The past year has been a time of significant changes for Marry. Somewhere around a year ago, or probably for even longer, she found herself in a very dark place.

No matter how much she would sleep, Marry was always tired, except in the mornings, when she felt the most energetic. Her surge of energy would last about 14:00, after which Marry crashed. She would often feel weak and dizzy in the second part of the day and would need to fall asleep right here and right now (wherever that may be).

Mentally, Marry felt exhausted and had lost focus. As this was her state for over two years, she felt helpless, as if life happens to her and she is no participant.

Marry is a vegetarian. She exercised four times a week (with a big emphasis on prolonged cardio) and considered her diet as healthy. Marry was often “hangry” — she would be so hungry that she became highly irritable (anyone around her — beware). The process from being not hungry to hungry usually took about 0.001 seconds.

Marry’s state became unbearable to her. She had no energy to move her body and to speak to the people close to her, and she had no energy to change mentally. She decided that she needed to start from somewhere, and thus what Marry decided to do was focus on her body and how she could improve her physical symptoms of constant tiredness and mental haze. The first question Marry asked was — can a change in her diet affect her physical and mental state?

I could be Marry, but you could be Marry too — a person who wants to change but has no idea where to start and what to do. When it comes to nutrition, we all experimented one way or another (keto, paleo, fat-free, etc.). Often, in my pursuit to change, I would dance with a thousand watermelons under my arms (hint — one is just enough).

My enthusiasm to eat gluten-free, meditate for 3 hours and eat five eggs daily would last about a week. I embraced much more change than I could handle, and sooner than later, I was back to the start, just more disappointed with myself since I could not stick to the “plan” I had made. I also have to admit that I rarely scrutinised the choices I was making and how realistic they were — going to a 3-hour meditation from no time of meditation is not realistic.

The first choice I made was to implement change very gradually. I cut back on all the exercises from which I no longer felt joy. I started doing stretching, yoga, or whatever I enjoyed for 15 minutes a day. My goal was not to become an Olympic champion overnight but to stay consistent through the positive feedback loop that doing something you enjoy generates.

The second turning point was when my mindset started to change after I attended a group session focused on nutrition.

Like Mary, I get hangry and thought it was a part of my character. At first, it was funny to discover other people in the meeting who shared the same experience, but then it made me think. Is being angry when hungry and becoming hungry extremely quickly a part of someone’s character? Or is it a symptom of a disbalance in the body?

Uly, BM’s lead psychologist and nutritionist, led the conversation. She introduced ghee and recommended that I insert a teaspoon into my morning coffee. Ghee contains fatty acids that are great for your brain, and it also stabilises spiking glucose levels and helps with metabolising glucose. Uly explained that I probably suffer from unstable and varying glucose levels, but she advised that with a couple of changes to my diet, my “hangriness” could disappear. So I added ghee, which I had never tried beforehand, to my coffee.

It felt great! After my morning coffee, I did not get hungry until lunch — and when I did get hungry, it happened gradually. Lack of a meal or food no longer resulted in mood swings. I started adding more fats to my meals — nuts, avocados, olive oil, and ghee became my best friends. Seeing that something so small can have a significant difference in your body motivated me to explore what else I could do for my body and myself.

This is where I started wondering what other basic thing I was missing in my life. As a youngster, I used to swim a lot. Being underwater was my favourite pastime, and holding my breath was a challenge I wanted to get better at. At the end of each swimming training, I felt great.

I recently started to meditate, but during my meditations, I noticed that a big piece was missing, although I had no idea what it was. I knew that breathing is essential to meditation, but I seemed unaware of its importance in practice. Then I stumbled upon a Tim Ferris podcast with Wim Hof, and I had an “aha” moment. I should focus more on my breath.

If you have not heard of Wim Hof’s breathing method — I highly recommend you read about it. It is a simple philosophy — you should just breathe. You take 30 belly breaths. At the 30th exhale, you hold your breath for as long as possible, after which you recover by breathing in and holding your breath for 15 seconds. Then you repeat the cycle for as long as you like. The breathing practice was the second time I was amazed by how such a fundamental, simple activity can change how you feel in the short and long term. Your brain lights up.

When you chew, your salivary glands produce digestive juice (saliva) that moistens the food for easier passage down the oesophagus and contains enzymes that start to break down the food. In other words, digestion begins in the mouth, and the more you chew, the easier it is to digest food down the line.

Chewing more was the third simple habit I discovered that impacted my body and felt great. It sounds simple, but I found it extremely hard to start chewing more, especially when I was hungry. At first, I introduced five additional chews, and when I felt comfortable — some more. It felt great — the taste of the food felt more intense, and I suffered from less bloating. Plus, you give more time to your body to realise when it has had enough food.

Making a change in your life can be overwhelming, but only if you choose to make it so. It is much less traumatising and effective to take one step toward change before you take the second and not leapfrog from position 0 to position 2. Changing yourself and your habits is a process; you cannot skip steps without the huge risk of returning to the start position. If you are stuck, upset, angry, anxious or in any other state which does not nourish you — nutrition can be a great start. Take a teaspoon of food that is good for you today. Tomorrow you will be hungry for more.

Beautiful Mind organises weekly online meetings where we discuss different topics each week in a small group. Anxiety, Boundaries, Supplements — you name it. The topic is different each week, and the host of the meeting is our psychologist and certified nutritionist: Uly. If you would like to join us for the next live meeting, or sign up for a private session, drop us a message at hi@thebeautiful-mind.com.

