I have been interested in nutrition for a long time. I was a very picky eater growing up and when I went to college and started working in restaurants, I was exposed to so many different foods. My weight also fluctuated throughout my college years, so when I started working out, nutrition followed suit. I was fascinated that eating different foods made me feel different. Physically, emotionally, and energetically. This concept alone is what fueled my passion for integrative healthcare. How vital this information was and no one was talking about it!

Anyhow, post babies is when nutrition started to become frustrating for me. My hormones went whack and I still struggle with whatever it is that most of us post baby women struggle with – anxiety, fatigue, achy joints. All some way interconnected to thyroid and endocrine systems, but for me, no solid answers. So I have done most of the work on my own, cutting out foods here and there. Gluten, alcohol, dairy for starters. 

So when I was introduced to Human Design, I found out that I have what’s known as an Alternating Appetite. I could cry accepting this, when so many others are over there enjoying their charcuterie boards. 

Digestion is an interesting component of Human Design. There are 6 different digestions types with 2 in each category. 

1. Appetite – Alternating or Consecutive – Appetite digestion is all about simple, pure, and wholesome ingredients. 
2. Taste – Open or Closed – Taste digestion is also about simplicity but more related to pickiness than simple and pure. 
3. Thirst – Hot or Cold – Thirst digestion is about the temperature of the food (and/or the body/environment).
4. Touch – Calm or Nervous – Touch digestion is related to the energy and environment around you, either very calm or very stimulating.
5. Sound – High or Low – Sound digestion speaks to the level of noise. 
6. Light – Direct or Indirect – Light digestion describes the time of day or daylight present. 

So having an alternating appetite as a foodie is heart-breaking. Yet, knowledge (with application) is power, yeah? So I took this information and began to apply it. Where can I simplify my diet? What are the purest food forms that I should be enjoying?

Even though I have been a pretty healthy eater for sometime, I find it incredibly smart to pack giant smoothies filled with goodness or build out a Buddha bowl. Yet, this style of “healthy eating” is not healthy for my digestive type. So I am currently working on decreasing the number of ingredients that I put in any given meal and find that this has definitely helped me cut down on the bloat and that groggy, full feeling. I’ve also found that I am enjoying shopping at the Farmer’s Market more or just places in general where I can focus on simple and minimal ingredients. Supplements are also something that I am playing with. Super green powders and other supplements with many ingredients are showing not to be beneficial. I am realizing though, that my chronic search for the purest foods and supplements are not from a space of ego or trend. It really is my body’s need for that purity.

While my nutrition program is an ongoing search, I have noticed other spaces in my life that this has been very helpful and true. I am definitely the person who also likes the cleanest and simplest when it comes to beauty, like skincare, and once I find what I like, I’ll use it for a decade. I also love excellent quality clothes and I can own that perfect tank top in 5 colors. 

Maybe the most profound space that this has helped me in in the information I consume and digest. Social media can be intense and the entrepreneur hustle to keep up with the mass amount of output was definitely exhausting me, not to mention then the consumption that can come with that. Even before I dove into Human Design, my soul was whispering to me to get off of Facebook. It was just an app that started taking more from my energy than adding to it. Of course, I had initial feelings of fear. I had a more engaged audience on Facebook than Instagram, and when it comes to business, this felt like a sabotage. Yet, I couldn’t ignore how taxed I felt after a ten minute scroll session on Facebook. So, I deleted my account and the magnitude in which feelings of anxiety lowered was astounding. Simple. Whole. Pure. Well, I can’t say that Instagram hits all of those criteria, but my feed is definitely simple over there. 

I find that the way that I consume information does need to hit those marks. I love books far more than any other learning tool. Choosing to read a book means I am invested in that topic or author and most of the fluff that we can find in the ongoing social content is removed. Speaking of fluff, I am also direct AF. Warm, but direct. It’s not uncommon to receive a text from me (after maybe not chatting for months) that is a one liner and straight to the point. Simple. Pure. Whole. 

While I continue to play and tweak my nutrition, I have fully embraced this concept in the other areas of my life. I know longer feel any need to try and keep up by consuming or producing more. I know my impact is stronger when I operate the way my system was designed to operate.