How do you treat yourself each day?

Like a finely tuned precision machine or do you just get through the day

“Driving like you Stole it?”

Often when talking to people about their health and nutrition I will use the analogy of a vehicle to demonstrate my point. So, think about this – if you were building a precision machine, that you needed to perform like your life depended on it, what level of effort would you go to?

Would you make sure you had all the necessary parts? Would you put it together with care and consideration? Follow the directions precisely to make sure all works effectively? No doubt have all the tools required? I am sure you would check it over regularly, make sure all is working optimally? Plus, provide a safe and secure area to house it in? No doubt also use only the best quality fuel and oils so that you can get the best performance ever…. because you’re life is depending on it, right?

So, how do you treat yourself by comparison? When it comes to our body (where our life truly does depend on it), we generally don’t give the same care and consideration. We tend to fuel ourselves with whatever we can find, forget necessary parts, don’t check ourselves over regularly and drive our body like we stole it. Then wonder what happened when we get sick or find ourselves deteriorating 

Don’t get me wrong, we shouldn’t expect to live our lives with our only focus on creating a precision machine. We need to still have fun, enjoy tasty foods and drinks and have experiences where our health isn’t our primary focus. However, we can give ourselves a bit of a regular tune up to help keep us running smoothly most of the time.

If we consider our body a little like a car we need to focus on a few things.

• Making sure we have all the parts we need and are replacing them regularly. This comes from quality nutrition.
• Providing good quality fuel from a variety of foods.
• Taking the car out for a run regularly to make sure it is going well, don’t leave it just sitting in the shed.
• Rest after a long day of driving to cool down and recover.
• Don’t forget to make sure there is plenty of water. Top up regularly.
• Take a break every now and then to take in the view.
• Give it a good wash.
• Make sure the driver is of sound mind  and will put the vehicle and its safety as a priority.
• Every now and then bigger services or a mega tune up may be necessary 
• If you’re unsure how to care for your vehicle properly take it to someone who can help you.

So, perhaps it is time to focus on how you treat yourself? The nutrition we put into our body is like the parts of a vehicle. We can improve our performance by ensuring our body has all the necessary nutrients for cellular function. This doesn’t have to be every meal, but good nutrition most of the time can provide what we need. Along with this, move regularly, rest and get quality amounts of sleep. Stay hydrated and focus on reducing stress and having good mental health. By doing this we can have a reliable and sound vehicle to help us enjoy the best of life.

Personally, to make sure I get all the nutrients I need I choose to supplement my diet to fill any gaps.