and wild-caught fish, limited high-quality dairy (mostly goat cheese and butter), and keep the gluten/sugar to a minimum. This is what is currently working for me. I don’t do restrictions or “cheat days”, it’s just a constant ebb and flow. However, I also have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and have struggled with a hormonal imbalance for my entire adult life. For this reason, watching my blood sugar is extremely important and it’s taken years to fully understand how my body works best.
I say all of this just to remind you that we’re all so incredibly different. From our backgrounds and DNA to our lifestyles and exposures. I don’t avoid gluten to be cool and I definitely wish I wasn’t as sensitive to sugars, but that’s my situation.
Food isn’t “good” or “bad”. You’re not a bad person for eating gluten and you shouldn’t feel guilty if you love cheese. The same way that you’re not automatically healthy or “good” just because you eat a lot of spinach. There are healthy, thriving people all over the world that eat drastically different diets. The goal shouldn’t be to find the “perfect” diet to stick with forever, but more to learn how to tap in to your body and eat intuitively.
So how do you “listen” to your body?
Intuitive eating really just starts with awareness. Check in with yourself after you eat. Notice your energy levels throughout the day. If something is making you feel bloated, try removing it for a bit. When do you feel amazing? When do you feel sluggish or uncomfortable? It’s a lot of trial and error, but you’ll start to pick up on little clues and connect the dots over time. We sometimes don’t even realize how good we could feel because we get so used to feeling mediocre.
Our bodies are so smart; they tell us when something is wrong and it’s up to us to listen. So while we’re so fortunate to be able to connect with and learn from people on the internet, the next time you hear your favorite wellness blogger talk about what they’re eating for dinner, take what makes sense for you and leave the rest. Because the only person who knows what’s best for your body is you.