When I’m being mindful of what I’m eating, I try to focus on eating things that will give me the fuel I need to do the things that I want. Eating a lot of unhealthy food on a Sunday gets in the way of me feeling energized for my workout Monday morning. I’ll admit that I’ve been far less mindful of such things in recent months, and I’ve felt more sluggish both during my workouts and at other times.
Fuelling up, however, isn’t just about what I eat. Fuelling up is also about getting enough sleep, getting up and moving while working, taking rest days from workouts (something I’m not always good at), and drinking plenty of healthy fluid.
Fuelling my body is only part of what I need to be doing. While the above mentioned items do fuel me to have physical energy and endurance, several of them also fuel my mind. Sleep, eating healthy, drinking fluids, and exercise have also been shown (through research) to improve mental health and the ability to focus and think clearly.
There are other things that I do to fuel my including meditation, reading, writing, recording and listening to podcasts, etc. Meditation is also good for my body as it helps to reduce stress.
Just as I feel better and perform better when I’m mindful about what food and liquid my body consumes, my mind (and body) benefit when I’m mindful about what mind consumes. Having a good conversation with a podcast guest makes my mind and body feel better than “doom scrolling” on social media.
Unfortunately social media is easier to access, much like the white buns sitting on our kitchen counter right now that are easy to grab and smear either butter or peanut butter on. Consuming either of these in mindful ways, less often, would be better for me. They rarely provide me with the fuel I need to play basketball with my daughter or write a good blog post.
We all need to be mindful of what we consume, whether that’s turning to giant marshmallows as a snack or checking social media before you’ve even gotten out of bed (I’ve done both more than once recently). We all have something to offer the world, but we need to have some good fuel in both our bodies and minds.
