Food For Your Soul Philosophy
FFYS Philosophy
At Food For Your Soul, we believe that health comes from a few ingredients in life. Ultimately, it comes down to you, and what food you put in your mouth, and what actions/behaviors you put in your life.
Food For Your Soul
First there is what you eat, I call this food for your soul. because food affects our soul.
As you know, food also affects your body, and even your mind and emotions.
What you eat transforms into the chemicals, nutrients, blood, and hormones, that run every function of your body, your mind, and even your emotions. So when you hear the cliché, “you are what you eat” it’s mostly true. Moreover, much of how you feel, what kinds of thoughts you have, and your overall energy levels are food driven as well.
Soulfood
The second key to your overall well-being and health is what I like to call ‘soulfood,’ or what Joshua Rosenthal (director at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition) refers to as ‘primary food.’ Soulfood or ‘primary food’ are the other aspects of your life that feed your soul. These include your relationships, family, education, social life, spirituality/meaning, purpose, exercise, and home. So what you feed your body in food (Food for your soul) coupled with what you feed your soul in life (soulfood) determine your overall well-being, and these areas are what we help you with.
What We Do
At FFYS, we look at both these areas, both food for your soul and soulfood when we help you. Because even if you are eating the healthiest food in the world, if there are other significant areas of your life (soulfood) that are falling apart, such as your marriage or work, then you’re likely not going to be all that healthy. Sadly, most of us are not truly healthy or balanced in all areas of our lives and we could benefit from support and direction in creating a more balanced life. When the soulfood in our life is healthy and balanced we also tend to find it easier to care for ourselves by choosing healthy food and lifestyle. Therefore, the two are interconnected and feed into each other, creating our health and well-being.
At FFYS, we look at your Food and Soulfood as part of a whole, and we focus on the goals you have for your health and life. We also look at the person as an integration of mind, body, emotions, behaviors and spirit, and address each. This is a holistic approach that values all aspects of our beings.
Bio-Individuality & Integrated Nutrition
At FFYS, we believe that every one of us is unique with special talents and skills and unique vulnerabilities and needs. Each one of us lives differently and needs different types of foods, quantities, and meal plans. So when you come in for a consultation, we relate to you as you and help you get what you need for your body, your life, and your whole self. In diet, depending upon who you are and your bio-individual needs (your age, heritage, blood type, activity-level, body type, and metabolic type), you will require something different than someone else. Therefore, there is no one diet for everyone. Instead, we approach diet from an integrated perspective and bring in dietary theories that are meaningful to the individual. For some clients, we may help them look at diet from a macrobiotic perspective. For others, it may be a metabolic type. While others may be helped by a whole foods approach. To us, there is no one diet for all; each person is unique with unique Soulfood and food needs. This is what it means to consider bio-individuality.
The Integrated Approach
Nearly all dietary theories agree on one thing the closer to nature the food is, the better. So, at the core of our approach is a whole foods perspective. We help you eat less processed, less chemical-laden, less de-natured food and more live, vital, whole foods. We help you figure out how best to integrate eating well given your daily schedule. We know that when we eat less processed food and more whole food that we are healthier, leaner, and less likely to get disease. We also know that how and what we eat as an individual, as a society, and a world, impacts our planet in significant ways, in everything from creating pollution, to affecting water quality, to depleting resources, to warming the planet, to abusing and commodifying animals, and to creating an unhealthy society and world. As such, we also educate our clients to make healthy choices that will be healthier for not only for you, but also our world.
Confusion Around Diet & Nutrition
There is so much information out there about diets and nutrition, with much of it contradictory. Not surprisingly, many people are overwhelmed and confused. Sadly, so much of the information is generated by special interests with bottom lines acting as motivators. So please reflect upon what you hear, because information often comes with heavy bias. So, what should you do to know the truth?
At FFYS, we believe that you are your best expert. We will educate and share our perspective, but ultimately we will encourage you to be your own expert, to connect with your body, and use yourself as a guide for truth. As your Counselor, I will act as “your guide on the side” (to quote Joshua Rosenthal from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition). As your guide, I will support, listen, and coach you toward the goals you identify. I will be there to high-five you when you succeed and gently nudge you when you veer off course. I will act as your teacher, coach, and friend in this process of healing and becoming healthier and happier. I will help you move toward your goals slowly and deliberately, all the while reminding you to have fun, enjoy food, and be good to you.
With health and well-being as your goals, we will help you achieve them using every tool at our disposal: being there for you in the best way we can.
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Above CFS Book written by Gretchen about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and her own CFS spiritual healing journey. Visit www.callforsoulwork.com to learn more.
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