I was cleaning and reorganizing my little office this past weekend (read: still unpacking boxes from my August move-in) and came across one of my first biz journals when I started this crazy and amazing journey.

Flipping through and smiling at all the ideas, I came across this little gem, and I just can’t stop thinking about it. I posted it yesterday on the FB page.

“If you trash your body, you trash your mind and your attitude.” It’s all connected.

And I just want to re-post it everywhere.

Because it pretty much sums it up.

Why does healthy eating in a lifestyle kind of way matter? Like for the rest of your life.

And it has nothing to do with what you weigh, or the size of your pants. Too often health and ‘being healthy’ is connected to those things alone.

So people who don’t need to lose weight ignore being healthy completely, and those that do fixate on it solely. Being healthy and living a healthy life is SO different than that.

If you want to eat and be healthy for your lifetime, you have to have a higher reason and importance in mind. Something that actually matters to the quality of your life– your DAILY life. Your hourly life.

Like:

How you feel everyday. Not just body wise. I mean energy wise. How you feel when you wake up in the morning, at mid-morning, mid-afternoon and later at night. How do you sleep? How do you navigate your day?

Mood wise, Productivity wise. Happy wise. The ability to let things roll right off your back. The feeling of having more control over your life and your reaction to things that come up unexpectedly.

How you handle stress. How you treat other people. How you connect on a spiritual or metaphysical level to the bigger picture.

How you value yourself. How you make the most of this life that you’ve been given.

That you feel more steady, more calm, more energized, and more productive for whatever your daily life entails. Which often times leads to better satisfaction and happiness with other things in life. Life becomes a lot easier when you feel good.

And the number one way to feel good?

Eat good.

As in real food.

I know it seems a bit far fetched (for some of you at least). But it couldn’t be closer to the truth. I see it happen every single day and I just want to share it big and out LOUD to anyone who will listen.

If only more people knew about the connection between food and how they feel in their day to day lives. We would operate so differently. So much better. That you could give more, love more and spend more time doing the things that matter most to you.

That when you fuel your body with the things that it physically needs [and is probably DYING to have] to function well, it’s not as much of a struggle for it to run more efficiently.

Feeling tired, worn down, consistently stressed out, needing lots of coffee, sugar or flour to pump you up through the day, is a SIGN that your body needs more from you. Not less. And it’s not a normal way to live, or shouldn’t be.

So don’t ignore it as you reach for the quick fix. You’re just covering up the real problem, and when you don’t feel great, it often times seeps into all the other areas of your life.

Get to the dirty. The real issue. That you need to eat more nutrients and nutrient dense food….. and a lot more vegetables than you are probably doing now. It’s the easiest and most efficient way. And they CAN taste good. To infuse more powerfully strong, energizing and stabilizing foods. So that your body can do it’s job better. So you can do your life job[s] better.

It’s all connected.

And it doesn’t have to take over your life. Just by doing 1 thing a day to infuse more good into your system often times can crowd out a bad habit or behavior.

Just the act of THINKING about it, being aware of how you feel throughout your day and how your food and drink consumption might be playing out in the course of your life is a big step. To really take a look at yourself, and be honest about it. Are you putting quality food at the bottom of your to-do list because you don’t “have time” to pay attention to it?

I want to challenge you. What if you gave just a little bit more time {not a lot} and thought to what you are sticking in your mouth?

What would your potential be? If you feel great, could it be better? Could your life be even more full and joyful than it is now? Could you be operating more smoothly and high powered on all cylinders?

Next step: do something about it.

Like make a green smoothie. Most days. For breakfast or lunch or dinner. I don’t really care about those details. Get on the Simply Real Health Meal Plan. Download the Food Academy. Get yourself a cookbook. Or something to get you inspired and motivated and TAKING ACTION (not just thinking about it)

You know I think they are more energizing consistently than coffee {see previous post here}.

And because it will take you 5 minutes. You have 5 minutes to spare, especially when the down stream effects on the rest of your life can be so potentially huge.

Do it. Try it. Live bigger and better because of it.

Kale Ginger Cucumber Celery Avocado Banana Green Smoothie:

Kale, leafy green kind (3-4 stalks, stems removed)

Ginger (1/2 in- 1 in piece, peeled)

Cucumber (1/4 large or 1/2 small, peeled)

Celery (2 stalks, ends removed)

Avocado (1/4 large or 1/2 small)

Banana (1/4 large or 1/2 small)

Water (3/4 cup to 1 cup)

Add all ingredients together in a good quality blender (I love my vitamix more than anything in my kitchen. If you’re contemplating it, just do it. You won’t regret it).

If your blender is not a strong one, use spinach instead of kale, as it blends up much easier. Or, if you have a juicer, use that (but you will be missing out on a lot of that great fiber that sticks around when the whole food is blended).

If you love ginger, add more in. If you hate cucumber, leave it out. The ultimate kind of recipe– you can easily swap things in and out and change it up according to your tastes.

Drink up. Feel good.

And please. Let me know what your favorite twists and variations are in the comments below. There are so many options.

Love this recipe? You’d love the cookbook then too. And be sure to check out the brand new Food Academy, now open for enrollment, and the seasonal meal plans!