Keep It Simple.

Two days to go until Christmas- are you hanging in there?

In keeping with my tips and suggestions I’ve been posting over the past couple of weeks on everything from staying on course with your eating habits and not forgoing your workouts, let’s stick to one common thread that I hope has gone through for each and every snippet I’ve shared: keep it simple.

We humans, with our big, underutilized brains, tend to overthink things.

From what to eat and how much and how often to the same rigmarole with exercise and, you guessed it, the way we approach holidays, too.

It’s so easy to get so micro that we create an overwhelming feeling that the magnitude and scope of all we need to get done is simply not going to happen.

And then, depending on personality type, some may blast on full speed ahead and get every last thing on the to-do list checked off…but at the cost of not sleeping for two nights straight.

On the flip side, others allow that very same feeling that to suffocate them, resulting in accomplishing little to nothing.

What’s the answer?

Take a step back and simplify.

Things that seem really difficult are often really simple.

Let’s look at what we eat. (Call me crazy, but I figured since this is mainly a healthy lifestyle blog, eating might be a topic of interest…)

I eat local, in-season veggies, a hefty amount of fat from different sources to ensure I’m getting a well-rounded supply of all the essential fatty acids and ample protein, also from various, locally sourced animals. Oh! And I don’t eat packaged items or refined carbs. And because of this, I feel great!

Pretty simple, right?

So when and why did we have to complicate it so much?

It’s gotten crazier and more ridiculous than ever.

The P word just isn’t what it used to be.

For example, last week, an article posted in the UK[1] discussed how burgeoning paleo product development is spreading out from the US. In it, we learn that the total number of products using the word paleo has tripled in the past year. Then, for the consumer who may be unfamiliar, we learn a little about what this ‘alternative diet’ really is: “a concept which is decades old, but it’s enjoyed a revival in recent years”.

In that light, it certainly does appear to be nothing more than a relatively recent diet trend, supported, like any other, with a series of packaged products, which are clearly filling a void in the already lucrative diet industry.

Then, we have others, like comedian Adam Liaw[2] tweeting with his hash tag (‪#2016FoodTrends)‪: “Post-parody lifestyle diets where food is considered a reluctant necessity of life.”

In other words, it wouldn’t be that far off the mark to say that in some people’s eyes, it’s become a joke, which, in my humble opinion is an absolute shame.

So how does this tie back to a Christmastime post about keeping things simple?

If we go back to the basics (way back…pun intended) in terms of opting to follow this simply manner of eating (which no one ever said has to be boring, thank you very much), we take away all the clutter around it and all the confusing interpretations.

Forget about science that tells you what’s going on when you eat gluten or a controversial study that tells you that cow’s milk is, in fact, the best way to get calcium for a moment: how do you actually feel when you drink a cup of milk? Or eat a piece of bread? How do you feel a few hours later, and what’s your digestion (or lack thereof) the next day?

In those parameters, it becomes really, really simple.

So when you’re stressing about what you feel you can, or cannot eat tomorrow, the next day and over the course of the last week of 2015, take just a moment to think about it from this very simplistic point of view.

You may be surprised how uncomplicated it really is!

 

 

[1] “Burgeoning Paleo Product Development Spreading out from US, Finds Innova.” BakeryAndSnacks.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Dec. 2015

[2] “Adam Liaw Takes Piss out of Pretentious Food Obsession.” NewsComAu. N.p., 21 Dec. 2015. Web. 23 Dec. 2015