Last week on September 23rd, Will Smith called the first-ever emergency Red Table Talk family meeting. The Smith family quickly gathered into their home’s living room for a special episode, with no idea what Will wanted to discuss with them. Will begins with a story about their most recent family vacation and the nickname his daughter and wife came up with for him. The name “pudge muffin” that they started calling him struck a chord. Weighing in at 225 pounds, Will realized that he was more out of shape than he had ever been before. After doing some research and self-reflecting, Will discovered that his eating habits were not only what contributed to his weight gain, but to his overall physical health. Soon the entire Smith family was opening up about their nutrition and physical well being.
It turns out that each member of the Smith family didn’t have a healthy diet, eating pattern, or positive mental connection with food. The family meeting promptly turned into an all-out nutrition intervention. After speaking with Mona Sharma, a renowned nutritionist, and the highly esteemed functional medicine specialist Dr. Mark Hyman, the Smith family got the opportunity to delve into what’s wrong with their eating routines.
The real question is could you be hurting yourself based on what you’re eating? What’s happening with your physical fitness? Are you like Jaden and don’t eat enough protein every day? Could you be like Jada and don’t eat foods that make your body feel good? Or are you like Will and eat too much?
There are warning signs for every type of “eater” out there in the world. As discussed by the Smith family, some people don’t eat enough. Think about your daily routine. Do you eat breakfast? Maybe skip dinner once in a while? It is important to have at least three meals every day. Skipping meals is never a good idea and has detrimental effects on your health. If you find that you never eat breakfast in the morning, try to at least have a protein bar or a healthy snack. Trying to rearrange your eating schedule can also help with missing meals. When you wake up for your 8 am, don’t wait until lunch to have your first meal. Force yourself to go get breakfast at a later time. This will push back your whole eating schedule to a couple of hours later, but it is worth it in the long run.
Another issue for many people is what you’re eating. You may be eating three meals a day, but what’s in those meals? Are you not eating enough red meat, or too much? Maybe you’re not a big fan of fruits and vegetables. Many Americans fill their bodies with fast food and processed snacks. This cannot be what you have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Mix up your diet. Try new foods to widen your palate and challenge yourself to add something healthy to every plate you eat.
The most important aspect of your nutrition is your mental connection to your food. When you eat, are you eating because you’re sad? Happy? Angry? How we feel majorly impacts our eating habits and can quickly turn into dire situations. Constantly eating because you are upset can lead to lifelong medical conditions. Not eating enough or barely eating at all because you’re sad does just as much harm. You can’t have a healthy diet if you aren’t in a healthy state of mind. Fixing how and when you eat is a great way to make a positive difference in your physical and mental health.
So go do some self-reflection! Trust me, your body will thank you!