Fatigue as a springboard for dietary change

Once again, my body — through chronic fatigue and pain — pushed me to change my diet. I don’t quite understand it. Over the past few years, I’ve changed my eating habits several times, and each time I felt full of energy and fantastic for a while… until I slipped back into my old habits.

Soon, I found myself tired during the day and dealing with headaches again. The head and gut are connected — when we overeat, we feel sluggish because the head immediately signals that something isn’t right down in the intestines.

Discovering the paleo approach

Recently, my friend, who specializes in nutrition and training, has been praising the paleo diet — a return to how our ancestors in the Paleolithic era used to eat, the way hunters and gatherers did.

After reading more about it, I realized that this is exactly the kind of diet I used to follow back when I felt great — mostly fruits and vegetables. Green smoothies with bananas, spinach, and similar ingredients — that’s my thing 🙂 I remember when I went 6 months without sugar and wheat — I was bursting with energy, creativity, and great ideas.

I want that again, but this time I don’t want to fall back into old patterns. When a person experiences something powerful and good, they should want to keep it — not return to the past. Old habits are strong and powerful; they pull us back like an anchor dragging a ship to the bottom.

Maybe it’s because we’ve held on to them for years, and suddenly we want to make a lasting change. It takes time, willpower, perseverance, and most importantly — love for yourself. At least that’s how I see it.

Emotions and fatigue

I notice how my emotions and how I feel affect what I crave. When I’m angry, I crave unhealthy things — I could easily stuff myself with fast food, kebabs, or pizza. But when I’m calm, it doesn’t even cross my mind to reach for such food.

I’ve also realized that the Slovak word for food (“jedlo”) actually contains the word “jed” (which means “poison”), and the word strava (diet) contains “otrava” (also “poisoning”). What I want is to feel alive after I eat — so I’ll call it nutrition instead.

Fatigue disappears with the right fuel

I want to feel alive again — healthy and full of energy. I want to wake up refreshed and have energy throughout the day. That’s only possible with proper nutrition, because the body is like a car — if you have a gasoline engine and fill it with diesel, you won’t get far.

I’ve been “fueling” my body incorrectly for too long, so now I need to empty the tank and fill it with the right kind of fuel (energy) to move forward again.

I’ve added plenty of vegetables and fruits back into my meals, cut down on bread, and the fatigue is completely gone. It took so little to make a difference — just changing my routine.

Now I feel great again.