Slow Down to Power Up by Mindful Eating for More Energy

A Chat with Orry from NutriMindFit

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Feb 09, 2025

Bad nutrition slows down your body and mind. How about slowing down in daily life for mindful, nutritious eating to get your energy up?

Slowing down means doing things with care and awareness, taking the time to pay attention to what is going on so you can act, respond, or create accordingly.

What is happening with you, your body, and your mental fitness? Do you take the performance of your body and mind for granted? Or do you consciously take care of your well-being?

Eating is not about stuffing some food items into your body because you don’t care or don’t have time. It is about conscious consumerism and respecting your body and the food system. It is about health, joy, and many more things.

I talked to Orry, the founder of the NutriMindFit here on Substack:

Orry’s publication is all about optimized nutrition, mindful wellness, and immune support. He wants to help the readers with simple, effective, and powerful daily habits that nourish both body and mind allowing us to live a healthier, more balanced life.

What else can you ask for? This is so important in our crazy world where stress, environmental impacts, and lack of time (allegedly) affect our physical and mental wellbeing and health.

Especially when we are rushing and under pressure to go faster a lot of people don’t take the time to pause, eat healthy, or exercise. Besides the fact that this is right out bad for you to begin with, these are the very things that would give you energy and keep you going while you are stressed out. But so many of us rather skip the break, the gym, and the veggies, because in times of high stress, those things feel inconvenient and like time-wasters for many. Stupidly so.

If you slow down and take a moment to listen to your body and mind you become aware of its demand and desire to be nourished and taken care of properly. So, both, body and mind, can continue to serve you well.

Here’s how Orry explains the connection between slowing down, nutrition, and a healthy life.

How do YOU see the connection between slowing down and nutritious meals and food?

First, I like to appreciate the opportunity to share my personal perspective on this important topic, because, let’s be honest, it affects us all. Slowing down and nutrition go hand in hand when it comes to well-being. When we rush through life, we rush through meals too and then we often choose what’s quick over what truly nourishes us. The rise of fast-food restaurants is proof of this trend.

Nevertheless, mindful eating isn’t just about chewing slower, it’s about reconnecting with our food, appreciating where it comes from, and understanding how it impacts our health and energy.

Since I made it a habit to eat more intentionally and choose more real nutrient-dense foods, I’ve noticed more stable energy levels and lower stress responses by my stomach after eating. Instead of grabbing something quick inkl. unknown ingredients, we should make sure to fuel our bodies with purpose.

If we take a bit more time to prepare our food, choose ingredients wisely, and eat mindfully instead of rushing, we can gain far more nutritional and overall benefits than we might initially expect.

How can you not want to have optimized nutrition, mindful wellness, and good immune system support? This seems almost “logical” that we want that, yet so many people don’t pursue it. Why do you think is that?

The truth is, that most people want to eat and live healthier, but they get caught up in the daily spiral and forget what they intended to do. They don’t necessarily realize how much their energy, focus, and even mood are tied to what they eat. We live in a world that glorifies being busy ("busy is the new cool") and the outcome of that is fast food, fast work, and a fast life.

I think that fast isn’t always better and multitasking is even worse. When we slow down, we regain control of ourselves. We start making better choices that serve us in the long run instead of always looking for quick fixes.

Another major factor is habits. People tend to stick to routines, even when they know those routines don’t serve them well. For example, someone might think, "I always eat a Snickers after lunch, so I won’t cut it out now because I’ve already made enough sacrifices." These ingrained patterns make a change harder, even when the benefits of better nutrition are clear.

But who says nutritious food has to be complicated? Once you experience how good you can feel, you’ll never want to go back to the old way of eating!

The “wrong” food can slow us down because it diminishes our energy. It makes us sluggish, sometimes brain foggy, and less energetic. A lot of people are not aware of that. What can you tell them about the connection of certain foods that slow down the energy?

I like to approach this question from a different angle, rather than focusing on specific foods, I want to highlight the bigger issue. The widespread lack of nutrition knowledge. Many people were raised in environments where food simply "didn’t matter." Since joining Substack, I’ve gained even more insight into readers’ lives, with many sharing how they grew up on canned goods and fast food. Now as adults, they want to change, but they lack the foundational knowledge of what’s actually good or bad for their bodies.

