The article you’re about to read is special to me because it initiates our shared journey at the end of which lies the discovery of one’s voice in the world and awakening to one’s own True Self. This subject was not chosen at random. It is relevant to me and you both. Today I will tell you about my path to self-discovery in the context of food and nutrition. I hope that my experience will inspire you to embark on your own journey of self-exploration.
In search of a perfect diet
Living in tune with myself is very important to me. We are all different and everyone can discover what works best for them through observation and experimentation. What is interesting that it can work for any aspect of our life, not just nutrition.
My search for the perfect diet began right after I gave birth to my daughter Paulina in 2005. That is when I intuitively felt that the foods I was consuming weren’t serving me very well. I would feel fatigued in the middle of the day and experienced a constant lack of energy. Marcin felt similar to me. I began researching other ways to eat, reading books, trying new things, and gradually implementing changes in our diet.
We began by eliminating white sugar, industrially processed food, and animal milk, which we substituted with more beans and legumes, vegetables, and fruit which we tried to source from organic sources as much as possible. From the start, we began noticing positive changes in how our bodies reacted.
The wisdom of children
The decision to go on a fully plant-based diet was made along with our children in January of 2013. It was them, Paulina and Alan, who from the beginning have taught us about the love of animals. They reminded us that we are all equal beings and that we all deserve respect and the right to live. To put it simply, they taught us that: “animals are for loving, not for eating” When I observe my children, I am just in awe of how much wisdom these young creatures possess. They are my greatest teachers.
Intuition
It was Paulina and Alan who taught me the most about intuitive eating. I remember the time when they were still little and have just begun eating solid foods. Already back then I gave them the opportunity to try different foods and flavors and have them choose for themselves what they wanted to eat. I never forced my children to consume products they did not enjoy.
From the earliest years, I would take them shopping and teach them to put fruit, vegetables, and other whole foods which they were drawn to and made them happy into the basket. I think it is one of the most basic ways in which our bodies communicate with us to tell us what they need. I noticed that it came so naturally to my kids that I decided not to force anything on them. It was a very interesting experience for me and, I am sure, for them as well.
Moreover, after choosing the fruits and vegetables themselves, Paulina and Alan were eager to participate in the preparations of our meals. They loved coming up with new recipes. They also enjoyed decorating the family table with our favorite dinnerware so we could all sit and eat together. I am pleased to say they still do this today :).
What has changed — my experiences
When I look at my journey from today’s perspective, I think that switching to a plant-based diet was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Now that I’m 43 years old, I feel younger in my body than I did 16 years ago when the adventure of switching up our diet was just beginning. I never expected that this decision would end up being so influential on our lives and would end up bringing us even closer to Mother Nature.
Just a few weeks after excluding meat and other animal products from our diet, we experienced such an increase in vitality that we started to regularly exercise again as all this extra energy needed an outlet. I fell in love with yoga and took brisk 1-2 hour walks every day. Marcin added cross country running to mountain biking; a year later he took part in his first 80 km ultra-marathon. On the weekends we packed our backpacks and took our kids hiking in the mountains.
Listening to yourself and your body
These years of exploration taught me just how important it is to listen to our bodies because they always know what’s best for us and communicate with us by sending us signals. No one else can tell you what is the right thing for you. You need to allow yourself to learn by trying things out first-hand. If you don’t, you’ll never truly know.
Finding our own path and living in tune with our deepest nature is fascinating to me because it teaches us to get in touch with ourselves. Through the process, we learn about self-love. We begin to live consciously and regain trust in ourselves, which we might’ve lost through the conditioning put upon us by the environment and the society we grew up in. Sometimes it seems to me as if I have been given a new life, one that allows me to make my own decisions and be myself without fear.
I am very curious what are your thoughts on this? Do you feel you’re following your True Path?
Congratulations on your first blog.
Really nice to see.
Yes, it’s very important to care about what you eat. That’s great your family doing that.
I like Japanese expression “itadakimasu” when you eat a meal. It’s appreciation for the food. Taking the life of animals and plants. And all people who related to that such as farmers, fishermen, people who deliver those to a market and the person who cooked. So, do not waste anything.
Anyways, I may not write comments all the time but will look forward to reading.