So, why Nourish yourself?

Now, Nourish Nutrition is a driving force behind Nourish and the goal to help EVERYONE create a realistic approach to nourishing themselves. That being said, there are other modalities and practices that can be instituted daily in order to experience a life full of nourishment rather than singular focusing on nutrition ONLY.

The concept of nourishing oneself has come from a life full of extremes, lack of care/respect for my own body, and lack of education as well. The life I describe is the one that I chose to live for a large portion of my life.

I grew up in a single parent household. Single mom, working extremely long hours to be able to take care of her children. My mother gave me the basic in terms of cooking and cleaning for myself, THANK GOODNESS.That being said, anyone else who has grown up  in a similar situation can resonate how  that this gives you a sense of freedom and delegation which leads to making decisions based upon want, not necessarily need.

All of this freedom led to me being an overweight kid that loved video games, fried foods, a minimal movement lifestyle that was built based upon staring at a screen as soon as I came home from school.  

As I grew older and time progressed these same biases are how I made choices as I came to be a young man.

Now, as you are reading this you may have already come to the conclusion that all I need to do was the complete opposite of what I was doing in order to live a healthier lifestyle, correct?

Hindsight is 20/20 as they say! And for this exact reason is why I am writing this article. TO EDUCATE! To share knowledge that has been accrued through real life experience. Getting wiser in my old age of 28 years!  

Anywho...back to our regularly scheduled programming...

It was not until I became involved in sports (football/ basketball)  and took real CONTROL of my nutrition/ movement and mindfulness (approach to the game, how I fueled myself, treating my body like an athlete), that I started to realize the differences in how I felt. These changes were not immediate , nor were they permanent! I, like most other people, struggled to remain consistent with the new changes I was instituting into my life but one thing remained the same: Consistency over the Long Term. Each of us has the ability to learn as we grow, and expand both our understanding and application of new skills and information that were not privy to before! The more awareness grows, the further understanding there is of your own body.

Fast forward to present day, I have experienced further knowledge as to what my body wants and needs as a complete system:

• What types of foods I need to stay satiated and perform well throughout my day.
• How much movement per day/weekly/ based upon my goals- (Exercise as well as my N.E.A.T level).
• Frequency of my workouts- Can be varied based upon stress/ sleep levels over a certain period of time, adjusted to fit my specific needs/ goals - short & long term.
• What constitutes my “Training Days”- this will come in another blog.
• How much sleep I need to perform optimally- Sleep quality & sleep hygiene, accumulated sleep for best recovery.

So on and so forth...

Am I a complete expert who knows it all? No, I am humble enough to admit that I am not nor will ever be.. But as far as gaining a deeper understanding of my OWN body, the journey has been extraordinary and continues to expand my view on all things related to health and overall wellness.

So that is exactly what I am encouraging you to do. Take initiative, take a hold of your process and your life!

I believe there are three pillars: when it comes to nourishing yourself: Nutrition, Movement, Mindfulness.

Now from these pillars we can break it down further into simpler subsets. But these three are the looming topics that lead your self nourishment.

So, you are probably wondering where we are going to go with this next?

I will delve deeper into each pillar in a later article but for now, here are some tips to take a step in the right direction.

Nutrition

Generally speaking , eat foods that are FULL of the micronutrients/ nutrients/ fiber on a daily basis.

Your body is very similar to a car.  If you put the cheap gas in (processed foods, & prepackaged foods) consistently would you expect it to make a cross country trip from NYC to California and back?  

I didn’t think so. So you cannot expect your body to thrive over the years on “cheap gas” either.

Your body needs nutrients. Give it the FUEL that it needs CONSISTENTLY. Whole foods, vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, etc.  Take care of the vessel that you were blessed with in order to travel through this lifetime. At the end of the day never forget... You are what you eat.

Movement

MOTION is LOTION.

Sounds weird right?
It might even make you giggle a little bit,  but it is absolutely the truth!

Our bodies are meant to be in motion. Here’s an easy point of reference.  
Take heed to those who have been here before.  10 out of 10 times any individual who has been active for a majority of their lifetime will tell you the most important thing is...

DO NOT STOP.

Now this advice applies to many ideals in the health and fitness realm but in our case:  

If you are currently not on a regimen that's fine.

• Go for a walk around your house (inside or outside).
• Do 5 wall push ups every hour.
• Climb the stairs 5 times.
• Get up and do 10 ten air squats once an hour. If this sounds a bit much, start with 1 and work your way up!

Traveling, hiking, grocery shopping, writing, running, weight lifting, yoga. Generally speaking you will be hard pressed to any activity that doesn’t require some type of physical movement.

Once you have a basis level of movement you can then look to progress over time.

Turn that one lap into 2.

5 pushups into 6.

Half squat into a full squat.

Progress is what allows us to continue to drive as human beings. Embrace that trait to the fullest and apply that to your daily motion lotion. Remember, stay lubricated!

Mindfulness

Last and far from least, is Mindfulness.

Constantly taking inventory of how you are feeling, your surroundings and how they are affecting your daily process, what choices you are making towards success, and a myriad of other questions relate to you and your own sense of self awareness and self efficacy.

Mindfulness, by definition, refers to a mental state that is achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.  

Being in the present moment and appreciating it for what it is solely in that moment is key to a life of fulfillment and longevity. Being grateful and finding the grace within each moment will lead to a life of happiness.  

Try it. Just for 1 day.  Focus on being in the present moment at all times. This is an ever-long journey to live the life most fulfilled. Why wouldn’t you want to live this way? At a base level, as human beings we all seek happiness.  This will come in different variations as none of us are the same individual, but isn’t that the beauty of life? The fact that we can manifest our story, we can create our own destiny.

Control your controllables and embrace the moment. You owe it to yourself!

always...

#StayNOURISHed

Love you.

Ty ✌🏽💜