You Are What You Eat

The new year is always a good time to start fresh.

So, in light of the new year, I decided that I wanted to create healthy habits and live a sustainable lifestyle. I started with the one thing I know people struggle with the most: eating healthily.

Eating healthy can be extremely hard especially when time is moving so fast. Although I know that my ultimate goal is to be completely plant-based, I knew that transitioning right away would be hard, so I decided that being a pescatarian was the right decision for me.

Why the change you may ask, within my lifetime so far my major protein source was chicken, I would eat chicken every day for lunch and dinner sometimes. I don’t think chicken is bad, but that also does depend on where you source your chicken, and of course, that goes for any product that you buy.

What does a pescatarian diet look like?

Lots of plant-based foods and of course seafood. Things like fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, whole grains, and seeds are some plant-based options. As for seafood, tuna, salmon, shrimp, crab, and catfish are excellent sources of protein and lean.

The reason I have decided to eat clean and healthy stems from a lot of environmental and social determinants. I am a college student living with my parents and although I may appear healthy and well, I knew the things I was feeding my body were not good for the long run.

I could tell that my diet was not contributing to my health because my nails were extremely weak, my skin was dull, and my hair was at the same length for months on end. The saying “you are what you eat” played a role in why I have decided to eat clean, what you fuel your body with is what appears on the outside.

A Hummus Plate I Made

Different foods trigger different moods and emotions, when you eat something with a lot of sugar your body will automatically feel the difference as opposed to eating a bowl of fruits. The things you eat also contribute to your odor. People always wonder why they smell a certain way and it is because the food they are consuming passes through their pores and produces an unpleasant smell. As I go through life, I want to know that the foods I eat are making me stronger and not killing me slowly.

As a Health Science Major, I have learned that some things are out of our control that influence our health outcomes. Conditions such as where we are born, grow, work and live are forces that shape the conditions of our daily life. By making a change to your diet, physical activity, and getting enough sleep, you are taking that extra step to shape your health and well-being.

My decision to eat clean will not only make a difference in the days to come but in the years to follow.

To keep my family lineage and live as long as possible, it is important that I take care of my body today to see results in the future. There is so much of life that I haven’t experienced yet and I do not want the decisions I make today to affect how I continue to live.

Choosing to eat healthily is a personal decision and on that note, I want you to ask yourself if what you are eating contributes to your life goals and expectancies.

As you start to prepare for the weeks to come, I want to leave a tip that helped me get through the first month of the year.

“You eat what you see.”

Instead of filling your pantry or fridge with a bunch of sugary, salty, and unhealthy foods, fill it with healthier options so that the next time you are looking for something to eat you only result in the healthy options available to you.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of Speaking My Language.