Three Things Thursday – Gut edition

Healing, Nourishing, Finding Joy

If you know me at all, you know I like talking about guts. Gut health is where most healing journeys will need to start. When we have damage in our guts, nothing else works quite right. So how do we start making sure our guts are working optimally?

Healing

Bringing in foods that are healing to the lining of the intestines. This can be well cooked veggies, bone broth, raw foods like sauerkraut and kefir, pre- and probiotics. These can help your gut begin to heal which will then make any other food you consume easier to digest and assimilate.

Nourishing

Pay attention to the food you consume, not in a caloric way – the right amount of food will come naturally when you can listen to your body. Rather notice the foods that make you feel good. That give you energy, that make you feel satiated – without feeling too full or bloated. Nourishing foods will often be foods that are slow cooked, might be highly seasoned, or brothy foods. Listen to how your body speaks to you after eating and shift accordingly.

Finding Joy in Eating

This can be a tricky one. We have such complicated relationships with food. So how do you consume food you love without guilt? The answer will be different for everyone, but some ideas might be

-Plan a special favorite dinner 1-3x per week, where you eat your favorite comfort foods. Sit down, revel in the flavors in your mouth. Chew intentionally and slowly. Savor!

-Take a moment to be grateful for your food before you start eating. Think of all the work that went into the growing, preparation, shipping, etc to get that food into your hands. Send a little gratitude up to mother nature for being so freaking brilliant!

Food is so tricky, there are so many emotions tied up in and those emotions make a difference in how our guts respond to food. So some of the work of finding joy in food, is going to be untangling the complicated feeling YOU have tied up in and about food.

I’m here if you need to figure out how to weed through all this shit!

It can be a lot, so small steps is perfect!