I’m not sure about you but the the supermarket trip is a case get in and get out as quick as I can. I despise the weekly supermarket shop, hence why I limit my time inside and get it over and done with quickly. There is, however, one little problem with this approach- I tend to buy the same foods very time I shop!
Our ancestors thousands of years ago enjoyed up to 150 ingredients each week. But current research shows that most people have just 20 different foods in their weekly diet. We need to get back to our ancestral habits and add a bit more diversity to our diets so we can ensure we are getting all the nutrients, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals needed for us to be functioning at optimum health.
Our bodies can hit a bit of mundane plateau digesting, absorbing, metabolising and transporting the same old foods, day in day out, for energy production, cell repair and a host of other things I won’t bore you with. The body has the uncanny ability to be very efficient, it doesn’t have to work very hard when you do the same thing over and over.
It would be a bit like us doing the same workout at bootcamp every single session. Not only would this be boring but our heart, lungs and muscles would adapt to the same stresses we are putting on them every day. Take, for example, this week when we introduced some new exercises. Our muscles weren’t used to the stresses of these new exercises and they responded by being VERY SORE! But being the clever little bastards they are, they will repair and get stronger for the next time we put them under the same load and we won’t get as sore. That’s why we like to mix things up a lot- to keep our bodies guessing what’s coming next!
The foods we eat have the same impact on our digestive systems. Throw some new foods down, particularly high-fibre whole-foods that you haven’t had before and the body needs to work hard, it becomes a metabolic machine and burns more calories at rest, which is always nice!
So, I’m putting to you (and myself) a “challenge“! Every week for the next month I want everyone to buy (and eat) at least 5 different foods (this does not include 5 different “design your own burgers” from McDonalds). Start with the produce section at the supermarket, there are so many choices but we tend to buy the same fruit and veg. Look for what’s in season at the moment, or head down to the local farmers market and broaden your imagination there. Try some quinoa, buckwheat, lentils, greek yoghurt, green tea…the possibilities are endless.
Lets go out on a limb and outside our food comfort zone and live on the edge! I will be checking in and asking everyone how they are going on this- I DON’T WANT TO SEE A LACK OF HANDS IN THE AIR WHEN I ASK “who has had something new to eat this week?” Start a shopping list, get out there and do it, you may just like some of this stuff (except kale, it tastes like shit).