Strong & Vital, Pt. IV - Nourishing the Whole Self

What does it mean to be truly nourished?  Is it simply the absence of hunger?  Or is there something more, a deeper sense of well-being that comes from nurturing not just our bodies, but our minds and spirits as well?

I used to think nourishment was just about the food on my plate.  I’ve tracked calories, obsessed over macros, and yet, I felt like I was missing something.  It wasn't until I started looking beyond the plate, exploring the deeper connections between food, mind, and spirit, that I finally understood what it truly meant to nourish my whole self.

In this fourth installment of the Strong & Vital series, we’ll explore the essential topic of nutrition, not just as a means of fueling our bodies, but as a crucial component of holistic wellness.  We'll discuss practical strategies for making conscious food choices and understanding that what we eat has incredible impact on our physical, mental, and emotional well-being.  From ancestral wisdom to present day challenges, we'll navigate the landscape of food and nourishment together, uncovering how to cultivate and support a vibrant and balanced life.

And later, I’ll share a personal story that illustrates the profound way food can connect and deepen our relationships.

Honoring Our Roots:  Lessons from Generations Past

Our journey to optimal nutrition begins by acknowledging the wisdom of those who came before us.  My own family history, with parents, a grandmother and great-grandmother who lived long, vibrant lives, instilled in me a deep appreciation for the power of simple whole foods.

My great-grandmother immigrated from Italy in 1903 through Ellis Island.  She had a garden in her Brooklyn backyard, preserved her food seasonally, and prepared hearty, inexpensive meals from scratch.  Her family’s diet, born of necessity rather than health trends, was rich in vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats.  They walked everywhere, fostering an active lifestyle integrated into their daily routines.

These ancestral lessons highlight key principles that remain relevant for me today.  Here are six principles for you to consider:

  1. Embrace whole foods:  Prioritize unprocessed, nutrient-dense foods in their natural state.  If my great-grandmother would recognize the food, it’s a safe bet for you.

  2. Eat seasonally:  Embrace the rhythm of nature by consuming local foods that are in season.  The more you practice this, the more you’ll feel pulled to certain foods during the year, your body’s way of intuitively telling you what it needs.

  3. Share meals:  Community meals with loved ones foster connection and enjoyment.  Set mealtimes were the norm last century and can be a challenge in our ever busy lives today.

  4. Practice mindful eating:  Savor your meals, eat slowly, and appreciate the nourishment they provide.  Growing up, I remember dinner, in particular, as a time to catch up on the day’s events.

  5. Cultivate gratitude:  Express thankfulness for the food you have, cultivating a sense of abundance.  I also remember how my grandmother would start each meal by saying grace, including gratitude for the food, having lived through the Great Depression.

  6. Move naturally:  Integrate movement into your daily life.  The reason my elders lived well into their 80s, 90s and even 100s is because of their daily activity.  None of them stepped into a gym – it was the simple act of living in the 20th century that kept them active.

Certainly, we wouldn’t want to go back to a time of such different challenges, but we can learn from their sustainable and nourishing practices.

Take a moment to reflect on your own family’s food traditions.  What lessons are applicable to your own life?  If none come to mind, try incorporating one of the ancestral principles I mentioned into your daily routine this week.

Navigating the 21st-Century Food Landscape

While our ancestors’ practices offer valuable guidance, today’s food environment is vastly different and presents its own unique challenges.  Convenience and affordability often come at the expense of nutritional value.  Processed foods, laden with sodium, saturated fat, refined grains and added sugars, have become pervasive.  This shift has contributed to a rise in diet-related health issues.

Quite simply, our food is making us unwell.  The challenge lies in navigating this complex landscape and making informed choices that support our well-being.  It requires a conscious effort to prioritize whole foods, limit processed options, and be mindful of the ingredients we consume.

Making lasting changes to our eating habits can feel daunting, but it doesn't have to be.  An effective strategy to consider incorporating into your daily life is the Reflect, Replace, Reinforce method.  This powerful three-step approach, recommended by the CDC, provides a structured framework for making lasting changes to your eating habits.  It’s not just what you eat, but why and how.

Here are the steps of the Reflect, Replace, Reinforce method:

  1. Reflect:  The first step is self-awareness.  Keep a food diary for a few days to track what you eat, when you eat it, and how you feel before and after.  Identify any unhealthy habits, patterns and the triggers that prompt them.  Are you eating out of boredom, stress or simply habit?  Understanding your triggers is crucial for making conscious choices.

  2. Replace:  Once you've identified areas for improvement, start replacing unhealthy choices with healthier alternatives.  Swap sugary drinks for water or herbal tea.  Replace processed snacks with fruits, vegetables or a handful of nuts.  Small, consistent substitutions can make a big difference over time.

