As the holiday season comes to a close, many of us assess the past year and set intentions for the year to come. Some people are even bold enough to make resolutions; however, I can never narrow my focus, thus I am not one of those people. I do believe in revisiting my approach to life by exploring my strengths and weaknesses and identifying how I can improve my relationship with the world around me.
A couple of weeks ago, a few of us went to a presentation given by Sharon McDowell-Larson on nutrition and sustainability titled: Eating Low on the Food Chain: Why it is good for your health, the planet, and your waistline. Since then I’ve been a little more aware of what I am putting in my body for fuel.
Sharon focused on the health aspects and the impact diet has on the world around us, mentioning that our world today has a weird dynamic in that we have access to a wide variety of food due to a little thing called globalization, but that we live in a toxic food environment. She stated that we should optimize our nutrient intake relative to the calories we consume focusing on nutrient dense foods (nutrients per calories) such as vegetables, fruits, beans, and nuts. In fact we should be feeding our bodies 8 or 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. One of the many shocking facts she shared was that 100 calories of romaine has more protein than 100 calories of steak. As a person who focuses on protein intake for recovery purposes, I was relieved that I don’t have to rely only on animal products or beans… there is a wide variety of options. Here is a chart to help you identify foods that are high in nutrients and low in calories:
http://www.eatrightamerica.com/home
You may notice that the typical American diet consists of those foods from the right hand column, while we should be choosing foods from the left. Needless to say we have a lot of work to do.
Get a load of this tidbit — we should be eating so much nutrient rich foods that we are pooping like elephants every day! I don’t know about you, but I have some eating to do.
To jump start setting your nutrition intentions for the next year, check out the Nutrition Program at Core Power Yoga. The program includes a 3 day intensive and follow up seminars to give you the tools to make better choices on your daily nutrition decisions including what, when and how much to eat, energy levels and overall emotional and physical health. It is amazing to talk to someone who went through the program or read the testimonies.
For those of us who need more information or more research-based proof Sharon also shared a couple of titles that will help:
Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective
The China Study
Skinny Bitch (for males: Skinny Bastard)
Eat to Live
Disease Proof Your Kids
Healthy at 100
The Cancer Survivors Handbook
The Food Revolution