Eat Like You Mean It: Why Copy-Paste Diets Aren’t Cutting It
As a certified health and wellness coach, one of the things I cannot emphasize enough is the importance of personalizing your health, especially when it comes to nutrition.
In the age of social media and viral wellness trends, it’s so easy to latch onto whatever the latest “hot girl gut health” routine is and adopt it as your own. Celery juice, cold plunges, sea moss gel... most of these Instagram-worthy trends aren’t harmful in isolation. But the real issue? Nutrition and wellness aren’t one-size-fits-all. And it never was.
During my certification, we studied over 100 dietary theories. One hundred! And guess what? None of them are universally wrong. They all work well, for someone. The key is figuring out whether that someone is you.
Be Your Own Experiment
So how do we do that? How do we actually start tuning in to what our individual bodies need?
First, you need to understand something foundational: there are multiple truths in the field of nutrition. Paleo isn’t wrong. Veganism isn’t wrong. Mediterranean, keto, intuitive eating—all valid. What matters is what’s right for you, right now.
Think of yourself as a living, breathing science experiment. Seriously, lab coat optional, but curiosity required.
That’s how I had to approach my own health journey, especially after being diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. I wasn’t getting clear answers from doctors or search engines (shocker), so I had to become my own data collector. The more I tracked how I felt after eating, the more patterns started to emerge. Certain foods made me feel grounded and energized. Others sent me straight into a flare, or left me feeling foggy and off.
If you’re new to this whole “listening to your body” thing, here’s a quick way to start:
The 3-Day Awareness Method
Try a 3-day food journal. Not just what you ate, but how you felt 30 minutes, 2 hours, and even the next morning.
Note things like energy dips, bloating, mood shifts, brain fog, cravings, or even weird stuff like runny nose or itchy skin. (It all counts.)
Don't try to change anything yet. Just notice. Awareness always comes first.
You're not looking for perfection, you’re looking for patterns. That’s where the real insight lives.
And here’s the kicker: what works today might not work next year. Or even next month. Your job isn’t to find a forever plan. It’s to stay present and curious about what feels real and true for your body right now. Do that until it stops working. Then adjust. All of this experimentation can feel a little messy, and that’s okay. Once you’ve got a clearer sense of your personal patterns, the next step is to simplify.
Go Back to Basics
When in doubt, return to the foundational wisdom: eat whole, nutrient-rich foods. The closer it is to how nature made it, the more your body will recognize it as food, and the more likely it is to help you thrive.
But it goes deeper than just “eat your greens.”
Food can change everything. It’s personal. Emotional. Cultural. There’s research showing we’re biologically inclined to crave the foods of our ancestors. The meals that feel like home, that nourish not just the body but the soul.
So ask yourself: What foods make me feel safe? What dishes bring me back to myself? Instead of canceling foods because the internet told you to, try tuning in. Eat the things that make you feel most alive, not just the things that earn you a gold star on a diet tracker. Let me give you a real-life example of what this looked like for me.
What I Had to Let Go
When I was in the depths of my most severe flare, I had to get brutally honest about what wasn’t serving me, even if I loved it.
And I won’t sugarcoat it (pun intended): some of it really sucked. Saying goodbye to food isn’t just about changing your plate, it’s about mourning a part of your routine, your comfort, sometimes even your identity.
Coffee, for example, wasn’t just a beverage. It was my morning ritual. My cozy cup of get-it-together. But with a bowel disease, drinking a diuretic first thing in the morning was like lighting a match in a fireworks factory. I had to let it go.
Next up: alcohol. I won’t hop on a soapbox just yet (but oh, I could), so here’s the short version—alcohol is literal poison and incredibly inflammatory. After a year, I brought it back on occasion, but my mindset around it has completely changed.
Red meat and refined sugar also didn’t make the cut—two things I loved. But red meat always triggered me, even before my diagnosis. And sugar? Well, I think we all know it’s not doing us any favors.
There’s grief in that. Let’s just call it what it is. And if you’ve ever had to stop eating something you loved, you know. It’s not just physical, it’s emotional. But here’s the part I didn’t expect: over time, I stopped missing it. My new normal felt better than the old one tasted.
And it’s okay to be in that messy middle, where your body is begging for change but your brain is clinging to old habits. This isn’t about deprivation. It’s about choosing to feel better. Every single day.
Learn to Listen
Here’s the real question: How bad do you want to feel good?
If you're still okay with bloated, sluggish and blah, then your habits probably reflect that. But if you’re ready to level up, your actions have to start matching your intentions.
Your body is always talking. Are you listening?
I’m not talking about dramatic signs either. Sometimes it’s the subtlest stuff:
Your nose runs after you eat.
Your stomach turns into a balloon mid-afternoon.
You feel like you need a nap after lunch.
You clear your throat more than usual, or get weirdly phlegmy.
Your skin breaks out, your energy dips, your brain checks out.
These things aren’t random. They’re clues. Your body is constantly sending signals, you just need to slow down long enough to hear them.
Try this: the next time something feels off, ask yourself, “What did I eat? How did I eat? Was I rushing, was I stressed?” Don’t overanalyze, just observe. This is about building self-awareness, not assigning guilt.
If your body were a friend, it’d be that brutally honest one who tells you the truth, whether you want to hear it or not. Learn to love that honesty. It’ll save you a lot of pain later.
Foods can’t heal you on their own, but they can be a form of medicine, if you’re paying attention.
Your body wants to heal. That’s its job. But your job is to give it the best conditions possible to do that.
TL;DR: Eat like your life depends on it—because it kind of does. And trust yourself more than any influencer, trend or nutrition label.
Your health is personal—always has been. It’s time we start treating it that way.