What Should We Be Eating To Be Healthy And Vibrant?

My relationship with food has always been a bit complicated, when I was younger, I was a picky eater and, this made it almost impossible for me to find foods that I actually enjoyed eating.

Most days, I was even forced to eat things I didn’t want to because growing up in a low-income family meant I couldn’t have options.

I grew up avoiding foods, giving my lunch away amongst other unhealthy behaviors and this led to me having an ulcer which ruined a lot of things but, I promised myself that I would get better as I got older which felt like a good plan in my head.

I honestly did eat “healthy” for a while; at least in my own way but, when I was 16, I got into the university, and I realized one thing which was that “I was fat”.

At that point, I had to go through a lot of insecurities which made me withdraw from food, I often didn’t eat for days and I ended up in the hospital multiple times which made me have to change schools to be closer to my home.

Getting closer to my home meant I was monitored by my mother to eat more; more which didn’t mean healthy because I mostly stuffed myself with pasta, noodles, and rice, not forgetting a lot of sugar.

I gradually gained more weight and I could barely breathe when I walked, now, I didn’t know much about healthy eating because it wasn’t something I was taught about, we usually learned about balanced diets but, I didn’t take it seriously so, when I needed to lose weight, I went to YouTube.

Now, while there are amazing things to learn on YouTube, there are also some damaging things and from YouTube, I learned about OMAD and counting my calories.

If you don’t know what OMAD is, well, that’s good for me but just in case you are curious, it means “one meal a day” where you eat all your meal in just one hour.

I won’t lie and say I didn’t lose weight through this because I did but it was unhealthy, it damaged my relationship with food and I always had headaches, especially since I was still exercising twice daily.

I continued on this route for a while and then I started losing my hair because I was starving my body of the nutrient it needed and at that time, I realized that I had to stop.

WHAT SHOULD WE BE EATING TO BE HEALTHY AND VIBRANT?

Before I continue, I wouldn’t exactly say that there is a diet or an eating pattern that is one fits all because people have different needs physically and health-wise; you wouldn’t expect someone with PCOS to eat like someone with anemia.

So, for me I feel like your eating pattern should depend on your needs but, speaking personally, I try to have a balanced diet; I wouldn’t say balanced meals because that would be a lie.

What I usually do is try to eat all sources of foods when I can and as a Nigerian, I can do it by eating soups with vegetables, I eat plantains, a lot of proteins like fish, meat and eggs and I also, eat pasta, noodles and all that in small portions.

I believe that food is fuel so I don’t try to starve myself from it instead I eat in portions to fit my needs.

HOW CAN YOU EAT TO BE HEALTHY AND VIBRANT?

As I said, it depends on your needs but, it is important to research, ask your doctor and make the right choices.

Similarly, I will advise you not to follow fad diets or celebrity diets because they will always come and go and some can be more damaging to your metabolism than others.

I would furthermore add that you should try your best to avoid processed foods and if possible, eat more fresh meals, also not forgetting to take supplements when needed.

FINALLY,

I wouldn’t say I am where I want to be with my eating pattern, but I am learning and improving as I grow older.

Eating healthy has so many benefits and it is something we should thrive to do for our health and well-being.