Dear Nutrition,
Sometimes it’s a little hard to talk to you, and honestly, sometimes I feel like we’re drifting apart. I realize that I’ve made Stress a huge part of my life, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t care for you anymore! It’s just…a bit all-consuming. Stress is quite possessive, you see. It reminds me of all the deadlines I have, and all the exams and quizzes right around the corner, the homework trickling down my to-do list, the laundry that’s growing into a small mountain in its corner of my room. When I need a break away from Stress, it’s great to just float away and take some time for myself and just relax.
I realized some of that time I should also be reserving for you, Nutrition. It’s very easy to be too busy to eat or grab a quick snack. It’s a little too far out of my way to fit grocery shopping into my schedule, or to eat healthily. And it’s much too easy to keep telling myself platitudes like those and keep drifting. But if I’m being honest, I’m a little sick of this. I’m sick of missing you, Nutrition. I don’t really enjoy opening my fridge to an empty shelf, squeezing in time at the end of back-to-back classes just for a quick non-nutritious snack. I miss cooking, and I miss the sweetness of freshly cut fruit. All I have left of you are my multivitamin gummies, and while they’re great at supplementing my meager meals, it’s just not the same.
I’m more tired in the day, and my bones are cracking way more than they should be. I want to be able to balance you and Stress a bit better in my life. I know that a healthier nutritious diet will contribute to my total wellness, and really, I really do miss you.
Yours truly,
Sandra Chang
P.S. March is the month for nutrition! Please do eat well – it impacts your overall and long-term wellness, both physical and mental. I wrote this article from a context of having food security in the sense that I do have spatial access to nutritious food, and want to encourage people to eat healthier. Something I want to address is that nutrition may not always be easy to access, and countless people who are food insecure lack access to stable nutrition.