Hello there fellow health and wellness nuts, long time no blog! It’s been nearly 13 months since I last posted. A lot has happened in my life over the course of a year but that is not what I am here to talk about.
As most of you know, I advocate the importance of real food nutrition from the purest sources possible and fuelling our bodies with things that are as close to what nature intended. I also believe in whole food supplementation to assist in our nutrition as our modern agricultural system and farming practices fail to deliver in most cases. This truly limits the access to pure, untainted high quality food because our soil is also lacking in minerals responsible for producing nutritionally dense food like it used to. I’m not here to lay down facts and some may argue with that. Either way, I support the use of whole food supplementation but only of sources that are as close to as what nature intended without the use of artificial ingredients or synthetic vitamins. This is very rare to come across in the food supplement industry, but not impossible. now on to my story:
So it has been a whole year since I have been using a nutritional system daily that is full of products to support optimal health, vitality and increase energy and performance for workouts and an active lifestyle. I have also (prior to this nutritional superfood system) been consuming clean organic produce, meat and free range eggs as well as other food supplements from local health food stores.
Once I started this particular nutritional superfood system from a highly reputable company, I saw no need for any more expensive superfoods from health food stores. My system covered that and more.
I love the energy and mental clarity that such a system delivers, but I felt the need to do some justice. I had an intuitive nudge from within to experiment with having NONE of these products whatsoever for at least a week. I did this just to see if there would be any change in the way I felt overall. I wanted to put myself in other people’s shoes who did not use any food supplementation. Instead of shakes, I replaced them with more food sources to complete a meal and had no additional vitamins or fish oil except the omega 3 from food here and there.
So overall, I still ate quite clean and balanced meals but did have my cheat meals and Clif bars all over as I just did not want to invest too much money in alternative food sources. I thought I would just save some money and eat whatever I had around the house but I just ended up spending more money on groceries and lunches for work.
As far as how I felt, I noticed a significant difference overall in the last week. Even though I still ate quite healthy compared to the standard U.S diet, my energy throughout the day diminished. I did not feel as strong and my food did not seem to process and digest as well. My immune system did not feel as strong and I felt more susceptible to allergies (although I did consume more dairy, which probably did not help). I even got irritated with small things and even felt more susceptible to negative influences. Pretty crazy for just a shift in my food choices.
Now it is not all thanks to this experiment I am sure. There are other factors that could have come in to play that threw me off. I do think, however, that food does matter, especially if you eat clean quality organic natural foods religiously. But I still don’t feel I should give all the discredit to a lesser quality of nutrition. Oh well, the experiment was interesting.
I had a workout yesterday morning and instead of my usual healthy source of caffeine in a shot form, I picked up a glass bottle of Starbucks iced coffee mixed with skim milk. I thought I would get more caffeine just to feel high and get a rush so I got a coffee from the shop right after. I went to workout and things were just not the same.
I was pumping out reps on the overhead bar and was tiring out quickly. The caffeine kick surely backfired on me and I just felt more distracted and overly reactive instead of calm and zen-like. The Starbucks certainly did not agree with my stomach. I guess I downed it too fast though. Half way through the workout I could feel the discomfort in my stomach and I soon had to pass on a #2. Too bad I was nowhere near a washroom so I just decided to hold on and pump out my session in the park and focus the best I could.
I am excited to go back to what was clearly working for me so well in contrast to what I just experienced over the last week. Now I do have to admit I only experimented for a week so it is possible that I developed a dependency for the system of products I was using. Maybe slamming on the breaks and going cold turkey really made the difference. I may have curved back up had I gone longer without, but I was not interested to find out. I am just excited to start the week off with what was working so well for me and to restore my belief in the products. At least that’s what I expect for the following week when I start back on them starting with a cleanse to reset my body.
I would not say it is a bad thing to become “dependant” on a supplement system. It’s not like alcohol or drugs. It’s healthy. If you are like me, you probably want to feel your best even if that means feeling better than you ever thought possible, and consistently. At 31 years old and working steady as a roofer and a weekend warrior, I can tell you with assurance that superior nutrition and taking care of your body makes a world of a difference. It has helped me endure my physically demanding lifestyle with more ease and push my physical performance. Living a low-stress lifestyle comes with your own personal journey. Find what works for you and stick with it.
Nutrition is just one area to explore and enhance, but plays a huge part in your overall health, wellness, mental clarity, energy and ability to manage stress. Our typical fast paced lifestyle of running around and worrying demands that we fuel our bodies with quality nutrition so we don’t break down.
Now I am not suggesting that you do what I do, nor am I here to promote a specific product or company. If what you are currently doing to fuel your body and you are truly happy with the results, then by all means keep doing it. If you think you can get better protein than any supplement from natural food along with all of your nutrient requirements then good on you! I prefer, however, having a nutritionally dense superfood shake along with products that deliver in optimal health and energy to supplement my diet in a box delivered to my door. A system that assures I am getting the right nutrients and in balanced amounts so I don’t miss anything. It keeps the guess work low and is enjoyable.
It’s a system like this that allows for more flexibility in my diet and I can feel better about what I eat for meals. Yes, I still eat food and enjoy healthy delicious meals. Never abandon food!
And if you are currently using products to supplement your diet, make sure you love them and don’t mind having shakes instead of food here and there. It’s meant to be enjoyable. Also, make sure you know about the company and the level of quality of their products. Do they put people before profit? That will tell you the level of integrity they have in their products. Are they all natural, minimally processed? These are a few things to consider when investing in a great system. There are not many out there, so do your homework and be selective!
There is no right or wrong way to eat and spend your money on food but there are surely better ways than others. Everybody is different too and all respond to different things. I still think though that chocolate milk is NOT the ultimate recovery drink and you should not buy into the ridiculous commercials that target fitness folks. Those corporate giants could care less about your health and recovery after workouts, but that is a rant for another day.
Anyways, its nice to be back on the blog and sharing with you my journey. See you next week and I will be writing an update on the following week about the results of reintroducing those products back into my body. No bridges to burn yet.
So long for now. Keep it real and keep it natural!
Brendan K
Vibranatural
Vibranatural Blog 