Soul Rebel Digest Vol 2.24

2 weeks ago you read the first ever Soul Rebel Digest!

Your goal was to record everything you ate & drank for 2 full weeks so you could begin to create awareness around what your diet currently looks like & what, if any, changes need to be made in order to lead a healthier lifestyle & reach your goals!

We also suggested you read the EAT section of our 5 Elements of Health, you can find the link below if you missed it.

You are now going to use all this information to analyse your current way of eating & drinking from the last two weeks you recorded.

First up, Eat Real Food

Real foods is anything directly from nature: fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, meats. Simples.

Processed foods is basically taking real food, processing it, often adding extra ingredients & packaging it. Processed foods is a very broad term though. One product may have mainly whole ingredients with no additives, another could be classed more as a 'chemical shit storm' that has a shelf life that could outlive our great grandkids. 

It's important to note that at Soul Rebel we class ALL foods.... as food. Because it is.

We don't believe there is 'GOOD' or 'BAD' food, that you need to earn your food or that any food groups are off limits.

However, there is food that is BETTER for you & there is food that, if consumed in large amounts or/& regularly, has the ability to cause a multitude of problems to your health in the near & distant future. So, we believe that regarding food, you can make great decisions & you can make poor decisions.

Second, Mostly Plants

Why mostly plants? Plants have outrageous amounts of benefits for your body. Plants are packed full of essential nutrients that you cannot get from other foods. The vitamins & minerals, phytochemicals & antioxidants in plants help keep your cells healthy & your body in balance so that your body can function at its best. If you do not feel 100% day to day & you are not consuming mostly plants, this will be a game changer for you!

Think about all these multivitamin supplements on the market... What if we just got these nutrients from the foods we were already eating? It's possible! Some supplements may be necessary because the quality of our food or the soil it's grown in is not what it used to be, but for the most part, if you aren't eating a diet consisting of real food & mostly plants, try eating MORE of what's good for your body before supplementing. It will save you money & be better for your health!

When you build a plate, we should see it filled mostly with fruits or veggies. Depending what time of day you like to eat your fats & proteins, these are also important parts of the meals you eat! If you look at each of your meals & this sounds like your current way of eating, then enjoying an ice cream at the beach, having a burger with friends on a Friday or popcorn at the cinema becomes less of a big deal. However, if you can't think of the last time you ate a piece of fruit, you only eat one vegetable per day or you're having a few beers every night, you will need to make change in order for you to better your Health, Happiness & Performance.

Consider the below:

Lastly, What You Do Must Be Sustainable

Now, assess your last 2 weeks of eating & drinking habits. 

Ask yourself:

1. Do I need to change anything to be a healthier version of me?

2. What do I need to change to be a healthier version of me?

My recommendation is to make 1-2 small changes for two weeks. Write these changes down to show yourself what you're committing to. Then, in two weeks, reassess again & see what other changes, if any, to make.

It doesn't need to be a giant change in one go IF you won't be able to continue it beyond the two weeks. Think long term & acknowledge that it's a process. You may make mistakes or have days where you default back to poor habits, but this is how we learn & do better next time. If you are making the same mistakes or still have those poor habits in 3, 6 or 12 months time, what you're doing isn't working & we need to reassess again.

Some things to think about & take action on:

• EAT REAL FOOD
  You're going to increase your real food intake, & decrease the processed foods.

• MOSTLY PLANTS
  Don't focus on 'less' or what you think you 'can't' have. Start focusing on all the foods you want to have MORE of! There is so much available to you! Each time you have a meal or snack, make it mostly plants!

• WHAT YOU DO MUST BE SUSTAINABLE
  There is a time & a place for "Fitness Challenges". They are often short & people make huge changes in that time. How often those changes last is very dependant on the individual's ability to carry on doing what they were doing... or not. Make better decisions more often than you were before, & you're on the right track. Once those decisions have become your way of life, we begin to make even more better decisions. What you thought was hard to do 6 months ago, all of a sudden is second nature to you. Doing hard things now, will pay off 100x in your later years!

• SWAP!
  Having a muffin from the cafe for morning tea on the way to work? SWAP it out for an apple & berries!
  Snacking on a sugary muesli bar for afternoon tea? SWAP it for banana!
  It's not always about telling yourself not to eat or that you're not hungry, but making a swap to better choices can go a long way!

• RATIOS.
  Like we've mentioned, it's not a matter of totally avoiding certain food groups. But maybe you need to adjust the ratios. For example, say you love a glass of wine with dinner Monday to Friday, that's a 5:2 ratio of days you consume alcohol vs being alcohol free. All of a sudden 1 across the week sounds like a lot. Adjust it to 1 glass of wine 2 nights per week & find a better alternative on the other nights. Suddenly the 2:5 ratio is much more in your favour. Some popular substitutions: soda water & lime, plain old water, an ATP product on ice! Reducing rather than eliminating can be a great first step to ensure the change is long lasting.

• 800 GRAMS.
  Eat 800g of fresh fruit & vegetables every day or 2 cups of at EVERY meal. This way you'll know you're eating enough of the real foods, reaping all the benefits & in turn far less likely to crave the processed foods. Cravings can very often stem from not eating enough of the real foods leading to being over fed & under nourished.

• RAINBOWS.
  Eat the rainbow! The more colour you can incorporate into each meal or each day or each week, the more diverse the nutrients you will give your body. 

To finish up, food is f***king fantastic!

You can eat real foods & LOVE it! You can be as passionate about a fresh of the vine rich cherry tomato as anything else! Give it time to allow your taste buds to adjust, particularly if you've got big changes to make. If you lack creativity in the kitchen, find recipes online, get a fresh produce box, post on the Facebook Members page or search for the #shareyourfood segment to get ideas from other Rebels. We are so lucky to have access to so much inspiration & guidance, but it does come down to YOU to take action!

Please do reach out if you have any questions or are looking for any advice in the meantime, we'd love to hear from you! 

Stay tuned for volume 3 dropping early March!

If you have any topics you'd like to learn more about regarding nutrition please feel free to send through.

See you in the gym!