My First Lesson

I just received my first lesson in Brendan Brazier's Thrive in 30 Program.  This is a free program that is emailed to you for convenience. There is a written portion and a short video to watch. Check out my previous blog for the link. 

This lesson focused on stress and diet.  I had never looked at stress in this way before, but he talked about two types of stress; complimentary stress and uncomplimentary stress.  Brazier defined these in simple terms.  Complimentary stress is stress that benefits you or is positive.  The examples given were the stress of studying for a test or the stress put on the body from exercising.  Uncomplimentary stress is stress that has no positive effects such as psychological stress or environmental stress.  The statistics that were given is that 60% of all stress that you experience is uncomplimentary and of that stress, 70% of it is what he calls nutritional stress, or stress put on the body from poor eating habits and choosing food that doesn't benefit the body nutritionally.

So let me get this straight, I can reduce the stress that I feel and that is placed on my body by feeding properly.  Okay, that makes sense, but I have never heard poor nutrition linked with stress before.  You may think that I am crazy, but when I hear it put like that, it kind of gives me an aha moment (Sorry, I think I just quoted Oprah).  It's not rocket science by any means, but when something is explained in a different manner, it can really make you think.

He continues on to give several suggestion (and good ones) on how to incorporate more fruits, veggies and whole foods into your diet and although he is vegan, there isn't any mention at this point on giving up meat.  It's more focused on making small changes to your diet to improve your energy and to reduce your reliance on things like caffeine and sugar to give you the stamina to make it through the day.  There is even a smoothie recipe at the end of the lesson if you want to give it a try!

I'm interested to see the next lesson to see what it leads to.  I'll keep you posted!