The past year has been a time of significant changes for Marry. Somewhere around a year ago, or probably for even longer, she found herself in a very dark place.

No matter how much she would sleep, Marry was always tired, except in the mornings, when she felt the most energetic. Her surge of energy would last about 14:00, after which Marry crashed. She would often feel weak and dizzy in the second part of the day and would need to fall asleep right here and right now (wherever that may be).

Mentally, Marry felt exhausted and had lost focus. As this was her state for over two years, she felt helpless, as if life happens to her and she is no participant.

Marry is a vegetarian. She exercised four times a week (with a big emphasis on prolonged cardio) and considered her diet as healthy. Marry was often “hangry” — she would be so hungry that she became highly irritable (anyone around her — beware). The process from being not hungry to hungry usually took about 0.001 seconds.

Marry’s state became unbearable to her. She had no energy to move her body and to speak to the people close to her, and she had no energy to change mentally. She decided that she needed to start from somewhere, and thus what Marry decided to do was focus on her body and how she could improve her physical symptoms of constant tiredness and mental haze. The first question Marry asked was — can a change in her diet affect her physical and mental state?

I could be Marry, but you could be Marry too — a person who wants to change but has no idea where to start and what to do. When it comes to nutrition, we all experimented one way or another (keto, paleo, fat-free, etc.). Often, in my pursuit to change, I would dance with a thousand watermelons under my arms (hint — one is just enough).

My enthusiasm to eat gluten-free, meditate for 3 hours and eat five eggs daily would last about a week. I embraced much more change than I could handle, and sooner than later, I was back to the start, just more disappointed with myself since I could not stick to the “plan” I had made. I also have to admit that I rarely scrutinised the choices I was making and how realistic they were — going to a 3-hour meditation from no time of meditation is not realistic.

The first choice I made was to implement change very gradually. I cut back on all the exercises from which I no longer felt joy. I started doing stretching, yoga, or whatever I enjoyed for 15 minutes a day. My goal was not to become an Olympic champion overnight but to stay consistent through the positive feedback loop that doing something you enjoy generates.

The second turning point was when my mindset started to change after I attended a group session focused on nutrition.

Like Mary, I get hangry and thought it was a part of my character. At first, it was funny to discover other people in the meeting who shared the same experience, but then it made me think. Is being angry when hungry and becoming hungry extremely quickly a part of someone’s character? Or is it a symptom of a disbalance in the body?

Uly, BM’s lead psychologist and nutritionist, led the conversation. She introduced ghee and recommended that I insert a teaspoon into my morning coffee. Ghee contains fatty acids that are great for your brain, and it also stabilises spiking glucose levels and helps with metabolising glucose. Uly explained that I probably suffer from unstable and varying glucose levels, but she advised that with a couple of changes to my diet, my “hangriness” could disappear. So I added ghee, which I had never tried beforehand, to my coffee.

It felt great! After my morning coffee, I did not get hungry until lunch — and when I did get hungry, it happened gradually. Lack of a meal or food no longer resulted in mood swings. I started adding more fats to my meals — nuts, avocados, olive oil, and ghee became my best friends. Seeing that something so small can have a significant difference in your body motivated me to explore what else I could do for my body and myself.

This is where I started wondering what other basic thing I was missing in my life. As a youngster, I used to swim a lot. Being underwater was my favourite pastime, and holding my breath was a challenge I wanted to get better at. At the end of each swimming training, I felt great.

I recently started to meditate, but during my meditations, I noticed that a big piece was missing, although I had no idea what it was. I knew that breathing is essential to meditation, but I seemed unaware of its importance in practice. Then I stumbled upon a Tim Ferris podcast with Wim Hof, and I had an “aha” moment. I should focus more on my breath.

If you have not heard of Wim Hof’s breathing method — I highly recommend you read about it. It is a simple philosophy — you should just breathe. You take 30 belly breaths. At the 30th exhale, you hold your breath for as long as possible, after which you recover by breathing in and holding your breath for 15 seconds. Then you repeat the cycle for as long as you like. The breathing practice was the second time I was amazed by how such a fundamental, simple activity can change how you feel in the short and long term. Your brain lights up.

When you chew, your salivary glands produce digestive juice (saliva) that moistens the food for easier passage down the oesophagus and contains enzymes that start to break down the food. In other words, digestion begins in the mouth, and the more you chew, the easier it is to digest food down the line.

Chewing more was the third simple habit I discovered that impacted my body and felt great. It sounds simple, but I found it extremely hard to start chewing more, especially when I was hungry. At first, I introduced five additional chews, and when I felt comfortable — some more. It felt great — the taste of the food felt more intense, and I suffered from less bloating. Plus, you give more time to your body to realise when it has had enough food.

Making a change in your life can be overwhelming, but only if you choose to make it so. It is much less traumatising and effective to take one step toward change before you take the second and not leapfrog from position 0 to position 2. Changing yourself and your habits is a process; you cannot skip steps without the huge risk of returning to the start position. If you are stuck, upset, angry, anxious or in any other state which does not nourish you — nutrition can be a great start. Take a teaspoon of food that is good for you today. Tomorrow you will be hungry for more.

Beautiful Mind organises weekly online meetings where we discuss different topics each week in a small group. Anxiety, Boundaries, Supplements — you name it. The topic is different each week, and the host of the meeting is our psychologist and certified nutritionist: Uly. If you would like to join us for the next live meeting, or sign up for a private session, drop us a message at hi@thebeautiful-mind.com.