Personal control trends in 2021 will finally see more of us ditching fad diets and embracing more mindful eating. Living closer to home has taught us that it's way more personally and generally sustainable to learn how to eat well for our own lifestyle and health needs than toss your hard earned cash into some fad diet tin.
As The Food Coach, I have resisted talking about weight loss for years but the facts are that the general population keeps getting bigger and less healthy. Apart from the misery this causes the individual, the problem impacts our entire health care system and creates systemic waste.
I developed ‘The Greengrocer’s Diet’ cookbook after working with a number of unhealthy and overweight Sydney market traders, who surprisingly, never ate their own produce nor thought about the value of their own seasonal food. It was that group of amazing men and women who I taught how to cook their own food that made me realise that something as simple as fitting a diet plan to your personal lifestyle can achieve incredible results - in weight loss and in genuine health gains - both mentally and physically.
When you respect your personal environment and add in the right support and information, it is ridiculously simple to improve mental and physical health. I am not saying it is easy, but healthy food and a little exercise will help you achieve weight loss, improved sleep, and a happier, more confident lifestyle and a way less wasteful life. A healthy lifestyle gives you both less waste and less waist. Cliched as it is, it's true.
In 2021, I am focusing on health in middle age. It's so important in middle-age to not compete with a younger version of yourself, but to work with what you have - the body you have and keep it strong and healthy; the lifestyle you have and food that is local, seasonal and less wasteful.
I have developed a program called Lighten Up Online, which I am not promising will turn middle-aged participants into supermodels, it will teach you how to live and feel better – potentially for a lot longer, at whatever stage of life you are.
I hope I am one voice you can trust. I don’t eliminate whole food groups, or source expensive ingredients from the Amazon rainforest, or set optimum performance standards for my clients. We are all people, each vulnerable in our way, getting through life the best way we can. I’ve lived long enough to know there while there are no guarantees in life, a healthy lifestyle is your best insurance to protect you from poor mental and physical health. Join me if this makes sense to you.
One last word on food, health and waste. In my journey through life, careers and healthy eating, there has also been a recurring theme of waste. When you eat well, you eat seasonally, locally and fresh. This creates way less travel miles for your food; extends the life of the food in your pantry and uses less packaging. Good health means less time spent tending to bad health issues.
Images: Hero - Unsplash | Sean Thomas / Other images: Greengrocers Diet