Are you in a place in life where you are able to not to merely survive but also thrive if your modern comforts were taken away?

This topic of self reliance & sustainability is an immense topic but i will try to break it down into a series of posts. The reason for this is because of the people that have contacted us after reading our posts Living in a city may not be as safe as many assume and Health is not only what we eat or how much we exercise with questions on how they can best set themselves up. These posts, like this whole blog journey, is to empower you to take your life into your own hands. 2020 has been a year of re evaluation for many. Whether it is to find ways to strengthen their immune system or educating their children. How safe is living in a city? How can we ensure we are our healthiest? There are many things you can do, small things, when done everyday amount to big changes. Consistency is key, forming healthy habits. We will discuss them in the below order:

  1. Food purchasing.
  2. Growing & storing foods.
  3. Exercise in different forms.
  4. Acquiring knowledge, prayer/meditation and the power of habits.
  5. Connecting to and finding your tribe & making a difference in the world.
  6. Rest & Reset

So that’s where we start.

  1. What is health?

The WHOs definition of health is

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

world health organisation 1946

By this standpoint being healthy is a lot more complex concept than we normally pay attention to. To be truly healthy is know how to take care of ourselves as whole beings, like a domino effect everything else will then fall into place. The best place is to start where you are right now.

What is the nutritional value of the food you are consuming? for optimal health we need to be consuming food that is free from chemicals and any additives. To make sure that the food consists of a mixture of vitamins and minerals. One of two ways of achieving this is to get organic produce from your local farmers market or supermarket near you. The other is grow it yourself.

There will be a follow up post on basic vegetables, herbs etc to start growing in whatever space you have. some examples were posted on Growing your own food the next post will be a follow up on that one. The key take away here is finding what works for you and do just that. As we will be covering growing in the next post. Since this post is on purchasing foods let us get into some examples on ways to save money whilst shopping for healthy foods. Here are something to keep in mind when going shopping:

  1. Find a baseline of items that have high nutrient content and cook with them in rotation. This way your making sure you are covering all your basis before you even leave your house. This will also not feel overwhelming when planning your meals.
  2. Ideally shop at your local farmers market, the produce is healthier than mass produced items you find at your local supermarket and they are seasonal. Seasonal produce are always more economical.
  3. Take a clear list with you and stick to what you have on that list.
  4. Meal prep for the week, this will not only help you budget better but will also save you a lot of time.
  5. Never waste any food, invest in good recipe books or google different ways to cook certain foods. This will make sure you get more out of your produce.
  6. Buy large quantities of certain pantry staples, whilst saving fresh produce for the weekly shop.
  7. Always read the ingredients list on items bought at the supermarket. its important to know the nutritional value of what you are buying.
  8. Do your due diligence on researching what the food you consume and get into your home. Read independent researchers & holistic doctors as you are more likely to come across more traditional ways to foods and nutrition.
  9. Make sure to compare different priced items because more often than not, store brand baked beans for example have the same ingredients and/or the same nutritional value but they cost a lot less than other name brand ones.
  10. Don’t waste money on everyday items like pasta, bread and other baked goods. Make your own from scratch at home. Making these are a lot easier and less time consuming than you would think. By tailoring these baked goods and using enriched flour you are more than likely adding more iron and B-complex vitamins than ready-to-eat products.

The three above pyramids are to be used as a guideline but you don’t have to get the right balance at every meal. It’s fine if you balance it out over the whole day or even a week. This is just to give you an idea of what to go on, a brief touch on approaching healthier living by turning your attention to what you eat and purchasing.

One of the main requirements of the food we eat is for us to enjoy it, no matter how healthy it is if you have to force it down gagging you will find a way to discount it from your mealtimes. What we eat should satisfy our four basic tastes- sweet, sour, bitter and salt. To avoid chemicals and false foods that play on these add sea salt to foods instead of foods drenched with MSG. Introduce fermented foods into your diet to satisfy the sour that provide the enzymatic by-products of the culturing process, and the list goes on. Eating food should be a celebration each meal time with loved ones. To be healthy our food does need to taste good, to be prepared and eaten with love. When we’re happy and healthy we are then in a better place to share with those around us and the world.

Until next time, in good health.

Asli