  3. Reinforce:  Change takes time and effort.  Be patient and compassionate with yourself throughout the process.  Setbacks are normal.  If you slip up, don't get discouraged.  Simply acknowledge it, learn from it, and get back on track.  Focus on consistency and how you feel, rather than perfection.  Celebrate your successes, no matter how small, to reinforce positive changes.

Once you have the food basics down, you’ll want a simple way to stay accountable.  The way I do it is by mentally reviewing a decision tree that helps me make the best food choices throughout my day. 

I created this approach because I needed something I could apply while traveling and I wanted to incorporate the wisdom from those who have dedicated their lives to eating well for optimal performance, such as Brendan Brazier.

Brendan is a former endurance athlete and author.  His approach to optimize health through food is to minimize nutritional stress, which means to help your body perform its cellular regeneration functions by reducing the effort needed to digest and process your food.  And you do this, quite simply, with a whole foods based diet. 

With this as a backdrop, here’s my two-part thought process when deciding what to eat and ensuring I get high net gain nutrition, including plenty of alkaline, non-inflammatory food:

  1. Is it an unprocessed whole food?  I make sure to get a seasonal array of fresh colorful fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.  I eat as many meals as possible at home and minimally prepare the food to reduce salt, oil and sugar.

  2. How much food do I really need and when?  For me, small amounts of high quality food work best.  I also try to eat between 9am and 6pm so I can work out in fasted state and give myself plenty of time to digest before I sleep.

Here are five more questions that keep me on track:

  1. Can a piece of fruit satisfy a sweet craving?  Most of the time, the answer is yes.

  2. What can I drink in place of alcohol?  I mostly limit my intake to social situations with a one or two drink max.

  3. When will I schedule my weekly prep time?  Planning and prepping my meals ahead of time helps me stay on track because I always have healthy ingredients and snacks at the ready.

  4. Is it time to fast?  A few times a year I do a 5 day fast-mimicking program called ProLon.  I’ve written an entire article on ProLon and have a free download/discount code for the product, which I will link up in the show notes.

  5. How can I have some fun?  Along with exploring the culinary spectrum and trying new recipes, I love to search out wild, foraged foods.  These nutrient-rich plants, which our ancestors ate, add variety, flavor and a connection to nature.  It’s also a great excuse to get out on the trails or support a local forager.

Beyond Food:  Nourishing Your Mind and Spirit

Now let’s look beyond the plate.  True nourishment encompasses the well-being of your mind and spirit as well.  Just as food fuels our bodies, other practices nourish our inner selves, contributing to a sense of wholeness and balance. 

Nourishing the whole self requires attention to the interconnectedness of our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being.  It's about cultivating inner resilience, fostering positive connections, and finding meaning and purpose in our lives.  I’ll touch on a few here, but we’ll go deeper on these themes in upcoming episodes. 

Nourishing Your Mind

Our mental well-being is just as crucial as our physical health.  A nourished mind is one that is engaged, resilient, and capable of navigating life's challenges with clarity and focus.  Here are some ways to nourish your mind:

  • Stress Management:  Chronic stress can take a toll on both your mental and physical health.  Finding healthy ways to manage stress is essential.  This could include practices like mindfulness meditation, deep breathing exercises, yoga, spending time in nature or engaging in hobbies you love.  It might also mean setting healthy boundaries and learning to say "no" to things that overwhelm you.  Rest and sleep are also important to manage stress.

  • Cognitive Stimulation:  A curious and active mind is a healthy one.  Keep your mind sharp and engaged through lifelong learning.  You can read books, listen to podcasts, learn a new language or pursue a new hobby or creative project.

  • Emotional Regulation:  Your emotions play a powerful role in your overall well-being.  Developing emotional intelligence, the ability to understand and manage your emotions effectively, is key to mental wellness.  This might involve journaling, seeking therapy or counseling, practicing self-compassion, or developing healthy coping mechanisms for dealing with difficult emotions. 

Nourishing Your Spirit

Nourishing the spirit is about connecting with something larger than yourself, finding meaning and purpose in life, and cultivating a sense of inner peace.  It's about nurturing your inner self and finding what truly resonates with your soul.  Here are some ways to nourish your spirit:

  • Contemplation:  Contemplative practices can help you quiet the mind, connect with your inner wisdom, and cultivate a deeper sense of self-awareness.  Even a few minutes of daily reflection can make a difference in your overall well-being.

  • Gratitude and Appreciation:  Cultivating gratitude for the good things in your life, both big and small, can shift your perspective and enhance your sense of happiness and contentment.  Keep an ongoing list of what’s going right, express appreciation to others, or simply take time each day to reflect on what and who you're thankful for.

