healthy eating for healthy living

Part of bringing yoga into your life includes lifestyle.  As with any other physical activity, your body needs the right type of fuel to reach full potential in your yoga practice.  Throughout the bender, consider taking steps toward better nutrition.  Whether you already eat very healthy or not, make an effort to make at least one change every week toward better nutrition.

Think about it like this, a car can't run on lemon juice.  It just won't work.  The car won't be able to take you where you want to go.  Eat to nourish your body.  So, anything you choose to eat, should serve your body.  The details of how that works, are for you to decide.  You don't always have to be extreme with this concept.  Just pay more attention to what goes into your body.  

here are a few tips to get you started...

1. Cook at home more often.  Buy fresh, whole, non-processed foods.  Cook with healthy oils (like live oil) and use fresh spices.  If you eat a lot of meat, try and replace meat with fish, once a week or so.
   
2. In regards to processed foods, if you can't pronounce all of the ingredients on the package, don't eat it.  Most unhealthy ingredients are complex words that we don't use in our daily vocabulary. 
3. If you feel dehydrated, go for coconut water instead of Gatorade or other sports drinks. Coconut water has more essential electrolytes and no added sugar or preservatives.  Also, coconut water has more potassium than a banana, which helps with muscle cramping and recovery.  You can buy coconut water at natural food stores like Whole Foods, in St. Louis. Probably Trader Joe's, too.
4. Eat a colorful diet, every day.  Try and eat as many different colors throughout the day, as possible.  For example, if you eat a spinach salad for lunch, work in another color for your vegetable with dinner - like a sweet potato or carrots.  Remember, when you cook veggies, never cook them longer than a few minutes.  The longer they cook, the more the vitamins seep out.   Better yet, try eating a raw (nothing cooked) for a day.  You will have more energy than you can imagine!

Just a few to get you started, many more health tips to come!

happy bending!

Brigette