Food Uncomplicated

Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Toast with Butter, Spinach + Orange with Olive Oil and Pecorino

As I sat down to my breakfast this morning, I thought about simplicity. How we as humans seek food and life answers in trends and popular culture when they're really inside of us and found within education. To truly get well and live our healthiest life, we have to ask ourselves some tough questions about the choices we make every day.

Food is always the center of my workshops and client work. When I get into conversations about meals and what to eat they often start getting complicated. What recipes do I use? How many pieces of fruit am I allowed per day? What about gluten? Do I have to eat breakfast? Tina, I hate breakfast.  

I've always been a believer that our food doesn't have to be sophisticated, in fact, the more simple we keep our choices the more likely we are to feel good. Real food is fast food and there's room for doughnuts, muffins, mom's cookies and pancakes in this balanced world of eating and emotions.

There are no rules except those that work for YOU. I like to think about how I want to feel. What gives me energy and makes me wanna get up and go? I think about what let's me feel vibrant and like a glow worm. Strong. Like bull.

I encourage my clients and everyone I meet to do a few things:

1. Understand Emotion, Real Food + Balance: you can have any food you want, but try to understand why you want it. Reach for real food a little more often and enjoy the food you love too. The idea is not saying no to food you enjoy, but giving yourself space to understand how different foods make you feel so you can understand your own balance.

2. Discover Real Food: from fruits to vegetables, complex carbs, animal and plant based protein, oils and fats like nuts and seeds - this is real food.

3. Get Excited For Flavor: is your palate global, Mediterranean? What do you enjoy eating THE MOST?

4. Shop + Cook: taking time to prepare food THAT YOU LIKE is a gift. Build your curiosity in the kitchen, go to the farmers market and see what inspires you, the colors and abundance. Make the time to do it, it’s gotta be deliberate.

5. Eat breakfast: if #5 seems scary, start today by eating breakfast - it's the quickest way to build a routine and get in a groove. It's 1 step that's manageable and often times requires ZERO COOKING - simply a choice.

My top 5 breakfasts include:

1. Oatmeal with fruit and nuts

2. Toast with an egg, cheese or nut butter and fruit

3. Yogurt with fruit and nuts

4. Fresh fruit with a handful of nuts and/or piece of cheese

5. Eggs with fresh veggies and some cheese

This little list allows me to throw together simple breakfasts without much thought. But I'm also in a routine by now, so give yourself time. You'll grow into it.

I'll get into other teachings about the ways in which our real hunger are informed by our emotional and habit hunger as well ways to check in with that.

We bring our own unique story to our health. What we can do is accept where we are, get to know our choices and begin to make some new ones with understanding. Step by step. One day at a time.

XO