I’m sure most people are aware of the idea most girls (and even guys) have to look a certain way, or achieve an ideal body type. And while there is really no ideal way to look, as we are all unique and beautiful, there is still a lot of societal pressure from media and advertisements that makes us want to lose weight. I know that, when I was in high school, I had body image issues, and unhealthy relationships with food, and just eating in general. I was fortunate enough to not have it develop into a serious eating disorder; however, one of my best friends did suffer from an eating disorder that changed her as a person for a significant period of time.

The reason I’m writing this is for all the people out there who feel inadequate because of how their body looks and for those who have an unhealthy relationship with food, meaning they think of food more than they would like to, they worry about how what they eat might affect them, or they feel they should eat less, just like I did. I will give a disclaimer that I’m not an expert or nutritionist, but I am taking an online nutrition course where I am learning a lot of material on the subject. I have had my own experience with dieting and what works best for me. I have tried countless diets, from Paleo to Atkins to the military diet to lose weight. I have found that I look and feel the absolute best, meaning I’m thriving physically and emotionally, on a high-carb, low-fat vegan diet.

This first thing is that: You. don’t. need. to. eat. less. Get this straight in your head. Restricting your calories is one of the worst things you can do to your body, your mind, and spirit. It negatively impacts your physical health in that you can be depriving yourself of nutrients, as well as your mental health because not enough calories, especially those from carbohydrates, will give you mental fog and headaches as well as mood problems. And rightly so. Our bodies run and thrive off of glucose from carbohydrates.

I know what a lot of you might be thinking, “Carbs? Why should I eat more carbs, won’t they make me fat?” This is a common misconception about food groups and nutrition in general which I will get more into. For now, just remember that it’s not how much you eat, it’s what you eat. Plus, what kind of person is happy not eating as much as they truly want.

The second thing is: Be conscious of where your calories come from.

Now this is a light way to put it. In all honesty, what makes this way of eating work is that all the foods you eat are healthy by their nature. This means eating a vegan diet, no animal products whatsoever, where pretty much all calories come from whole plant foods. This would be mostly fruits, a lot of vegetables and starchy root vegetables like potatoes, as well as grains and then beans, nuts, and legumes. It seems silly and weird at first, as these are usually considered a side dish, but there are endless possibilities with the amount of whole and refined plant foods out there.

What makes this work is that plant foods contain little to no fat (excluding foods like avocado and nuts), cholesterol, or toxic byproducts that are common in animal products like meat, dairy and eggs. Yet, plant foods contain all the nutrients, minerals, protein, and fiber you could possibly need. It’s important to understand that animal products are not food in the same sense that fruit and veg are food. At the end of the day, when you eat an animal or animal product, you are also eating hormones, additives, and toxic animal protein which damages your cells in the long term. Whereas with plant foods, they were literally sprouted from the Earth for us to enjoy and live off of.

Additionally, plant foods are less calorically dense than processed and refined foods like cheeses or oils. Therefore, you can eat as much of these plant foods as you want and never have to worry about gaining weight. So, if you can, consider going vegan or eating less animal products. Regardless of what you call your diet, incorporating more whole plant foods as staples and packing in the carbs will make you feel 100 times better.

The third thing is: Be connected to your food.

It’s very common today for people to be disconnected to their food and where is comes from. People are concerned with labels like “natural” or “organic” or “free range”, having little to no idea what these things truly mean. I strongly urge you to research where your food comes from. If you’re interested, some good documentaries to watch are "Food Inc," "Cowspiracy," or "Food Matters," read books such as "Eat to Live," "The China Study," "The Starch Solution," or the HCLF(High carb low fat) bible, "The 80/10/10 Diet." Also, food has a vibrational nature to it that affects our own vibration. So be aware that if your food has suffered to become food, you are consuming that suffering.

The fourth and probably most important thing is: Enjoy your food.

I remember when I was around 15 or 16 years old, I would look at a snack’s food label to see how many calories or grams of sugar it had, and would only eat half of the snack to avoid getting fat. I couldn’t even enjoy it. How ridiculous is that? I would deprive myself of food and nutrition and feel hungry and unsatisfied. Now, I sit down to eat a meal with not seconds but thirds and don't think twice about how many calories I’m eating.

I eat until I feel full and feel amazing after. I no longer feel lethargic or bloated after a typical meal like I did in the past. The foods I eat are complex carbohydrates which my cells thank me for because they run off of glucose, which is literally the sugar of life. I can not express enough how amazing I feel eating this way, I have so much energy and I’ve lost some weight, but that is incomparable to how good I feel.

So all in all, don’t listen to ads or people who tell you to restrict your calories and carbs. Don’t buy that crap that sugar is bad for you and think that fruit will make you fat. Sugar is addicting to us because we need it to survive (glucose, fructose), it’s what’s in whole plant foods that makes us keep eating it. So, yes, we are addicted to sugar, but in a good way. The only food that’s bad for you is the processed kind filled with weird ingredients and un-pronounce-able chemicals that your body doesn’t need. So if you want to know whether or not a food is good for you, ask your self one question. Does this food contain more than one ingredient? If it doesn’t, then it’s a whole food and it’s good for you. Every one of our cells is happiest when we are giving them enough carbohydrates.

Lastly, I want to say something that sounds contradictory, but please do not take my word for it. Investigate for yourself what I mention in this short article so that you can make the best decision for yourself.

So, as they say, carb the f@$k up. Hope you learned a thing or two and never worry about food again.