Food & Fitness Part 1: Change Your Ways

fitness

By Dr. John Cuay

Food: life’s simple pleasure, which is supposed to nourish our system, and the source of fuel for our existence. But why don’t we watch the quality and the quantity of things we partake of? We seem to be more concerned with what our cars run on than what powers our own bodies.

Growing up, I was never taught what to eat and what not to eat. I lived in a typical Filipino household, where I had to be content with what’s on my tabletop.

My mother would always prompt me to finish what’s on my plate or else I will go hungry and get ill. As you probably can relate, when you’re a child, being sick means to being able to play or missing school, and as an only child, I was always afraid of having to stay home alone. So my concept of seeing food on my plate was: it has to be completely consumed, no more no less. I don’t even remember complaining about the taste of the food because I didn’t want to upset my parents. I do remember my favorite food being “rellenong talong”. Oh! I wish my mom would still make her own original recipe instead of having the maid prepare it now.

Looking back, I realized that my approach to diet then is very similar to most people’s today: eat what you see in front of you to your satisfaction regardless of its nutritional content and amount. I thank God that I know better today, that he opened my eyes that his approach to diet only leads to sickness and disease.

Food is a very important part of staying fit and healthy; some would even say the most important part. What we put inside us directly affects our whole body. Sometimes we think that one more cookie, or an extra glass of alcohol, or that thoughtless latte won’t hurt.

Well… It does. And just because we think something is harmless doesn’t mean it won’t bite us. It will. Whether as cellulite, a belly, cancer, or a headache, it will bite back.

So I’m dedicating some time to write about my thoughts on food and diet as it connects to fitness. You can read more on natural diets on healthyappetite.naturalhealth.com which deals with food more specifically. Good stuff over there too.

Just to close this first part of Food & Fitness, I’d like to encourage you to simply: change your ways. There’s no going around it, everything you eat, everything you swallow, either directly contributes to a healthier, better-looking, better-feeling you OR to a sicker, over or underweight, weak person you’re ashamed to have become. I had to be honest with myself and decide to change. That was the start, it wasn’t always easy, it was many times hard, but feeling the benefits of natural health, I’m really glad I changed my ways.