Hi, Healthy Eating Action-Taker,

Towards the time I had my final Family Medicine practical exam, my classmates started planning the "traditional fiesta", aka:

Cake, sodas, snacks for the grading professors and everyone at the policlinic (nurses and other doctors there) where we do the evaluation.

This is what every brigade seems to choose.

Normally I wouldn't think twice. But after recovering from deep burnout and rebuilding my health through nutrition personally (which was NOT EASY), I was not able to bring myself to contribute to foods I no longer believe in.

So I vented to my roommate.

"I don't want to be part of it."

They shrugged.

"You can't force people to eat like you."

At this I was quite shocked. I was certainly not pushing anyone to eat like me, rather it was mostly about me struggling to participate or not.

I didn't quite have a good answer to the objection at the time but furthermore, they added:

"Besides...it's not like it's all the time."

I was ghost-white appalled probably, bemused even...

Because the truth is...here in Cuba, it IS highly likely ALL the time.

Most people choose sandwiches and opt out on even a freely added cucumber or tomato slice and eat it too plainly (and too easily spiking blood sugar or lacking important fibre) or choose sodas over real fruit juice or plain water.

Many doctors and nurses are obese, smoking, chronically ill with diabetes or hypertension and choosing the wrong foods most of the time. Several admitted patients have at least ONE chronic condition.

Only later did I realize that the dilemma lay in the intense pressure to betray my own values just so other people don't feel uncomfortable: a social expectation and plus, "oh it's the tradition".

There was no need to say it directly but again, I never force anyone to eat differently. I more often bring to light what I think they are constantly overlooking (because some actually truly DO NOT KNOW, because I certainly did not either in the past).

In the end, I politely refused and what did NOT help was that the patient I presented on, had given me these as exam-completion gifts:

I had no idea what to do with them, but just thanked them and dashed them into my backpack.

Later coming home, I still didn't know what to do with these.

If you've ever eaten clean (and following the 5 🍏Nutrition No-Brainers), you'd know eating these things can lead to real "side effects" since they have inflammatory and toxic ingredients.

Ever since I started my burnout recovery and health journey in 2024, I never had any packaged cookies, sweets, cereals anywhere near my inventory. It was an Atomic Habits principle: if you don't have any of the triggers/stuff you're building a habit to do/eat less of, then don't have it so easily around.

In the end I put them into a black plastic bag and set it aside inside one of my lockers, to probably gift to someone else later since I dared not consume (but at the same time I don't like wasting food and don't like gifting food I don't align with to others either...such a clash!).

Here’s what I wish more people knew:

In the journey of consistent healthy eating, you are becoming the kind of person who no longer has to negotiate with their own values.

Every food choice is a vote for the identity you're building.

When you repeatedly choose foods that nourish you, even when it's inconvenient, even when everyone else is doing something different, you are building an identity that naturally produces healthy choices.

That's the real goal: a constantly reinforced identity.

Because once your identity changes, your decisions follow naturally, intuitively, OBVIOUSLY - a true NO-BRAINER.

The question is no longer hours-long confusion of "Should I eat this?"

It's now answering to: "Is this consistent with the kind of person I'm becoming?"

Then the answer is so much easier.

And this is a much more powerful, and sustainable, way to eat.

Additional Resources:

I recently discovered this Instagram called The Food Babe (Vani Hari) and deeply respect her political activism to catalyze change from food manufacturer's pesky chemicals or additives in heavily marketed snacks or other packaged products.

Love that she points out the sneaky ingredients and explains why we should avoid them. One of my new favorite healthy food advocates along with Dr. Casey Means and Jesse Inchauspé (Glucose Goddess).
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Mentioned before, in med school we learn about an "idiopathic cause", aka "unknown cause" for some cancers or chronic illnesses, and I STRONGLY disagree.

One of the primary ways we harm our health is literally by what we're consuming, and nutrition is the #1 health pillar and no-brainer.

So what we're putting into our bodies were affect EVERYTHING: physically, mentally, psychologically, genetically (as in genetic expression in response to certain foods/chemicals).

Many symptoms of any manifestation of illness get WORSENED or AMPLIFIED due to metabolic dysfunction brought about by eating unhealthily.

A Simple Step to Try Today:

Key question to ponder: Is it anyone ELSE’s responsibility to take care of your health, or is it entirely up to you?

Think of a food or drink you usually accept simply because it's expected

(whether it's out with friends and restaurants just don't have healthy drink choices so you go with whatever, or post-conference, there are lines of fatty, sugary snacks for free).

The next time you're offered it, practice saying:

"No, thank you."

This is to build evidence and prove to yourself that your values and NOT social pressure, are guiding your choices.

How to apply today's mindset lesson 🎁Bonus:

These were the ingredients from those gifts I got after the exam (I got full marks by the way 😇)

What would you have done with these?

Give them away? or Throw them away?

(honestly to me they're fully deadly and empty of any nutrients...not worth consumption AT ALL 🤢 REAL food beats these any day.)

Ultra curious to know, so do reply to this email what you think~

Say tuned for the 🍏 MINI-DIVE on Nutrition No-Brainer #2~

-Emz

Founder of 🍏Nutrition No-Brainer​
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PS. I know it can be ultra challenging or even lonely on a journey eating healthy especially when your current family or immediate peer group might be ridiculing you for choosing differently.

That's why I built the 🍎Nutrition No-Brainer Challenge, not only as a fun actionable via to build your own library of evidence and thus, confidence in healthy eating, but alongside an active community that is also doing the same to grow and champion alongside you.

​If you're interested in this, do sign up for the waiting list for the next upcoming cohort here​

PSS. I'm completing med school in T-minus 5 weeks!

Actually sharing short 6-second moments of reframe or reminder of the human condition and incredible lessons each day counting down to the end of my final of finals rotation: General Surgery.

You can follow along here at: ⏱️ 6-seconds in Surgery.​