It’s getting to be the end of the year and a lot of people start turning to New Years resolutions, looking to make changes in their lives. Maybe you want a better year than 2020 in the various areas of your life- health, finances, relationships, career, or maybe even spiritually.
The first area I have people focus on when they are trying to make any change in their lives is their diet and nutrition. Wait, what? You are probably wondering what the correlation is between what you are putting into your body and the changes you want to make in your life, right?
Any change in behavior and/or lifestyle takes a lot of, should I say, effort. The habitual behavior patterns we have developed over the course of 20-30 years are so engrained in us, that we don’t even realize that the choices/decisions we make are automatic.
Making any shift, big or small, takes determination and resiliency, the kind that most people lack, <change would be easy otherwise right?> but can be built and strengthened through, first and foremost, the foods and nutrients we are putting into our bodies.
If we looked at the average American diet, we find it full of processed and nutrient void foods. Most of our diets are dense in calories but deficient in the nutrients needed to function at optimal levels, helping us to thrive.
Ok, so you may be wondering how the heck this plays into life changes right? When we do not have a diet rich in organic plant based foods, foods that are free from over processing or are full of chemicals, we ruin the balance of microbiome in our guts.
Why is our gut health important? Follow me down the rabbit hole for a bit…
90% of our serotonin and dopamine are produced in our gut. These neurochemicals not only help us feel good, they are like shields of protection during stressful events helping us to navigate through life’s ups and downs a whole lot better. <you build resiliency > We have better coping mechanisms, we can endure through life events stronger and in a more calm way.
An unhealthy diet leads to an imbalance of microbiome in the gut, a gut that produces more pathogens than good bacteria leading to the decreased levels of serotonin and dopamine production. We have no shield of protection!
Our bodies pump out cortisol during stress and anxiety which produces an inflamed response in the body. And…after an ongoing cycle of continued stress events <or reliving it in your mind> your body goes in to a state of inflammation.
Inflammation leads to disease —autoimmune disease, thyroid imbalance, heartburn,digestive issues, skin issues, high cholesterol, high blood pressure..the list goes on and on. But, it is said, “ All disease begins in the gut.”
If you want to make changes in your life, go down a whole freakin new path, maybe take on a new adventure or just dive into finding yourself, getting your diet in order is key in building the foundation of strength needed. When you don’t feel good and are zapped of energy or fatigued all the time, your confidence levels are at zero. You get frazzled easy so when the challenges come up, you get defeated rather than persevering.
Let’s build a strong base from which to go out strong & fierce on this next leg of your journey. We will be talking all things healthy eating in my private Facebook group starting in January. Or if you want one on one mentoring, I have both an ebook <coming out shortly> and coaching options available. Email me at heartfulkellyjo@gmail.com to start the discussion!