What does it truly mean to live a Nutritious Life?
This is our manifesto—a list of the guiding principles that empower us to turn all eight pillars of our whole-person wellness philosophy into everyday action.
Read it as a starting point. Read it when you feel like you’ve gotten off track. Print it out and hang it above your bed (#kiddingnotkidding).
We’ll see you on the front lines of wellness.
The Nutritious Life Manifesto
1. Everything starts with science. Understanding the elements of good physical, mental and emotional health requires a solid foundation based on scientific research. Anecdotal evidence is helpful but not conclusive; scientific studies are imperfect but are our best resource.
2. Traditions and individual experiences are valuable. Science is where our understanding of health starts, but knowledge also exists outside the lab. Traditions are often brilliant, and the fact that something hasn’t been studied yet doesn’t mean it inherently lacks value. We hold traditional and Eastern medicine strategies up to scrutiny and, in the best case, scientific inquiry. We appreciate and learn from anecdotal evidence while understanding it doesn’t represent the big picture.
3. Wellness is personal. Whatever science or tradition says, if a strategy isn’t right for your body and your lifestyle, it won’t work. Every individual is unique, and there is endless variation in terms of what your most Nutritious Life looks like.
4. Wellness is intuitive. We believe that our bodies and minds—these extraordinary wonders that pump blood, transmit nerve signals, and are hungry for nourishment—instinctively crave health and balance. Listening to your body is crucial to prevent emotional eating, achieve spiritual growth, and discover what works for unique, wonderful you.
5. The nitty gritty is where magic happens. We like to ask big, philosophical, and scientific questions about the best ways to lose weight and stress less, but it’s the stuff of life—meetings, bills, phone calls, family drama, and annoying errands—that distracts, damages, and derails us from our true purpose. Dealing with those details is where the magic happens, and Nutritious Life helps you bridge that gap between information and action. In other words, the no-fail 10-minute salmon recipe is just as important as the white paper on omega-3s.
6. We start with whole, nutrient-dense foods. Good food is our starting point—always. That means filling our plates with nutrient-dense whole foods—vegetables (especially greens!), fruits, lean meats, nuts, seeds, and whole grains so that the stuff of nutrition labels, like macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, fill our diets, naturally.
7. We drink water. Soda, never. Wine, as a conscious indulgence. Water, all day every day (and of course tea and coffee!). It never gets old.
8. Exercise is a choice, not a chore. The key to consistent exercise is finding a workout that makes you want to move—and there is something that does that for everyone. We think of sweat sessions as precious, exhilarating me-time, not as a chore. We leave the gym or finish a long run outside energized, happier, and stronger than before.
9. Nurturing yourself is necessary, not indulgent. We are super busy go-getters, but we know that taking time to care for ourselves—to sleep deep, stress less, and nurture yourself—is an important part of being an achiever and a giver. Non-stop pushing inevitably leads to burnout. The more balanced and centered we are, the better we can take care of those around us.
10. We believe in a thing called love. Love trumps a lot of things, in our book. Thinking thoughts of love and living your life from that perspective results in joyful relationships (with yourself and others)—and great sex, which is just as important to your overall health.
11. Our impact on the world matters. Meditation is important because tapping into a place of calm and considering our place in the world reminds us that yes, we’re small, but we’re also bigger than just ourselves. Our actions day-to-day impact countless other people and the planet, so living consciously extends into the tiniest details—from keeping cleaning products clean to staying organized at the office so you’re a less-stressed boss and mom.
12. Connection is key. The eight pillars of a Nutritious Life (and this manifesto!) don’t exist in a vacuum. The power is in the fact that living the principles of each one affects all of the others. Eating nutrient-dense, whole foods gives you energy to approach exercise from a happy place. Killing it at the gym helps you sleep soundly. A good night’s sleep means you wake up ready to love. The Nutritious Life philosophy doesn’t exist in a straight line. It’s a continuous circle—and YOU are a part of it.
(Images: Shutterstock, NL, Shutterstock)