Guest Post: How to Take Care of Your Body- Beyond Eating Well

Meet Chelsea of NutritionwithChelsea!

Chelsea Gross is a Certified Transformational Nutrition Coach and lives in Los Angeles, CA. She owns her own 1:1 holistic nutrition coaching business, nutritionwithchelsea.com where she also blogs and creates real-food recipes. Chelsea helps women break free from restriction, dieting and deprivation- and find the way of eating (and living!) that works for them so they can ditch the wagon for good, and feel confident in their choices and bodies. After overcoming years of challenges with disordered eating, depression, digestive issues and chronic pain she leads with vulnerability and honesty so her clients know they are not alone. Through real-food nutrition, lifestyle and mindset shifts, Chelsea works closely with women to get to the root of their health concerns and create permanent change. Check out her Instagram to see lots of real-food, self-care tips and overall inspiration!

Chelsea and I first met on Instagram after we realized we have a lot in common. She is someone I turn to when I hit a stumbling block on my own healing journey or have questions about how to continue on my journey. She is very knowledgeable and is a great listener. I am so lucky to have connected with her! This year I want to focus on further improving my digestion and making sure I am taking care of my body in all ways. I hope you will find this post as helpful as I did. Would love to hear your feedback in the comments!

Xo Meagen Ashley

How to take care of your body- beyond eating well

For the majority of my life, I thought that being healthy and taking care of my body meant eating less and moving more. Magazines, news segments and diet books all centered around the idea of counting calories, health being defined by the number on the scale and that MORE is more- more exercise, jam-packed schedules, superwoman responsibilities. It felt like endless pressure and an uphill battle.

Three years ago when I went back to school to become a certified nutritionist, I made a vow to myself to start treating my body with the respect it deserved. This meant getting rid of the restrictive mindset that ruled my life (hello dieting bandwagon!), surrounding myself with people that made me feel good (including social media) and truly practicing self-care.

The more I studied, researched and took in knowledge from books, mentors, and peers, I learned that being healthy and taking care of yourself is about SO much more than what you eat.

Look, I’m a nutritionist so of course I care deeply about real, healing and quality food- but I’m here to say that the other piece of the puzzle is just as important, in and in many cases more important.

I’d love to give you some insight on things to try to take care of yourself, beyond just what’s on the end of your fork! Once you’ve incorporated more self-care, rest, relaxation and de-stressed your body you can truly take in the medicine (i.e. the great food!) you’re feeding it, reap the benefits and be well on your way to healing and reaching your health goals.

1. Breath 

This may seem incredibly simple, but have you ever really checked in on your breath? When is the last time you paused what you were doing and took several deeps breaths in and out? Most likely, not recently! Breath is absolutely crucial. Not only does it feel good, it lowers our stress by signaling to our body to get into the parasympathetic (aka the rest and digest) state. The opposite of this state is known as the sympathetic state, or fight or flight.

Many of us are in fight or flight all day long. Traffic, endless tasks at work, relationship stress, possible food sensitives, environmental toxins- you name it. It’s a lot. Taking a few minutes and practicing deep breaths in and out can make a huge difference and get us out of that stressed state.

Breath is also great for digestion because it stimulates the lymphatic system, which is responsible for moving waste out of our bodies. If you ever feel like things aren’t moving as they should, take in several deep breaths while stretching, taking a walk or simple relaxing and focusing on the breath and this should help to get things moving along!

As often as you can throughout the day, pause, and take in 5 deep breaths. This can look like: 5 seconds in, hold for 3, 5 second out, hold for 3 and repeat. 

You’ll be amazed at how this little shift can make a huge difference in your day. Ultimately it helps you to slow down and focus inward- all huge components of a healthy body inside and out.

2. Chew 

Yes, another simple idea! But again, are you aware of the rate of which you’re eating? Are you chewing just a few times before you swallow, or are you really taking your time and breaking down your food?

I tell my clients all the time, that simply chewing more has been one of the best things I have done for my health. I’ve noticed a huge shift in my digestion, hunger signals and how I feel during and after a meal after upping my chew time! 

When you make the shift to eating more real food, you’re most likely increasing your plant matter intake. You’re probably eating a lot of things like leafy greens and cruciferous veggies – I know I am, I LOVE them- but they can be quite tough to break down.

We can’t absorb the nutrition in our food if we’re not breaking it down, so cut your digestive system a bit of a break and help out by getting things as pulverized and liquified as possible before you swallow. Not only will this do wonders for your digestion and you ability to absorb more nutrition from your food, but just like breath it will help you to slow down and get into the rest and digest state. You’ll find you’re more in tune with your body, relaxed and less stressed and really- that’s what it’s all about!

3. Treat yourself like you would a best friend 

Now onto the bigger picture and often the hardest shift to make. Treating yourself with grace.

Have you ever caught yourself saying some really mean things to the person in the mirror? I definitely have. If you’ve been speaking to yourself a certain way for a long time it’s hard to realize you are doing it and even more challenging to stop.

We develop these patterns that are hard to break. 

But those negative comments and opinions about our bodies, lifestyle, what we eat- they certainly add up and are most likely preventing you from getting to a place where you can let self-love in.

There are so many images out there telling us we’re not good enough. That we need to be skinnier, or prettier, or say yes to everything and never say no. It can feel like an uphill battle to ignore all of that and stand up for yourself! Are you tired?? I was!! 

Just becoming aware of this is a big step forward. So if that’s where you’re at right now, hang in that place for a while- you’re already half way there and no need to rush the process.

Begin by simply catching yourself. Did you shoot yourself an insult when you walked by the mirror? Are you beating up on yourself for eating more than you “should”?

Whatever it is- maybe you’ll be able to stop the thoughts, or maybe you’ll just notice them and keep going with your day. Eventually I’d encourage you to start to make a shift and speak to yourself like you would a best friend. Most of the time the things we say to ourselves- the negative self-talk we engage in, we would never dream of saying out loud especially to a best friend!

We need to start treating ourselves like that friend. We have feelings too! And words hurt. 

The more you can start becoming aware, and make the choice to speak to yourself more kindly, the more you’re creating a positive atmosphere where your confidence, self-love, and self-respect can shine.

I hope this was helpful for you! I’m always here if you need any support. I work with my clients on nutrition, lifestyle and mindset because I truly believe they all matter. And sometimes you may need a little more support in one over the other- and that’s totally fine!! My 1:1 coaching is customized to you and I treat everyone like an individual. No one-size-fits-all approach over here! To learn more visit nutritionwithchelsea.com/work-with-me or email me anytime at chelsea@nutritionwithchelsea.com, I’d love to chat with you.

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Email: chelsea@nutritionwithchelsea.com

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