The past 2 years have brought about a NEW perspective on health. Healthy living is no longer a few jumping jacks and bean sprouts. Healthy living is about fortifying your health, and that of your family, from the inside out.

We all learned about health in different ways. Some leaned from their parents, while others read it in magazines. At the end, there are a few certainties that can help make your food choices healthier.

As a coach, I have seen way too much. There are some pretty strange ideas about health. Some individuals think they can wait until they are older to eat the right foods, while others eat perfectly now, yet feed their kids the latest quick craze.

The human body is a machine. Just like any machine, the right oil, maintenance, and attention to detail, keeps it running without a hitch. The human body is no different, we need vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. The catch is in the QUALITY.

If you place low-grade oil in a high-end sports car, you’re left with a low-end mechanical mess. Our bodies have some unlimited abilities when we are fed and nourished with the right ingredients. Did you know what you feed a child today, can impact their health when they are 50 years old?

I know this sounds far-fetched, and maybe you’re that 50-year-old, who’s struggling with health challenges (don’t blame your parents, they just didn’t know better). The point is, enhancing your health should not be a seasonal or momentary thing, it should be something you do every day, just like brushing your teeth.

As adults, our goal is to fortify our foundation of health, for kids we are creating their foundation. The same foundation that will help with covid, cancer, obesity, diabetes, or the next health challenge of the world.

We could look at this in two ways:

1. “Are you crazy, I’m lucky I make it to the gym, that’s all the time I have.”, “Too much responsibility”, “I’m single and I just try to get by”, “I can only think of today, when the kids leave the nest, they are on their own”

2. or… “With a healthy foundation, I minimize doctors’ visits and place the power of my health in my hands.”, or “I have the power of instilling healthy habits that will keep my kids healthy, even after I’m gone”. (Now, granted, those healthy habits may not stick, your kids may rebel, but at least you gave it a full force effort to offer them the right tools and role modeling for success.)

Here’s what I want you to think about:

Are YOU constantly dieting?

Do you feel drained and depleted at the end of the day, and resolve to a quick meal alternative?

Are you making different meals in one sitting to appease everyone?

2022 is here, front and center.

We are facing a world with an array of health challenges, the same challenges that will not go away if you are vaccinated or un-vaccinated. True health flourishes from the INSIDE OUT, the key is to make the foundation of the entire family healthy and strong.

So, where do we start?

Well, there’re 2 main things that can have a huge effect on the immune system:

Foods that metabolize as a SUGAR — Sugar, Flour, Dairy, and Alcohol (of course alcohol is only for the adults)

Internal ACIDS — This comes from eating primarily processed foods, alcohol, too much caffeine, or too many medications.

Let’s begin with the SUGARS.

As I mentioned above, it’s not just table sugar. It’s crackers and cheese, mac and cheese, wine, ice cream, and so much more. What’s the problem here? Visualize with me and trust me this is not your average math problem…I have invited 10 of you to help me in my garden. We have to move big pots, bags of dirt, and garden gadgets. The doorbell rings, and they have delivered several big boxes, 5 of you leave the garden to help bring the boxes in. The five that are left in the garden, take a seat, too much to move, too few to move it.

This is exactly what happens with your immune system. The nutrients needed to support and fortify the immune system are some of the same that are needed to break down and digest SUGARS. When you have coffee with cream and sugar, and top that with a beagle and cream cheese, nutrients have to leave the immune system to help the body metabolize and break down what you just consumed, leaving your immune system short-handed for a period of time. Depending on how many sugars you consumed, will dictate how much time the immune system staff has left their post. “Are you with me?”

The key is to choose zero to one sugars per meal and snack. In other words, you’re eating a sandwich, do you want bread or cheese — you need to choose. Stress, socialization, and life has made many of us gravitate to flour and dairy like never before. Your food is your FUEL, and that means every bite!

Next up, what are these ACIDS?

Well, they are not acidic foods like lemons or apple cider vinegar. It has to do with how your body breaks down and digest processed foods. These foods take a lot of effort, and in turn, create an acidic environment inside the body. Disease loves to live in an ACIDIC environment. You see, food in its natural, unaltered state, provides nutrients, in the form of vitamins and minerals. It also provides enzymes that help the body utilize the vitamins and minerals, and break down the food in the most efficient way possible. Processed foods have no enzymes and the nutrients have been added back in by a scientist. This leaves the body with a huge project in order to break down and digest that food.

For health to flourish, it’s important to use processed foods as a “side dish of sorts”, something small, never a main staple. A smaller percentage of your day’s food plan. To be frank, this is also the easiest way to stay lean and energized. Eating foods in their natural state, utilizing fruits and vegetables as your multi-vitamin of choice, and minimizing the sugars is the best way maintain health from the inside out. Food has a direct relationship to your health, mood, focus, energy, and your body’s ability to fight off any disease or illness.

Without kids…

For those of you without kids, your health is everything. This is the thing that gives you the power to dance the night away, and the focus to design the best business plan ever. Doctors should only be back-up support. You are the one in charge of your health and the foods you consume will make your interior environment strong or weak — but that is up to you.

For the families…

If you have kids, then healthy living is a family affair. You are the role model, and you are their teacher of health. From my experience, most parents make this more complicated than it needs to be. It’s actually cheaper to prepare a healthy organic meal than to go through the drive thru. Take a moment and reevaluate what you have been offering in the family kitchen and what you have been showing your children through your own actions.

Either way…

Sometimes we need a coach to come in and help and sometimes we can sort this all out alone, but it’s up to you to make 2022 the year for Healthy Living in your home. There’s no pill or shot that will fix a bad diet, you have to want it bad enough, and resolve to make the right changes to make it happen. Great health, energy, focus, and immune function are all a bite away!