  • Connection with Nature:  Spending time in nature has a restorative effect on the mind and spirit.  Whether it's a walk in the park, a hike in the woods, or simply sitting in your garden, connecting with the natural world can bring a sense of peace and tranquility.

  • Meaning and Purpose:  Exploring your values, passions, and what truly gives your life meaning can be a powerful way to nourish your spirit.  This might involve volunteering, pursuing a creative endeavor, or simply taking time for self-reflection.

  • Community and Connection:  Nurturing meaningful connections with others can provide a sense of belonging and support.  Spend time with loved ones and connect with your community – any activity that brings you closer to others will be effective.

Speaking of social connection, here’s the story I mentioned that illustrates the profound way food can connect and deepen our relationships.  I think it will bring this topic full circle.  And it’s about a time I experienced a spontaneous connecting moment of mindfulness in an unexpected place.

In January 2014, I attended a home-cooked dinner hosted by my new boss, at the time, who auctioned off the seats around his dining room table for charity.  When I walked into his Manhattan duplex I knew a few people by name, but most by sight or not at all.  We were basically a group of loosely acquainted colleagues.

The dinner was wonderful and when it came time for dessert, one of the guests asked the host to open a special bottle of wine that he brought.  It was a dessert wine that was a 1927 vintage – an 87-year-old wine back in 2014.

I was so struck by the generosity of this individual to share such a special bottle of wine with work acquaintances.  And I was really curious – what does 87-year-old wine taste like?

As the bottle was ceremoniously opened and the contents allowed to breathe after decades of being in a bottle, I kept trying to picture what was happening when those grapes were growing in the South of France.  My father would have been five-years-old and my mom wouldn’t be born for another year.  As a nation, we were between World Wars, ten years past the 1918 flu pandemic.  The Roaring 20s were coming to an end and the Great Depression was on the horizon, unbeknownst to all.

And what was the journey that took that bottle from Europe to America to our table nine decades later?

That’s what I was thinking of when I raised the glass to observe its amber color before taking in its aroma of walnuts and caramel.  We all sipped at the same time, holding that first small mouthful for a bit.  And then sharing what we tasted – vanilla bean, brown sugar, ginger were a few responses.

As we settled into enjoying our dessert and wine, I asked the table of professional colleagues this question:  “If money were no object and you had full support of your family, what work would you choose to do?”

And so began a long exchange where everyone shared their dreams – not your typical corporate conversation.  There were those who wanted to farm, to make wine, to lead travel excursions, to teach, to heal.  Me?  I said I wanted to an author, which at that time, was a dream.

I share this story because when we think of mindful nourishment, it can feel elusive.  But this is a reminder that we can invite mindful moments to our everyday gatherings, whether personal or professional.  In my experience, I haven’t had anyone turn down or turn away from an invitation to authentically connect.

That group of colleagues didn’t set out to have a mindful meal.  To the contrary, it had all the components of what could have been a polite and antiseptic evening.  But a little prompting, in this case, sharing a bottle of wine and nudging the conversation with a thoughtful question – everyone spontaneously rose to the occasion.  We, as a group, dropped into the present moment, we focused on our senses, and shared what we were experiencing, along with our dreams.

In doing so, we shared a moment as rare as that special bottle of wine – never to be experienced again, but fully enjoyed by all.  And recalling that connection still brings me great joy to this day.

Integrating Nourishment into Your Life

True nourishment is a holistic journey that reaches far beyond the plate.  It’s a continuous exploration of self-discovery and growth that’s about embracing the interconnectedness of our physical, mental and spiritual well-being.

To begin, reflect on your current habits and identify areas of positive change.  Embrace the wisdom of generations past, navigate the modern food landscape with conscious choices, and implement practical strategies like the Reflect, Replace, Reinforce method. 

But don't stop there.  Find enjoyable ways to nurture your mind and connect with your spirit.  Look for unexpected moments, like sharing a meal and a bottle of wine, to invite mindfulness, authentic connection and new experiences.  These moments, like nourishing our whole selves, are not about perfection, but about presence.

By embracing this holistic approach – nourishing your body, mind, and spirit – you’re feeding your vitality, so you can truly thrive in midlife and beyond.

Journal Reflections: How have your family lineage, traditions and history impacted your eating habits today? How has that history impacted how you nourish your mind and spirit? What’s your favorite memory of deeply connecting with others over a meal?

Links:    

Midlife, Professional Women, Well-being, Wellness, WomenKathy Robinsonwellness, wellbeing, women's wellness, midlife, midlife transformation, transformation, life transitions, wellness practices, life transformation, healthy aging, midlife wellness, strong & vital, CrossFit, functional workouts