NUTRITION
‘We are what we eat’. ‘Food is medicine’… Yes, but what about: ‘who are we when we eat?’
EATING THE RIGHT FOOD IS JUST PART OF THE EQUATION
As a typical Frenchman, I used to consider food as a source of pleasure, a way to socialise and have a good time. That changed when I became an endurance athlete in my late twenties, as I started to see food as an energy source: I was not eating anymore, I was ‘fuelling my body’. With that came a certain level of anxiety towards food, as I started to classify certain types of food as detrimental to performance, labelling certain food as ‘bad’. Life went on, and with the increase in responsibility and stress, especially at work, I started to have digestive issues in my early forties. As a result, I became more and more controlling with my food… and my digestive problems got worse and worse.
I tried most of the diets, such as Paleo, Vegan, Keto. I tried Autoimmune and Longevity diets, did a few detox, a bit of juicing and a bit of fasting. Some things did make me feel better, but after a few weeks, the benefits invariably disappeared.
I solidified my knowledge about nutrition by studying. I first got certified with Precision Nutrition, which focuses on sports nutrition. I then became certified with Health Coach Institute HCI, which provides a Health Coaching degree and a Health Coaching Degree with a heavy focus on nutrition. It is during HCI that I was exposed to a new idea that changed my focus altogether:
‘It’s not only about what you eat, it’s also about who you are when you eat’. In a nutshell, our state of mind when we are eating has a big impact on your capacity to digest and extract the right nutrients from your food. In time, our stress level impacts the level of inflammation in our gut, the propensity to store fat and our weight, among other things, even if we eat the ‘perfect’ food all the time.
Besides, most of us know, roughly, what is the ‘right’ food for our body, and what is not. Still, we often eat the food that makes us miserable and sick on the long-term. Such an unhealthy relationship with food is often the symptom of something else, something that gets in the way.
This understanding of the relationship between mood/mindset and nutrition is a cornerstone of my coaching practice. When you work with me, you will not get meal plans. I will not be your guru. I will be your partner. We will build together new sustainable nutritional habits that will give you more energy, make you leaner and clearer in your mind, so that you can do greater things in your life.