It’s fascinating how the mind and body are connected and the way your body feels on any given day can dictate your state of mind. I believe it’s of the utmost importance to fuel your body with the proper energy, primarily coming from nutrient dense foods. In my experience, this leads to improvement in my mood, my thoughts, and my behavior.
As a personal trainer, I’ll never pretend that I have it all figured out and that my life is perfectly healthy and balanced. I struggle with the same temptations we all do, I get a craving for ice cream and then I want more… and then I want cookies too! However, I see the correlation between what I eat and my energy. When I eat for nutritional purposes I am sustained with energy all day long, I sleep better, I spring out of bed in the morning, and whatever stresses come my way throughout the day I handle them. On the opposite end of the spectrum, when I eat out often or overindulge in sweets, my mood changes and I no longer feel like doing the things I know I should be doing for my health. First, I get down on myself for eating poorly in the first place, then my workouts “somehow” get skipped, I start neglecting routine tasks because I see them as chores, and finally I get lazy because my body isn’t fueled properly and so my mind doesn’t cooperate.
I am aware of the popular slogan “mind over matter” but when my body and brain are both operating in a physiological wasteland from the junk I have been feeding it, I’ll be the first to admit, it’s hard to shift out of neutral into first gear. Once I start noticing that my energy level is declining, I know it’s time to change the way I have been eating and start the journey toward refueling my body with the nutrients it needs to fuel my mind and drive me into sixth gear!
Fortunately I am capable of restoring my health through what I eat which energizes me to workout and hustle daily. In the same breath, I also know how easy it is to fall into the vicious cycle that eating for emotional purposes creates. It’s hard to get the energy you need to make it through your day, let alone make time to workout, when the only things you’re feeding your body is mostly cinnamon rolls and cheese burgers. The first step is recognizing that this isn’t setting you up for a healthy life, the next step is coming up with a plan to change your eating habits. The plan could be as simple as starting to drink a glass of water every morning when you wake up or as detailed as eating a fruit or vegetable with every meal. If you change what you feed your body, this will contribute to a healthier state of mind.
