“There is one food that scientific research has shown has a strong positive association with increased longevity in humans. Which food do you think it is? The answer is raw leafy greens, normally referred to as salad. Leafy greens such as romaine lettuce, kale, collards, Swiss chard, and spinach are the most nutrient dense of all foods. Most veggies contain more nutrients per calorie than any other food and are rich in all necessary amino acids. Being healthy and owning a disease-resistant body is not luck. It is earned.” Joel Fuhrman, MD
So, what are you doing to earn your disease-resistant body? I have some ideas for you.
- Don’t listen to your feelings. Sometimes we don’t FEEL like doing what we know is right. We don’t feel like doing our physical activity for the day. We don’t FEEL like drinking yet another glass of water. We don’t FEEL like eating another handful of greens. If we give into our FEELINGS all the time, we will make no progress towards being healthier and happier. Even if you don’t FEEL like doing what you know is right, do it anyway.
- Don’t deny yourself. Instead, focus on what you can ADD IN to your daily nourishment to make you a healthier and happier person. Add in a green smoothie. Add in a walk around the neighborhood. Add in a plate of colorful veggies. When you’re busy adding in the good stuff, it crowds out the not-so-good…and you won’t even miss it.
- Remember that food craves food. The more you eat the healthy stuff, the more you’ll crave the healthy stuff! And, the reverse is true, too. The more high-sugar, junk foods you eat, the more you want. So, load up on the good stuff, and you’ll begin to crave it.
- Progress, not perfection. Trying to be perfect causes stress and makes it near impossible to become healthier every day. What happens when a perfectionist makes a not-so-healthy choice? She belittles herself and says, “See, I can’t do this. Why even bother?!” Then she dives head first into a bag of Oreo’s. Perfectionism creates failure. So, instead of trying to be perfect, 100%, all or nothing, focus on progress. Each day, make progress on your health goals. Think to yourself, “What can I do today to support my health?” Then, if you make a not-so-good choice, make a really healthy choice to balance it out.
- Stop making excuses. Do you find yourself always making excuses for NOT doing those things you know will get you closer to your health goals? Stop making excuses. Just do it. If you need accountability, find it. If you need encouragement, find it. If you need a health buddy, find her. See, if you keep making excuses, you’ll never reclaim your health. However, if you kick those excuses to the curb, you’ll release chronic problems, gain energy, find your glow, lose weight, gain confidence, lose brain fog, and more. Isn’t all of that worth it? Yes, it is.
You can have a disease-resistant body, no matter how unhealthy you’ve become. Today can be the beginning of a new and healthy life. Or, you can continue to feed disease and discomfort. What will you do? The choice is yours.