Reading · Life Minded by Naomi the Nutritionist

I’d like to start weaving in more posts like this. Ones where I’m not writing with any sort of thesis or tip in mind. Ones where I’m not necessarily trying to change your mind about something or convince you of anything. Ones where I’m simply sharing my most recent reflections and giving you a peek into my inner (and outer) world.

I’m going to call them Naomi’s Notes and my goal is to share this type of piece once a month. Eventually, these may be reserved for paid subscribers (because it costs to be nosey af!!!), but for now, please enjoy a peek into my brain for free.

As I’m writing this, I’m sitting in Terminal 7 of LAX waiting for my 7:26pm flight back to Vancouver, BC. This concludes a supremely lovely four days visiting California for the first time in my life.

This trip was short but still impactful. I love travel, but I don’t subscribe to the idea that it needs to look a certain way or last a certain amount of time to be meaningful. Upon sharing that I was visiting LA for just four days, I had many surprised reactions (“that’s so short, is it even worth it???”), to which I always reply: yes. Any sort of travel is always worth it in my eyes.

I have to be honest though, I don’t really like LA that much. It doesn’t live up to the incessant hype online. It’s dry, wildly busy, traffic is always horrible (I’m talking 40-minute delays on a 5-lane highway at 1pm on a Tuesday), and it just misses that social warmth that any city in Canada provides (yes, even Vancouver).

I’m grateful to visit, and of course I love the Cali sun and ocean, and the health scene is definitely great (had my first Erewhon haul and it changed me forever).

AND I’m also glad to know that I don’t feel like I’m missing out on much by not living here. I’ve always wondered about LA, given the health influencer scene. I’ve questioned whether I made the right decision to be in Vancouver and not somewhere else. Now I can return peacefully to BC knowing it’s the spot for me.

On that note, one of the benefits of travel is that it reminds us how much we love home. At least, it does for me.

Again, I had an amazing time down in LA — this doesn’t negate that. But being away reminded me how much I just love Vancouver. I need mud and trees and moisture and moss. Gosh, moss. I didn’t think someone could miss moss so much, but here I am. I love moss.

There’s something so lush about Vancouver. Technically we’re a rainforest. Even in the heat of the summer, it just feels better than the dry Cali heat. I’m incredibly grateful to live here and to have such quick access to the forms of nature that really fill my cup. Being away reminded me of that.

This trip also reminded me of my resilience. I have so much more of it than I thought.

This trip wasn’t difficult by any means (it was actually quite relaxing and chill), but it reminded me of how much I rely on my routines at home.

I have specific foods I eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I don’t like to miss meals. I like to know what’s coming next. I like to plan.

But travel shakes all of that up. And normally, that would give me anxiety and throw my health into a mini spiral, but I didn’t experience that on this trip.

I slept in everyday and had a late breakfast, ate things that I normally wouldn’t eat on the regular — like french toast three days in a row and barely any vegetables — and felt, well, fine.

I missed lunch most days, something I loudly preach against. And again, I felt…fine.

I let my regular routines fall away to make space for the spontaneity of travel. I needed to loosen my grip on these things so I could fully relax into my trip.

Now I’m not saying that these routines don’t matter and that food isn’t important. Obviously I don’t think that.

But I think I just realized, or rather was reminded of the fact that, my body is actually a lot more resilient than I think, and that I can absolutely make more room in my life for “non-healthy” choices without spiralling into a histamine flare or an anxiety attack.

I attribute that resilience to the hard work I’ve done in recovering from all the stress this past year threw at me. My body and mind are finally in a strong place. And I’ll also attribute that to the fact that travel often allows us to finally relax, which primes our bodies to be less reactive to “non-healthy” choices.

It feels calming to know I can handle more going forward and that there’s absolutely still lots of room for fun and spontaneity in my travel (and regular life) while maintaining my values of wellness.

Or rather, stress plays a bigger role in my life than I like to acknowledge.

My trip down here allowed me to completely shut my brain off.

The friend I was visiting took charge of planning almost everything. He drove everywhere and allowed me to be passenger princess. He bought groceries and cooked for me. He made decisions on where we were going and when.

I live alone in Vancouver. I’m single. My family is all back in Ontario. I have great friends whom I love, but I don’t have anyone here to really take things off my plate. Nobody to cook for me or drive me around or build my furniture or take my clothes to the dry cleaner. No one to organize my to-do lists or prioritize my tasks. No one here to take on part of the mental load for me.

I didn’t realize how quickly my brain has been moving lately until it had the chance to turn it off. I didn’t touch my laptop, or social media really, for four days straight. I didn’t think about my next business decision. I didn’t try to read four different books in one night.

And guess what?? I slept better than I have in months. My skin calmed down. My mind went quiet. I felt refreshed for the first time in a long time.

I think what this has reminded me (I hesitate to use the word “taught” because I feel that I already know this and have learned it already) is that, yes you can eat well, and exercise well, and do the breathwork and the mental gymnastics to try to calm your body and your mind through periods of stress.

But sometimes the only way to really feel better is to remove yourself from the stressful situation. Maybe not forever, but at least for a little while.

Let your body be reminded of what it feels like to be still.

Thank you to LA for reminding me of these lessons. And now it’s time to take them and apply them to my everyday back here at home.

Lots of love,

Naomi