Every single day for the last month I have written everything down in a diary; every piece of food I have eaten and every time I have eaten it. This is because I have come to learn that after reading so many conflicting diet stories in books, I know that actually, the buck stops at me and only my body can tell me what is working or not.
I read that it is best to eat a large meal close to 12 noon, I also read that it is best to eat breakfast and supper with nothing during the day. I read that a low carb diet is the perfect solution for optimum health and I also read that 100% vegan is the ‘only’ way of staying healthy. I remain somewhat confused about all that but certain in my own mind of my own situation.
My own gut tells me that our bodies are exquisitely linked to the land we live on and minutely synchronised to the sun, moon and the change of seasons, even though our modern brains override these connections practically all of the time. THAT is the first thing I absolutely know. I also know that the human race moves around a heck of a lot nowadays and we as individuals may find ourselves mismatched with the original landscape we were hard-wired to live in. Essentially, we may have lost track of our original tribe through migration and interbreeding.
That is why I have found out my metabolic type and that is what I try to live within the cycles and rhythms of the earth’s region which corresponds to that type, no matter where I am living right now.
Just as important as recording each and every morsel of food I eat, is noting down the mood I am in from hour to hour. THis is the key to bio-feedback and improvement. I have one column per page for food and another column for mood. I note what my mood, energy, hunger and emotional state is before I eat a meal and 1-3 hours afterwards. At the bottom of the page I note other things too: the amount of sleep, sunshine and exercise I have had, what kind of bowel movement I have had and what supplements I have taken.
For a month now I have been able to refine my eating patterns to a very specific prescription that will change slowly (within my type) over the next few months leading up to the summer solstice and which then should move back to base again in winter.
I know that a very heavy breakfast is not good for me (due to lethargy an hour afterwards) I know that a high protein evening meal eaten before 7 pm is very good for me and I know that I must eat a substantial, yet light lunch in order to make sure I do not get irritable between 4 and 5 pm.
Experts may say, “well my research indicates that you should be doing so and so for maximum health”. Yes, but your research may have been done on yourself and that is not ME. Equally that is not YOU. Only your body knows what your brain needs to understand and because of this, I listen to my gut. I write a food journal and I make mental notes of what works and what doesn’t.
