154 – You are a machine

To have enough energy you need to give your body the fuel it needs – this week I share my tips on ways to improve your intake to improve your output.

Your body is a machine

Have you ever thought about whether you are getting the optimum performance out of your machine?

It’s a question that fascinates me and one of the main reasons that I became a Naturopathic Nutritional Therapist. If you were to view your body as a machine that required fuel, what types of fuel would you put into it and at what intervals to get the optimum performance? . Once you start to think about how well you are fuelling your body, you start to think differently about the quality, quantity, and frequency of the food you are eating.

Start the day right

When you wake it should have been roughly 12 hours since you last fueled. When your body sleeps it regenerates and repairs, do you reward it with a cleansing glass of hot water and lemon with a nutrient rich breakfast? If you are starting your day like many others with either nothing or, a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal or toast what raw ingredients it that giving to refill the reserves?

What happens the rest of the day can often be influenced by that first opportunity to refuel and restock. Do you continue with the same theme, coffee, and a snack, giving you a short burst of energy but not impacting those energy reserves at all?

Brain food

If you have ever sat in a meeting where you simply felt like you couldn’t retain the information or focus you realise how much energy our brains require. Would you expect your computer to work properly if you were trying to charge it from quick spurts of electrical current? But we do this to our brains constantly and then wonder why we are tired and have poor concentration.

Eat real food

Energy is dependent on getting all the raw materials your body needs, and it doesn’t have to be hard. Just asking yourself ‘what kind of fuel is this’ can be enough to change your habits. And then ‘when was the last time I refueled’ is another key question.

I love food and I don’t expect anyone to eat food they don’t enjoy, but there are ways of making your diet healthier. Making sure you have predominantly real food not processed is the most basic. Adding colour to each plate, ensuring protein with every meal, and having a small amount of health fats. And of course, prioritising water over caffeine.

I did a 5 day female health MOT recently and was amazed by the benefits participants were feeling after making some really small tweaks to their eating habits.