It’s the last week of March (yes, we can hardly believe it either), and with autumn setting in, the change of season serves as a stark reminder of the shelved New Year’s resolutions and health goals we so enthusiastically set at the beginning of each year – eat healthier, lose weight, get fit, sleep morethe list goes on, and accompanying it, an equally long list of reasons for failure:
“I don’t have the time”, “I don’t know where to start”, “My family doesn’t support my goals”, “Making healthy food is time-consuming and expensive”. Sound familiar?
We’ve all been there at some point – that moment when you realise that your good intentions to be healthier and your daily actions are not aligned, and feeling too overwhelmed to do anything about it.
And, with the sheer volume of health-related information and diet and fitness fads out there, who can blame people for not knowing where to start?
The good news is that living a healthy, balanced life does not have to be complicated. It does not mean guzzling down 20 different “wonder” pills and powders every day, signing up for expensive gym contracts and treatments, or blowing your grocery budget in a week.
In fact, the more we embrace simplicity and getting back to natural, whole foods and remedies perfectly designed by nature, the more we start to experience abundant health.
This is because when we eat correctly and live more naturally, we are embracing our body’s design and turning our lifestyles into our medicine, instead of needing medicine to support our unhealthy lifestyles.
And as we well know – prevention is always better than cure. For example, did you know that many of the healing properties traditionally found in herbal remedies are found in plant foods such as fruits, vegetables and spices?
This means that simply through eating correctly, you can create your own multivitamin, immune booster, flu shot, or inflammation-fighter – all without needing to swallow a pill.
So what does it mean to be healthy?
While many people will think of themselves as “healthy” if they are disease-free (often-times through taking medication to cure their ailments or suppress symptoms and pain), the complete definition of health is much broader in scope.
The World Health Organisation defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.
This means that being the best you that you can be requires you to heal fully on all levels, and this can only be done by embracing a lifestyle that nature intended.
To succeed on your journey of health, it is important to remember that only you can take responsibility for your health and that of your family.
Good health is about taking those goals, resolutions, and good intentions, and turning them into results – one choice at a time.
Every time you say “no” to an unhealthy choice, you are saying “yes” to living an abundant life and “no” to illness.
While no one else can ultimately choose for you, they certainly can encourage, inspire, and equip you with tools to make the journey easier.
And that is exactly what this column is about. I am passionate about seeing people become the healthiest versions of themselves they can possibly be – the natural way.
We will share some insights into the latest health trends and topics of interest to help you make more informed decisions about your health, and separate the hype from the facts.
So if you’ve ever wondered what the excitement around a gluten-free, vegetarian or paleo diet is, why the internet is flooded with recipes for milk alternatives ranging from the bland to the bizarre (camel milk anybody?), why the emphasis on organic, locally grown, and environmentally-friendly food is growing, how to get your children to eat (and actually like) their vegetables, how spices and herbs can heal (and why turmeric is taking over the culinary world), why sugar is actually bad for you, and how to clean your home without using harmful chemicals, join us every couple of weeks as we discuss these topics (and many more).
Here’s to the start of a new journey to health – a journey to a new you.
Send questions on health to
tracy@realfoodco.co.za
