Reshaping My Life through Food
Our guest contributor, Rintri Pardede, wrote this article.
Lifestyle consists of the little habits we do every day. Sometimes without realizing it, we waste time and choose things we don’t actually need.
After moving to the town I currently live, I thought a lot about my life and observed my daily behavior, from getting up in the morning to going to bed. I got a conclusion: “Ok, this is not healthy!”
I rarely go to bed regularly. Going to bed at 2 AM is commonplace and ordinary for me. Sometimes I don’t sleep for two days and still do my daily activities. So it’s natural that anxiety and fatigue often come without knocking on the door.
A few days after I started moving to my current town, I contacted Gizigo friends.
In our online nutrition consultation session, I asked them about a healthier lifestyle and how to gain weight.
Gizigo’s consultant explained that I must fix my sleep routine before starting a weight-gain diet. If my sleep habit is irregular, my metabolism will be disturbed.
If I do the math, I’m 12 kg under my ideal body weight. It’s pretty stressful to see how thin I am in the mirror.
Yet I try to see this restlessness from a different perspective. I’m willing to start living a healthy life. Focusing on my weight and ideal body expectations is unacceptable because it will lead to anxiety when I don’t achieve my target.
Then I told myself that healthy living is about being mindful of what goes into the body, from food to the information I consume.
I started my good habits with breakfast discipline, snacking, eating enough, and sleeping regularly. I always eat my breakfast. For me, breakfast is the best time to appreciate God’s blessings.
I choose breakfast with sufficient portions with menus that are easy to make and healthy, such as salads, oats, yogurt, fruits, boiled sweet potatoes, milk, and bread. Snacking time at 10:00 and 16:00, lunch from 12:00-13:00, and dinner at 19:00.
I also have a new habit of regularly cleaning in the morning and before bedtime.
Why do you also need to clean before going to bed? So when you wake up tomorrow morning, your eyes and heart feel comfortable. I also think that no one knows their own death. If I suddenly pass away tomorrow morning, I wouldn’t make it difficult for others to clean up my messy room.
I once read in a book that we can start by clearing things around us to regulate or reset our way of life. That way, we give space for our brains to organize, organize and sort out the important and the unimportant.
Assume that our brain is a library, so we need to arrange books according to categories so that they are organized and comfortable and make it easier for us to read. A dirty mind makes it difficult to see things clearly, right?
Feeling Full when Eating
“I once posted my breakfast on social media. Then my friend asked me, “Does it enough to make you full” My answer is, “Yes, it does” After answering that, I realized that I already saw “fullness” as something different.”I once posted my breakfast on social media. Then my friend asked me, “Does it enough to make you full?” My answer is, “Yes, it does.” After answering that, I realized that I already saw “fullness” as something different.
For me now, satiety is not only about the stomach but also perspective.
I used to think that breakfast had to be heavy on carbohydrates. It had to be rice or soup, ketupat, fried noodles, and other filling meals. Now I think eating is about having enough.
When I feel enough, my stomach will feel full by itself.
After all, I’m not working a physically demanding job that requires consuming many carbohydrates.
So for me, everything I eat in the morning only needs to be’‘enough’ for my body according to my needs and activities.’So for me, everything I eat in the morning only needs to be ‘enough’ for my body according to my needs and activities.
Breakfast with adequate portions will allow our digestion to process what we eat in the morning after a good rest the previous night. Even if you feel hungry again after breakfast, we can have snacks anyway.
After almost two months of living a healthier lifestyle than before, I can’t say that I’ve gained weight. But I’m sure of one thing, I have a clearer mind.
For people like me whose minds are always busy, who like to work overtime and learn something, and who are also easily anxious because they don’t have enough time to rest, this new habit brings peace of mind.
For me, there’s nothing more precious than that. For anyone reading this later, I want to say reevaluate how you live, from sunrise to midnight, and think again about what kind of state or life you want.
Our body and mind rule the way we react and respond. If it’s unhealthy, one day it will disturb the quality of our life. I’ve taken my first step, it’s hard, of course, but it’s all worth it.
Have a blissful and healthy life, friends!