Healthy eating is at the forefront of our battle with attempting to Close the Gap here in Australia. Although there are some difficult challenges surrounding our communities when it comes to our eating habits and the choices we are presented with we must try to reinvent ourselves, including breaking the strong hold chains of the forced diet that we as First Nations People have been forced to adopt.
We will continue to say it and strongly believe that it’s up to us to change our situation in Australia, yes it’s been a rough 200 years and still present today – But’s lets focus on taking charge on some of the things we can influence. Taking charge of every aspect in our life, starting with fuelling our bodily processes with healthy nutritious foods. Eating healthy means that our thinking process will improve and in that our moods, our decision making and our wellbeing. We will feel stronger, have more energy to complete tasks that push us and our family towards positive attributes in our life such as healthy relationships, turning up for work and giving our children the energy to learn everything they need to at school. It’s our eating that is going to make the change, let’s focus on taking charge in this area of our health.
Here is a Nerylee Gollan a strong and powerful Ngarrindjeri / Kamilaroi woman from Adelaide, South Australia.
"Fitness has always been a passion in my life since a young age, which is what initially led me to study personal training in 2014. However, the importance of truly leading a healthy lifestyle became much greater when I started my journey of motherhood in 2016.
My greatest motivator is my daughter Isla, and ensuring she is healthy and happy! I want a healthy lifestyle to be the “normal” for her as much as it can, so practicing healthy habits early on has always been a priority. It’s also important to do what we can in preventing risk factors through health and fitness to avoid developing certain chronic diseases that run in our family.
We love food so much so it’s hard to pick a favourite, but one we love to make is a healthier version of pizza. We will use mini wraps for the base and top it with our favourite fresh veg, and pineapple for me (don’t hate me). We also love to make all kinds of smoothies any time of the week!
There’s so many sneaky ways you can get your kids to eat their fruit and veg, and I really think introducing Isla to a variety of each from the time she began eating solids is what has really helped.
Our younger generation will DO as we do, and not what we tell them to. We must lead by example in order for them to follow in our footsteps.
I’ve definitely had my struggles with eating healthy and one of the best things I could have done for myself was to let go of the pressure to eat 100% perfectly, and to also learn how to make my own healthier snacks. If I ate a snack that was “junk food”, I would think that it’s pointless to bother making sure the rest of my meals for that day or weekend are healthy. It’s a terrible cycle I would get caught in, and I know of a lot of people who have been there too. Let go of that pressure, and just enjoy your food, the 80/20 rule is a great one to follow and quit punishing yourself for eating 'bad'".