We want to be healthy. That’s a given.

Optimum nutrition is what we want to aim for. It’ll never be perfect nutrition because we don’t live in a perfect world. But we want to achieve optimum nutrition in a nurturing way.

So, what are some ways that women can NURTURE ourselves? We spend our entire lives being giving creatures. We take care of our kids, our husbands (well, some of us do), our friends etc. We give and give and give. Sometimes we feel like we are just empty and can’t give anymore. That’s what happens when we let things downward spiral into a crisis situation.

But, don’t we have to take care of ourselves foremost so that we will be able to take care of others? You know how in the airplane, when the flight attendant is giving the little speech about what to do in times of crash landings etc. he/she always says that if the oxygen masks come down from the ceiling, FIRST a parent must put on their own oxygen mask and only then can they put one on their child. WE COME FIRST. Many of us mommies forget that.

Does this sound familiar? You sit down to a nice meal you prepared for yourself. Your child wanders into the kitchen and wants your food. You give it to him and feel like a martyr. Guess what? I don’t give my children my food! If someone is hungry before meal time they can take a fruit or other snack. My food is my food. That is sacrosanct. Mommy has to have a full tummy in order to take care of everyone else.

So, getting back to nurturing. We all want to lose weight, right? Well, most of us. Is there a way that we can work on this without feeling like we are giving up the only good things left in life that are legal? Do we have to have this long list of all the “bad” foods and avoid them totally? Or, can we change our FOCUS. Maybe we can avoid having lists of “forbidden” foods and instead, focus on the nutritious, healthy stuff that we can add in to our daily food plan. How about if we focus on eating more fruits and vegetables. Don’t think about it as eating less crackers. But, if you’re hungry think to yourself, “What can I eat now that will nurture my body?”. Hey, we only get one chance - one body and one lifetime in which to really take care of this body.

What are ways that we can nurture ourselves with food?
More fruits. Trying to eat every color vegetable every day (good trick, huh?).

Think about it - RED peppers, YELLOW peppers, GREEN cucumbers, RED tomatoes (good old lycopene), PURPLE cabbage. Each one of these colors is good for your body in another way. Have you ever thought about what all those colors do for you?

Let’s take a look.
Blue/purple - contains antioxidants which delay cellular aging and prevent blood clots. Eat lots of blueberries, purple grapes and beets. Wine is good too!

Orange - Carrots, winter squash (YUM), mangoes, sweet potatoes all contain alpha and beta carotene which are known to fight cancer and protect skin.

Yellow/orange - fruits like peaches, nectaris and papaya have beta crytothaxin which may help prevent heart disease (betcha didn’t know that!)

Green/yellow - spincach, green peas, avocado, honeydew, collards and corn have substances in them which are likely to reduce cataracts and macular degeneration (a leading cause of blindness).

Green - broccoli (the number one most healthy vegetable), cabbage and brussel sprouts all have cancer blocking chemicals.

White/Green - Onions, garlic, celery and asparagus all have anti tumor properties.

After having a look at this list, how can you NOT eat more fruits and vegetables?
And besides, they look so nice when they’re nicely cut and presented on a plate!

Let’s all make a serious attempt to put more of those colorful things that grow from the ground into our daily diets. We’ll probably find ourselves eating less crackers LOL. And, hey. Maybe we’ll almost achieve “optimum nutrition”.

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