The 5 Cs of Resilience through Food

Apr 29

The body has an innate ability to return itself to a healthy resting state and a state of homeostasis (an ability to resist change and maintain a stable constant internal environment). This is what we really mean when we talk about physical resilience. But physical resilience is significantly connected to the state of emotional wellbeing and as a rule a range of lifestyle factors will impact your physical resilience.

Food is a major source of fuelling not only the body physically but also our effectiveness at work, our focus, creativeness, our ability to sustain peak focus for as long as required.

Stress has an impact on your immune system and overall ability to function. But eating food that isn’t supporting your immune system can add to the stress and inflammation in your body so that a vicious cycle is at play bringing you and your performance levels down. Your immune system is then busy fighting the effects of that food rather than fighting with all hands on deck, to keep you free of infection and illness.

The 5 Cs of resilience through food

Create – Active positive steps regarding nutrition (meal prep, food diary, work with NLC on areas where nutrition may be lacking).

Connect – Stay connected with your body and its physical responses to the food you are eating. You will almost certainly notice when you are eating with awareness, that particular foods either diminish you or enliven you. Do certain foods create an energy slump, brain fog, stomach discomfort, headaches?

Cultivate – A holistic attitude towards your mind & body as a whole person where what you put into your mouth/stomach will ultimately alter and affect your moods and your ability to focus. Your body is essentially ‘your home’. If you don’t look after the foundations it won’t last long or certainly not in the peak condition you would like it to.

Challenge – Ask yourself these questions when you feel under par at work before you give yourself a hard time about messing up or not performing as you felt you should – Did I eat properly last night? Did I eat a breakfast to set me up for the day? Am I expecting my body to function well on coffee and cigarettes? Did I sleep well? Did I drink too much last night? Challenge your perceptions of yourself as a healthy person. Be honest with yourself, are you expecting prime performance without giving yourself the simple basic tools to enable you to perform? Make sure you address any nagging health issues or aspects of your eating/lifestyle that bother you. There are really simple wins that can turn things around very quickly.

Confidence – When you are supporting your body with the right tools to create a feeling of overall health and wellness you will notice the impact on all areas of your life including your confidence levels at work and elsewhere in other relationships.