2023 Inspiration Starts With Brain Work
Inspiration to work toward your healthy intentions in the new year begins with your brain.
That’s right, your brain. Knowledge and motivation.
While we often associate our mood with our brain, we may not often connect good food with our brain. But this is where the magic begins.
Your brain has some pretty strong ideas about food - what tastes good, what you’re in the mood for, what takes the least effort (ya, I see you!) and even when you’re hungry or full/satisfied. So your brain is the place to begin. For once your brain is presented with new information, it cannot un-know it. It might set it aside and store it before accessing it again, but the new information is there and will keep reappearing and cropping up. Challenging you about what to do with the new information.
So brain - what you don’t need is another diet. But you do need to know a few things about food and our food systems. You also need to know a few things about what can help us humans look at the food we eat in a new way.
Below are trailers to several movies that may inform and inspire your brain to look at food and how it is produced in a new way. Most can easily be streamed and will definitely be worth your time as you consider this Good Food, Good Mood Journey.
One of my favorites has always been the movie “Fresh” because not only does it show the problems with our industrialized food system, it also highlights how people are making change happen - from the way that food is produced to the way that consumers decide which food to buy.
Michael Pollan is a well known author who has written MANY bestselling books on the topic of food and the food system:
In Defense of Food, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Food Rules, an Eater’s Manuel, Cooked
just to name a few. Below is the trailer to the documentary aired by PBS which follows Michael Pollan on his journey to answer the question: What should I eat to be healthy?
This third recommendation is one especially for those who want to learn more about what GMO’s are and why we should care. GMO is the acronym for Genetically Modified Organism. Genetically modified organisms quietly entered our food system in the 1990’s. At the time, consumers were unaware of this new technology and its implications. GMO OMG tells the story of the filmmaker and concerned father Jeremy Seifert as he searches for answers about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and how they affect our children, the health of our planet, and our freedom of choice.
One of the best known food documentaries that discusses the Western diet and its health implications is “Forks Over Knives.”
Each of these films will give your brain plenty of fuel and energy to start your Good Food, Good Mood Journey. Even just watching the trailers can be inspiring. If you have seen these movies before, watching them again can jumpstart your motivation to pay attention to your food and where it comes from.
Books, YES!
Maybe you have no time to sit in front of a television or computer screen watching videos. You can always read books. It’s easier than ever to listen to books while driving to and from work, or doing errands, or taking a walk. Find time and space to feed your brain information it cannot ignore.
“Authors and foodies, ranging from Amber Rose, to Michael Pollan, to Martha Stewart, have all gone beyond the simple cookbook of delicious staple recipes to teach readers how to be a better eater, both for our own health and the overall benefit of society.
The expert authors of these books will teach you about the positives of eating “right” and the negatives of eating “wrong,” as well as center us in a healthy lifestyle of appreciating food and all it can do to nourish our bodies and minds.”
From the article: “These 12 Books Will Inspire You to Change Your Eating Habits”
Click here to read the article and discover great books to inspire you.