Dear Caregiver,
I have a secret: feeding your body nutrient-dense Real Food is a powerful declaration of self-love that sets all sorts of good stuff into motion.
When you can truly offer your body the best, it will, in return, give you the best.
More energy, more patience, more capacity for everything.
And what would be different if you had more energy, more patience, and more capacity in your life?
I have another secret: feeding your body nutrient-dense Real Food doesn’t have to be hard.
I know you’ve tried in the past to “get healthy” and there are probably things you’re doing every day to help you feel better / lose weight / do the right thing so you don’t end up needing a caregiver.
And in a world where every cookbook, documentary, article, and bit of advice about food is totally contradictory, it’s easier to bury your face in a bag of Oreo’s than have to put more effort into what to eat.
I know the thought of doing even more is daunting.
Are you supposed to be vegan and ditch all the animal products or go totally low-carb and embrace the meat and cheese?
And then when you do set out and try something new, it might only last a few weeks before you “mess up” more than you get it “right” and it’s all just too much to manage.
Let’s get clear about what you should be eating.
I define real food as high-quality single ingredients sourced from nature you cook yourself at home.
Foods that are as close to their natural/whole state or just a few steps from it are real.
If it grew out of the ground, walked/swam/flew freely and ate what it was intended to eat, it’s real.
If you choose something from a package, make sure there are very few ingredients and you can pronounce all of them.
Real food rots.
You have to get it in the kitchen and wash / chop / slice / dice / heat / bake / blend to make it a bowl of food. Or a nourishing drink!
Quality matters! Sourcing the most nutrient-dense Real Foods can take some effort on your part. It gets easier as you go.
Real Food is local, real food is seasonal, and in some cases, organic does matter.
Real food may not be as hard as you think to grow in your own backyard…
Real Food doesn’t have to be complicated.
Choosing to eat more of it can mean wilting some spinach in the skillet after searing a piece of salmon or juicing some carrots with ginger and lemon in the afternoon for more energy instead of pouring another cup of coffee.
It means spending time in your kitchen. Which might mean saying no to something else, or letting go of the distracted phone scrolling as an escape and “escaping” instead into the meditative act of chopping.
It might mean asking for help. It will look like choosing yourself first.
One of my favorite things to do is feed myself a deeply nourishing dinner just for me around 4pm. I eat it quietly, by myself, and while breathing slowly.
When it’s done I can absolutely handle the evening chaos, the kids, cooking the main dinner, packing lunches for the next day, the clean-up, all of it.
If I go into that evening time without nutrients in my belly, I’m done for!
I’m bound to yell at someone, drop / break / burn something, shame spiral, hate myself and likely end up crying.
If I am nourished, I am invincible.
When you get nourished, you will be invincible.
Try getting nourished with Real Food, and feel your capacity for your life expand!
Ditch the food from packages (even if the label tells you it’s good for you) and step into your kitchen to embrace cooking / prepping / chopping of the Real Food high-quality single ingredients you make yourself at home.
Learning to eat real food as an everyday practice often means learning to live a more intentional life.
If you can start working more Real Food into your routine, your farmers market basket and your refrigerator, and step into your kitchen with a “can do” attitude, you might find that the things you most crave the most: a slower pace, more patience, that feeling of freedom are in fact available to you, because you are more available to you.
Xo,
Ry