Eating for Energy

Chances are, you pick up a book to read for a reason, particularly a self-help book – to ease stress, lose weight, learn the secrets of spiritual fulfillment or whatever the reason may be. So, we don’t need to be convinced to read the book once we’ve already started. We just want answers!

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I’ve recently been accepted at Wilfrid Laurier University to pursue my master’s degree in Cultural Analysis and Social Theory. I also work full-time. My professional and academic careers are very important to me – I am deeply passionate about them - so I have not flinched for one second to think that I may not have the energy to pursue both simultaneously. Passion yields energy. Yet, I was intrigued to find Yuri Elkaim’s latest book Eating for Energy. Before starting my master’s degree next month, I knew that I would need to pay more attention to my health and well-being if I was going to sustain, no, thrive while pursuing my goals.

Yuri starts Eating for Energy with stats and personal stories I was tempted to skip. “What is he going to tell me that I don’t already know?” I thought. Or, “How are these personal stories going to help me?” Well, thank goodness I kept reading. We may think our situations are all so different, but as humans, we are very much the same. Yuri’s personal encounters helped me to identify issues I, too, was facing, and that important people around me were facing too, but may not have realized. Don’t skip a beat in this book if you want the full experience. And, if you’re the kind of person who wants to live a healthier lifestyle but fails to go through with it, healthful living is more than just the food in your body, it’s your approach to nutrition, it’s your commitment to being active, it’s your belief in a way of living and thinking that is necessary to see change. Yuri’s passion for this is contagious and he does a great way of expressing his passion in words. (To my brother…I’m starting to understand where you are coming from now.)

Eating for Energy is a book for action, not just teaching, and I think a lot of us can appreciate that. We drown in information every day, but hardly feel empowered to do anything about it. I believe that we can never have too much information, but what is information without action?

Action Steps 1

1. Track your progress – how do you feel throughout the day? When do you get hungry? When do you eat and what do you eat? What emotions do you feel before, during and after you eat? This is insightful information that we probably ignore and tuck away. As Yuri says early in Eating for Energy, “You have a deep feeling deep down inside of you that is burning to express itself.” For me, that burning desire is to fuel myself with foods that will enhance my well-being and lust for life, helping me to have the energy I currently feel for a long time to come and to increase this, if possible.

2. Take a before and after photo, and the necessary measurements. I’m challenging myself to do this. It’s hard to face for some of us, and I’ve promised to do this in another context. The important thing is the aftermath…

3. Write down three important goals you need to achieve and why. Write them as if they have already happened. This one was difficult for me to comprehend at first, but it sound like it is worth a try.

• I am so grateful and happy that I am proud about the food and activity in my life.
• I am so grateful and happy that I have the energy to keep up with my toddler daughter, career, studies, familial responsibilities and personal goals.
• I am so grateful and happy that I no longer feel burdened by exhaustion or unexplainable illness.

Wow, just writing those goals from that perspetive is something else – it’s as if I’m seeing myself in the future, and I like that person. Even if you are not reading this book, or are not seeking to change your eating habits, I encourage you to reposition your life goals in this way and to see the impact it has on you.

I’m still reading Eating for Energy, and I will continue to write about it, but I felt compelled to blog, review and share my thoughts with you…even after reaching only page 26.

Sleeping for Energy,

Rachel

Related Links:

• Thanks to Lex at Minibookexpo.com for connecting me to a free copy of Eating for Energy.
• Learn more about Eating for Energy, and get your own copy here.
• Yuri Elkaim has plenty advice and ideas for health and wellness on his website.