Skip to main content

Are You Doing This for Looks?


Most of the information I see related to diet and fitness has a major focus on  physical appearance changes... "30 days to abs," "10 day shred," "lose 7 pounds in 7 days," and so on. And it makes sense... that is what catches people's eyes and is "sexy" in the media and marketing world. 

But THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO IT THAN THAT! 

Often times we feel tired, foggy, achy, or just have an overall "heavy" feeling. We may even feel anxious or depressed. It has largely been accepted in mainstream society that all of these feelings are  normal or just part of what comes along with the daily grind. 

While your feelings may partially have to do with life in general (i.e. a stressful job, home life, medical history), the food you eat and the amount of exercise you perform can play a HUGE role in emotions and energy level. 

Harvard University Health Blogger Eva Selhub discusses one connection between food and the brain*, stating that about 95 % of serotonin is produced in the gastrointestinal tract (your gut, yo.) 

What is serotonin, you ask? Oh, just a little floaty neurotransmitter in your body that is partially responsible for keeping certain things in check like sleep, mood, appetite... 

Additionally, serotonin plays a large part in allowing our digestive system to function properly, assisting in muscle contraction during digestion, as well as pain, nausea, and vomiting signals. 

Quick side note: serotonin can't cross the blood-brain barrier all by itself to help our mood- it needs it's BFF tryptophan to help it do that. 

So, what can we do to give our bodies serotonin? Eat! -fruits and nuts such as pineapple, walnuts, banana, and kiwi just to name a few. 

What about tryptophan? Eat! Carbs, bananas, nuts, and beans! 

Oh, and guess what else? Exercise has been found to increase serotonin levels too. Surprise! (Can you hear my sarcasm?)**

SO. Here's a big problem in the dieting and exercise world. If you're starving yourself of carbs because you think the only way to achieve your desired look is to go low-carb, you're messing with your own head. Literally. 

There's so much more to this topic to dive into, but I'm not writing a thesis on it. Long story short ... If you're eating or following a certain diet plan just for looks and don't care if you're being "healthy," or if you aren't eating healthy and exercising at all, you're really selling yourself short. A healthy lifestyle is worth so much more than looking good... It can really rebuild you from the inside out. Trust the process and give yourself the chance to feel better than "just getting by." 

-The Wonder Vegan (Anna Maree Hagley)


RESOURCES: 
*http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/nutritional-psychiatry-your-brain-on-food-201511168626

**http://nutritionwonderland.com/2009/06/understanding-bodies-serotonin-connection-between-food-and-mood/u


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5 Ways to Get to Your Early Morning Workout

Sometimes, the hardest part of getting your workout in is just getting started or getting to the gym! Here are 5 tips that may make it easier to get going.  1. Sleep in Your Gym Clothes.  When we're tired, the more steps it takes to do something, the less we may want to do it. If you wake up already dressed for the gym, that's one less thing you have to do before heading out the door.  2. Set your Coffee Pot On a Timer. When it comes to early mornings, it's not that we hate the morning itself, it's the being tired that we despise! If you drink coffee, have your coffee pot timed to start a few minutes before you wake up. If you  have another favorite caffeinated drink, prep it the night before or set a cup/bottle of it next to your bed.  3.  Make an Appointment to Meet Someone There.  This should be someone you wouldn't want to disappoint (best friend, trainer, etc). Even if we aren't in the mood to show up for ourselves, we can be much more likely to show up if
55 comments
Read more

Are You Practicing for What You Want?

Mindset. Practice.  Spoiler alert- sometimes a not-so-great mindset gets the best of me.  But in case you haven't noticed, working towards changing that is referred to as a mindset practice .  They call it a practice for a reason!  ...because it isn't always easy and doesn't always come natural.  ...because we've trained our brains to think "realistic" to avoid too much risk or change.  ...because we have been in a state of thinking negatively for so long.  If you are interested in creating a more positive mindset (and are willing to put practice in!) here are some Do's and Don'ts: DO:  Start with patience and tolerance for yourself. Create small, achievable goals that will add up to change.  Start a journal or reach out for support from like-minded people.  DON'T:  Expect positive mindset changes to come effortlessly. Your brain has been trained without that in place and needs time to unlearn unhelpful thinking patterns.  Expect to never have a ba
4 comments
Read more

motherhood & grief • a mirror

The space in which you exist that is your life- after-giving-birth, I've learned, is really a lot like living in grief. But no one tells you that. Maybe most don't even see it. Or maybe it just sounds ungrateful or sad, or too confusing to say out loud. I don't mean that it is like grief in the way that we feel, but rather it mirrors grief in the way other people treat us, as mothers to infants.  Have you ever experienced a great loss, and    notice that people give you a sort of "deadline" to get back to your old self? Maybe they apologize for your loss, come around a bunch at first, check in on you and show you support. Even judge you, perhaps, if you don't seem sad enough. You're supposed to be sad, and you are. And the social norm of expectation is right where's its supposed to be (insert: sarcasm).  But after a short time, they expect you to move on, to be the same person you always were, and maybe not talk about the loss anymore or exp
Post a Comment
Read more