This is truly concerning and I see the effects every other day. Families walking through pedestrian areas or shopping centers, with young children already struggling with severe overweight. The core issue? Our education system still doesn’t prioritize teaching about nutrition. If parents don’t teach their kids about healthy eating and schools don’t either, most children will continue on the same unhealthy path for years.

On a broader level, ultra-processed foods play a huge role in slowing us down. Think about how much processing goes into making frozen meals or packaged snacks. In the end, the body requires just as many steps and just as much effort to break the food down as it took to produce it. On the other hand, whole foods have a simple process as they mostly just grow.

Beyond the processing itself, these foods often contain refined carbs, excess sugar, low nutrients, preservatives, artificial additives, and unhealthy fats which is a recipe for sluggishness, brain fog, and low energy.

At the end of the day we should all ask ourselves: Was the human body ever designed to be fueled by artificial, highly processed products? I don’t think so.

I believe in the bigger picture and that everything is connected. When we slow down we are better able to see the connecting dots in life and at work. Tell us more about how you connect the dots between nourishing food, cooking, exercise, mindset, and nature.

Claudia, I see it the same way. I always try to break down complex ideas into simple, relatable perspectives. Growing up with a love for sports and exercise, movement has always been a natural need for me and it’s something I crave daily. For me being active isn’t just about exercise, it’s about connecting with nature, strengthening my mindset, and nourishing my body. Let me give you a few examples from my own life that show how these connections come together:

I could run on a treadmill in the gym, surrounded by sweaty people or I could run outdoors at sunrise or sunset, breathing in fresh air and enjoying nature.
I could use the stepper at the gym, but instead, I choose to bike to work every day, rain or sunshine, because it keeps me active and in tune with my environment.
I could strengthen my mind by watching "how-to" videos, but I also build mental resilience through heavy-weight training, which teaches me discipline, focus, and inner strength.
I could buy berries, herbs, and zucchini from the supermarket in the summer, but I prefer growing them myself. It deepens my understanding of real, nourishing food while allowing me to enjoy nature. Watching bees and butterflies flying around my garden is an added bonus.

These are just a few ways I integrate movement, mindset, and nourishment into my life. But I believe that if someone wants to make a change, all it takes is slowing down, reflecting and making small, intentional swaps, and replacing habits that don’t serve with those that do. The connections are there, we just have to take the time to see them.

I see slowing down as a way to reconnect with ourselves, with others, and with a “normal” lifestyle. “Normal” for example means to cook your dinner with fresh ingredients and have dinner together with your family or friends. I see how society has changed and that eating on the go or ordering take-out food has been “normalized”. Fast forward, the “newest thing” these days is what should be the most normal thing: home cooking and dining together. How do you see the development?

Like in any situation, people carry different burdens and for some, change isn’t easy. But no matter our circumstances, we all have the ability to pause and reflect on our own lives. However, the real challenge is taking the time to do so.

A few weeks ago, I came across something that really touched me:

"The experience of boredom is nearly non-existent because the mind is constantly seeking entertainment."

This perfectly illustrates how we’ve shifted from sitting in the garden, watching flowers grow to sitting on the couch, watching Netflix. When there is no room for boredom, there is also no space for reflection. Our brains need time to slow down in order to think clearly and reconnect.

Saying this, I have a challenge for you: This weekend, take a chair, sit by a window, and do nothing for 45 minutes. Just watch the world outside (best nature if possible). Notice what happens in your mind, observe your feelings, and most importantly, resist the urge to fill the moment with distractions like a phone, etc. You might be surprised by what happens.

Going back for returning to "normal," I don’t think there’s a single definition of what normal should be.

What matters is using our time intentionally by enjoying meals with family, spending time outdoors, engaging in physical activity, and doing things that enrich our lives beyond just passive entertainment. That to me is a meaningful and fulfilling "normal."

Thanks a lot, Orry! This was so much interesting information and insights. Love it. I hope you, dear reader, liked it too and perhaps you learned something new.

Let Orry and me know in the chat what you think!