Finding the Right Fuel to feel your best

Welcome back to The Spark to Your Success Blog series, my positive, fearless and courageous readers! How did you get on with the questions from the last blog? Did you find freedom on the other side of your fears?

Supporting your body and mind to feel your best

There will always be tough decisions in life. Right now you might be considering academic changes or making career choices that will take you onto higher education or dip your toe in the job market.

First of all, let me wish you the best of luck with your decisions. Secondly, let me share two key elements that will improve your mental health and wellbeing to best support your body and mind through making challenging decisions.

These two factors are hydration and nutrition. They are simple, but so powerful and it frustrates me to see how so many people fail to grasp the true benefit of drinking water and eating nutritious food.

“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.”
Mahatma Gandhi

Finding your fuel and feeding your mind and body

If you have been with us in a coaching or training capacity you will be aware of the Ignition Programme and most likely have completed your check-in quiz online. The quiz will help you to discover your personality profile or as we call them, your ‘Traveller on Adventure’ and find out what your natural fuel is.

Everyone has a natural fuel. This fuel helps you to stay in tune with your mind and body. Taking in the right fuel will allow you to be your best because you are being your authentic self and living in the zone. When you are in the zone you cannot be stressed or anxious. When you are in flow, you find the natural gifts and talents that you excel at and this fuels the energy in your body to live life effortlessly. But, if you want to find this fuel and live well, then your body needs to be supported and nurtured properly. Let me share how you can do this.

“Keep your vitality. A life without health is like a river without water.”
Maxime Lagacé

Are you too acidic?

Now, if you’re thinking ‘TeeJay where are you going with this?’ ‘I don’t want to read a scientific essay here!’ It’s OK, I won’t get too technical, but I do need to stress the importance of you keeping your body in an alkaline state. In fact, your blood needs to be alkaline, with a pH of 7.362 to be specific! Just for reference, the pH scale is a measure of how much acid is present in something.

If your blood was acidic then it would shut down. Seriously. Obviously it is important to avoid this so your clever body has developed ways to filter acid from your blood. Yet … day in and day out, consuming pizza, chocolate, chips and energy drinks becomes the norm. I’m chuckling because isn’t this a typical teenage diet? Well yes, but think about it for a minute. If you were to put sugar in the fuel tank of a car, how far would it get? It might go for a short while, but soon it would cough, splutter and eventually conk out. And that is exactly what will happen to your body if you endure with a poor diet or worse still, substance abuse. Sugar, coffee, energy drinks and drugs provide a short-term high. Without the kick of the high you will feel low and lethargic with no mental drive or physical energy.

If your energy levels are low you are more than likely consuming the wrong foods. Fast foods, convenience foods and sweet, fatty foods rob you of your energy. They affects your skin, your weight and your confidence. Acid overload in your body can lead to stress and anxiety, an upset stomach, acne, migraines, blood pressure issues and immune system problems simply because you don’t have the vitamins and nutrition needed to keep you functioning optimally. How much is poor diet affecting your confidence and self-worth? How do you react if you’re not feeling and looking your best?

Make better choices with your food and see how different you feel.

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
Hippocrates

Create an alkaline body

Your body is super clever. It will protect you by keeping your blood more alkaline. Let me ask you a question. How much water do you drink? I’m not talking about tea, coffee, fizzy drinks, or a cheeky beer or gin! I’m talking about water and ideally two litres of the clear stuff every day. Water flushes acids and toxins from your body, which in turn supports your blood to stay alkaline. But what happens if you don’t drink enough water to aid this flushing process? Well, because your body is so clever it still has the capability to remove acids, but not with a positive outcome.

To counteract the lack of water, your body will transfer acids into the fat reserves of your body. If you are struggling with weight gain then it might actually be that you are ‘over-acid’ rather than overweight. Worryingly, if this process continues there will come a point when there are no more fat cells available to contain the acid so your body will start to buffer the toxin by leaching calcium from your bones and teeth. Why do you think athletes such as long distance runners suffer from bone disorders? It’s because they have a constant build up of lactic acid and their super clever bodies filter the calcium as a form of protection.

Fast-forward further and once the calcium is depleted, your body will start to overproduce cholesterol as a protection measure. The cholesterol is deposited in your blood stream and around vital organs to protect them against the acid. Can you picture this? Your organs and arteries furred up with cholesterol. Urgh!

Can you see how this spiraling process will inevitably lead to complications? There are so many poor health knock-on effects because you don’t drink enough water and also make bad food choices! Is it worth it? Go and pour a glass of the clear stuff and make a salad right now J

Feel your best through good nutrition and hydration

When you support your body by keeping it hydrated and consuming clean foods you will have more energy and will feel more alert. You will be able to make decisions with clarity and be able to handle challenging situations easier simply because you are healthier in mind and body. It’s so simple.

Too much sugary and fatty food in your body develops an acidic environment. The acid or consequences of the acid acts like glue in your blood. If you feel sluggish it might be because you’ve binged on pizza, popcorn, sweets and fizzy drinks. This overindulgence slows your blood flow and results in fewer nutrients and less oxygen reaching the vital organs in your body. Your red blood cells can start to crinkle and in some cases a blood fungus infection known as Candida can set in. This is a form of yeast and you know what? Yeast loves sugar! The more sweet drinks and foods you consume the more you’re feeding the fungus! Gross, so what’s the remedy? Starve your body of sugar and drink more water so that the yeast will disappear, your red blood cells will become unstuck and your body can start to repair itself.

“Happiness is the highest form of health.”
Dalai Lama

Choose the life you want to lead

I guarantee that if you change your diet to eat more real food instead of manmade food for at least seventy percent of the time, your mental and physical energy will skyrocket. You’ll be amazed at how well you will feel in yourself and the mental resilience gained because your brain is fuelled in the right way. You will be more productive and your learning will improve as you create more neuronetworks.

I’m not saying ditch the chocolate or savoury dishes, just keep them to a minimum. Your future self will thank you for it.

I’d love to hear how your diet affects your health, your mood and your performance. Do you eat healthy foods? Are you a vegan or vegetarian? How much water do you drink? We can all learn from each other so please share what works for you or ask any questions in the blog comments below or by connecting on social media.

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Until next time, have a nutritious and delicious week! Find your best self through food and water and become a glowing, shining, confidence young person. Don’t run a mile, no actually, do run a mile, it’ll be good for you!