Nutrition Check 🧠🥛💨

It’s crazy how this post came about but something popped up in a conversation I was having with a friend andddd I had to share. I gave an analogy which hit me at the same time it escaped my lips! Let me give you the background.

We were talking about the importance of taking some practical steps to keep or get your mind healthy and how some of the issues we face mentally are exacerbated by our habits. I was essentially alluding to the importance of curating what your mind absorbs. What we often don’t realize is how our world view and thoughts are influenced by the things we do on a daily without paying it any mind. I’m talking about the music you listen to, the movies you watch, your social media feed, the conversations you have… all the things you are constantly feeding your mind with.

I said to her (heavily paraphrased lol)… It’s crazy how we know that eating ridiculous portions of junk food – icecream, fries, burgers, chocolate and all the “good” stuff is probably the culprit of the fupa ( extra belly fat ) we see a month down the line. We always know to point the finger to our food intake when it comes to physical health. We know that the daily ice cream scoops were probably responsible for us getting out of shape. This same concept not only applies to us physically but mentally too.

When we’re constantly battling thoughts in our mind that has our sense of self-worth steadily depleting, insecurity heightening, identity vanishing, etc … and we’re mentally out of shape, we don’t often think to check our food. What are you feeding your mind??? and I definitely DO NOT say this as an outsider, God knows He allowed me to learn this the very hard way. Nutrition is not a concept limited to the physical body, the mind needs it too. I need to be feeding myself the right things – and more specifically, as a Christian, I need to be feeding my spirit because I want my Spirit to control my mind! The Bible says “….letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.” (Rom 8:6). Lord knows I need that.

In the physical world, most of us have heard of the 80/20 diet. That basically means – eat clean 80% of the time and 20%, you have freedom. What this points to is discipline and portion control. So while a burger everyday may not be the best idea, one every so often with a majorly clean eating lifestyle doesn’t do as much damage. In other words, I’m not saying to cut off some movies/entertainment or any of that stuff. What I am asking is – what’s your 80%?

Another thing is knowing what YOU need. While there are things that are just flat out unhealthy, some are more dependent on your condition. We don’t all have the same needs because we don’t have the same body makeup and health needs. Some people are lactose intolerant. If you know you are lactose intolerant and you spend the whole night gorging on Ben and Jerry tubs, it’s no surprise to you when you spend the next day paying for it in the white house (LOOL – My folks always used to refer to the restrooms/washrooms as such when going for a No. 2). In the same way, if I’m struggling with insecurity, envy and comparison and I spend most of my time scrolling through social media looking at other people’s lifestyles, guess where that leads me? And over time, we see our mental health getting worse not realizing that we’re watering the seed! For clarity, in the unlikely even that you missed my drill, in this analogy ice cream is the social media and envy, comparison & insecurity are lactose intolerance.. They both result in being unwell!

Again, Nutrition is not a concept limited to the physical body, the mind needs it too.

So here’s the point of this quick post – Let us evaluate our mental food. It’s a lot more critical to know where to look when you start to see your mind bending a little out of shape, but we don’t have to let it get that far. An imperative part of the battle is guarding our gates.

The burger sure is tasty but I gotta think, what is the end result of this? And trust me, I love my burgers, ice creams, cake, alll the junk stuff! But I know when I go crazy on them, my health might have to pay the price and my waistline is only a small part of the potential damage. There are wayyy more critical health issues that can arise as a result that we never would have predicted. Try it this week, Apply the same principle to your mind. I can tell you for a fact that it has done wonders, WONDERS I tell you, for me.

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