Ever tried to get healthy, to only have someone say, “lighten up,” “go with the flow,” or “everything in moderation?”
If you look around, even if just within your family or close circle of friends, how can “everything in moderation” make sense? It’s the worst advice ever! I mean, everyone I ask says they know at least one person who has, or has died from, cancer, heart disease, diabetes or suffers from depression.
I know more than one person. I bet you do too.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one out of every two us suffers from a chronic disease. One out of every four of us suffers from two or more chronic diseases. Seven out of 10 of us will die from a chronic disease.
Add to these statistics the time, care and attention required to attend to chronic and often debilitating symptoms, it’s predictable that the quality of life is reduced in uncountable ways. So how can the notion of “everything in moderation” still hold merit?
I’ll give you this, advice like “everything in moderation” feels light-hearted, definitely. It’s easy, appealing with “go with the flow” all over it, but it’s also a freaking rabbit hole — even the BAG is scientifically manufactured for us to want more and more and more! You know how the saying goes, “you can’t eat just one,” chip OR cookie! Add to that, do you think it’s possible to eat too little fast-food? You can TOTALLY skip it all and be that much better off!
We’ve all lost people we love! Isn’t it high time we all question the rise of chronic disease?
Isn’t it HIGH time we really get that “everything in moderation” is an antiquated and outdated way of thinking?
Everything in moderation is the worse advice today. Here are 3 hacks to help you counter that way of thinking, to help you remember your commitment to being your healthiest you, especially when someone imposes their ideas on you:
- Choose you. People who care about you won’t care what you eat. They’ll honor and respect your choices. But for whatever reasons that are of no concern to you, others will project their ideas of what they think is best for you. They may comment on your weight, what you eat, or tell you to “lighten up and go with the flow.” Will you let their lifestyle habits direct the choices you make for your health and your life? Safeguard and honor your food and lifestyle choices. Choose foods that you know energize and enliven you.
- Choose green. We include a diet high in leafy greens because they are alkaline. What is alkaline? Simply, the more alkaline the food, the more ‘electricity’ it provides. So the more green a food is, the more alkaline a food is, the more electricity it provides, and we NEED electricity to function optimally! This is MORE than nutrition, this is energy! And this is why you want to steer clear of the ‘plant-based’ enthusiasts who recommend frozen vegetables and powdered supplements for smoothies — processed foods offer NO electricity, aka, energy. We need the live electricity/energy the leafy greens and other vegetables and fruits provide.
- Choose congruency. Trust that you know what is best for you and let the thoughts you think be congruent with the actions you take. Trust that the choices you make are what serve you and your body best, and develop a lifestyle that lines your thoughts up with the actions you take everyday. Trust that ‘temperance’ in these times of indulgence and chronic disease is a whole lot smarter than giving yourself free license to eat anything you want “in moderation.” Temperance is way smarter than the slippery rabbit hole of “everything in moderation.”
YOUR NEXT STEPS
If you’re ready to move beyond the “everything in moderation” advice, but you feel stuck, it means you’ll have to be intentional about your choices.
You must develop a stronger mindset, and reconnect to you, so when others impose their ideas on you, you’re strong in the basic fundamentals of your healthy lifestyle.
As you develop a stronger backbone in making healthy choices inspite of the pressures others may impose on you, remember to go easy and just lean into it. Trust that you’ll develop more fortitude with every effort you extend!
Here’s one more tip: Look for and notice everything and everyone who supports you and who doesn’t. Make it into a game. Look for what empowers you, and what doesn’t. Those lessons are priceless and life-changing!