How do you know if your body loves your diet?

When people make the decision to get healthy, it has usually been preceded by a visit to the doctor, a possible disgusted glance at themselves in the mirror, or by the frustration of not being able to obtain an ideal weight.  Either way, venturing out and committing to a new "nutrition" program may be just the solution to a lifetime of weight issues. Or then again, maybe it won't be.

So you start your new diet and follow the protocol exactly as you read about: limiting carbohydrates in the morning, eating beets everyday, 3 cups of water before every meal, whatever the plan calls for you to do.

After a couple of days you jump on the scale and check out the results.  Is it working?  How do you know? Most would just simply look at the scale and see, a few pounds up, or down. Regardless of the direction of the scale, the most important question would be whether you are getting healthy in the process?

​Looking at whether you are healthy is to really look at how your body responds to the nutritional content of the foods you are consuming.  It is not an ideological belief that one diet is superior to the next, not every diet works for every one. Do you eat traditional foods or do you eat fat-free foods.  You probably have overheard or been a part of a discussion where someone who is a meat eater is trying to convince someone who is a vegetarian that the only way to get healthy is to eat meat or lots of protein, and the vegetarian responds back by exclaiming that meat does more harm than good for your body.  It’s really a no-win situation for either person. 

So instead of focusing on the reasoning behind the diet, why not focus on how the diet affects you on the inside?  How does it make you feel? How is your body responding to the changes?  Other than describing your feelings, is there a better way to really get a better gauge as to the success of the diet you are on? There most certainly is, and it will cost you less than a couple of dollars at the drug store.  Everyone can use this “health” tool, and this tool doesn’t care about what diet you are on or the foods you eat or how much you exercise. It just gives facts.  What is it? The answer is a thermometer.

Why is a thermometer a great tool to determine your health?  Other than the obvious of using it when you are sick with the flu, it is a great measurement of how well your body is working on the inside.  The higher the temperature, the hotter your body, and the harder it is working.  If you have a fever, your body is working overtime to get rid of the harmful toxins that are causing you to be sick.  What about if your temperature is low? What is telling you? And what if you take your temperature after you consume food? Can it tell you something then?

The biggest misconception people have is that your body is always at 98.6 degrees, and generally only goes up, and that’s when you are sick.  For a majority of people, this is the farthest thing from being the norm, and the likelihood that it would be below 98 or even 97 is commonplace.  What if it is below 97 degrees? What is that telling you?  If you are not "under the weather", a lower body temperature is yelling that the body is slowing down and is having a difficult time doing something, and if your temperature goes down after eating, it is screaming that it doesn’t like the foods you just ate.  Think of it as putting a jar of honey in your oil tank of your car.  Imagine the thought of your car trying to run on that.

So if you want to know how that new diet is stacking up within your body, take your body temperature.  Most would be surprised that it is normally not anywhere around 98.6 degrees, especially after eating.  Do what you can to maintain an ideal body temperature of anywhere from 98 to 99 degrees. This is especially true about finding the foods that will help you maintain an ideal body temperature and will help you live longer and a healthier life.  Just like a car, in order to have it running optimally, you probably should put in the cleanest time of fuel. And the way you determine the quality of the gas is by finding out how far you can go on that tank of fuel.

Bonus:  As someone who believes foods should work hand in hand with your exercise routine, the hardest part is actually knowing what to make.  I know what it's like to want to free up more time that is normally spent wondering what to make for dinner.  (Click here for my recipe time saver).  
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Jared Toay, aka. the "Popsicle Dude" or the "Mad Scientist" has actively been promoting the importance of gut health and digestion for more than 5 years. A weight loss researcher, bodybuilder, and creator of Jared's ProPops and Probiotic Foods, he has had a lengthy journey on his way to healthy living. An accomplished author and speaker, he would love to help you begin your journey to better health by sending you a coupon for a free ProPop.  Simply  join him on his "Jared's ProPops" fan page on Facebook or google "Jared's ProPops" to learn about his revolutionary and one-of-a-kind probiotic products.​​