Why you should focus on what feels right

when living your life

Hello love, how are you?

I am still enjoying my days on the boat on the beautiful island of Paxos and stepping more and more in relaxation mode. And on the other hand, work proposals are coming to me and because of my empty calendar I can fill in requests very easily. So last week I helped someone writing a proposal and he was so happy with my help and I was really happy to be able to help. It also showed me that work can feel like fun when you do the things you love and are good at.

I really wish we could all have this feeling. Therefore I have been writing a lot about how to create the life that suits you best. Some might say that is egoistic, but in my opinion it is not. Creating a life that suits you best makes you question what you really need. And when you continue on this journey, you will realise that when you do the things that are good for you, they are good for the world as a whole.

I will explain this with the example of food, because I believe that food is an important starting point of consciousness. When you pay attention to what you eat and where your food comes from, you will see the impact food has on the world.

Let’s start at the relation between food and your body

Your body needs food. But it can easily do without food for a couple of hours and even days. You do not need to stuff your body with food every couple of hours. Two or three meals a day is enough. Especially when you use the right meals that nourish you in the best possible way. Your type of nourishment might change with the seasons and it is different for every body. What works for your best friend, might not work for you and the other way around. Diets don’t work because they are created for the mainstream and don’t look at your specific body. In eastern philosophies they focus on the body as a whole and what your specific body type needs.

Food is always available

In our western society food is always available. You can get food at almost every street corner. Which can make you think that you have to eat all the time. These ready to eat foods are often not the best ones to nourish your body. They contain lots of wheat, sugar and unhealthy fats, while your body works best with fresh foods, homemade and directly eaten after cooking (there are even philosophies that state that eating leftovers the next day is unhealthy, but I won’t go that far).   

Reasons to not eat what you need

There are all kinds of reasons why you stopped listening to the needs of your body when it comes to food. From my personal experience and what I see around me I guess there are some major reasons why you’re not eating what you need.

1.      You have a busy life: You might not have a lot of time to think about food. You rather buy your food ready to eat instead of making it yourself. Which means that you won’t get all the nutrients your body needs. Some people even stop eating certain meals because of their schedules.

2.      You are in a relationship or have a family at home: you might adjust your eating habits to your partners habits. This can be good when the one who does most of the cooking loves good food, but it can be difficult when the cook does not pay a lot of attention to nourishment or has different needs than you have.

3.      Your food intuition is not developed (yet): you can’t really distinguish what’s good for you and what not. And just eat what you think you should eat. You make rational decisions when it comes to food, instead of feeling what you really need.

What types of food are good for you?

Every body is different. So not everyone needs the same foods. When you start to pay attention to what you eat and feel what certain foods do to you, you will discover that not everything you eat works for your body. It takes some research to understand what really suits your body, because sometimes it is a combination of foods that might not work. I always say a healthy diet starts with fruits and vegetables. But even in this area there are foods that can be good for you or not. Since I am paying attention to what my body wants, I can feel in my body if it is good for me to eat something. I can look at food and feel my body contract, then I know it is not the right moment to eat it. At other times my body is happy to digest it. But with a lot of (mainly processed) food my body will tell me ‘this is not good for you’. And I stop eating it at all.

What happens when you start to eat what is good for you?

I started my food journey almost 15 years ago. It happened over night. One day I decided to not eat cheeses, meat and sugar anymore. I started to search for healthier options. At first I almost only ate fruits and vegetables. But I soon realised that wasn’t the best option for my body. So I started to search for ‘better food options’ and got inspired by the Slow Food foundation. I went to Italy to try out all kinds of foods and started to adjust this thinking to my personal diet. I started to only eat local, seasonal and biological foods. I tried to stay away from sugar, wheat and meat and also fish for a long time.

The most important thing I learned was that when I eat local, seasonal and biological and fresh food I will do the least harm to my body and the planet. When my body is healthy I am stronger and more capable of taking care of the world and people around me.

My diet changes with the seasons and the locations where I live. I know what I need and what does not work for my body and soul. In supermarkets I visit the fruits and vegetables stands and I check out the biological section. But I prefer to buy my foods in small biological shops or directly at the farm. With all the different places where I have lived I had to search for the best places to find my food, but when you are ready to give your body what it needs, this becomes so much easier.  

What happens to the planet when you change what you eat?

Last weeks I have been reading The Silent Ark by Juliet Gellatley. This book is published in 1994 and tells about how the meat, fish and dairy industry functions and the impact on the planet. I can’t read a lot of the book at the same time, because it is too much. The way we treat animals just to have meat, eggs and milk on our plates is really terrible. It reads like a horror story, but the most interesting thing I read so far is that most people just tell themselves that they are not the problem. So they just keep on eating what they eat. It is 30 years later and the book still has the same value, because we still eat way too much processed meats, fish and dairy.

Focussing on eating more fruits and vegetables and eating less in general makes you rethink what you really need and makes your footprint smaller. When you start to look at food, you will see that more things don’t function.

Ways to change what you eat

1. Take small steps: never make big changes over night when you don’t feel them from deep inside. Changes are only lasting when you take small steps.

2. Clean your body: When you want to change your diet it is smart to start with cleaning your body. During a detox or fasting period there are certain things you don’t eat. When you do this, it is best to get some help of people who know a lot about food. Because a detox can bring up certain sensations and feelings you are not familiar with.

3. Start to feel: when you improve your skill to feel what you need, it becomes your super power. You will start to feel if you really want to drink a beer, coffee or coke or that you rather take a glass of water or cup of herbal tea. There are two ways to experience this. The first is to take the thing you want to eat or drink and hold it in your hand and feel the sensations in your body. The second is to listen to the calls of your body. Sometimes your body is calling for something. I sometimes feel an intense desire to eat salmon, the first time I ignore the feeling, the second time as well, because it can just be the idea of eating salmon, but when it stays with me for a couple of days, I know my body needs the nutrients of this food. It works the same with certain vegetables or what I want to eat for breakfast.

4. Enjoy eating and cooking: maybe you don’t like cooking and maybe you love it. But when you start to experience the sensations that food bring to your body, everything can become a sensational experience. Especially when you start to realise what food does to your body.

I wish you a pleasant food journey and if you need any inspiration or help. Let me know, I love to help you out!