Integritus Prime

In this post, I continue recapping my time at the award-winning organization FRIEND (the Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprise Development), a nonprofit that focuses on achieving integrated wellness, resource management, and financial literacy goals for rural communities. Many thanks to Sashi Kiran, CEO of FRIEND, for inviting me. My focus is on behavioral approaches to managing non-communicable diseases like cancer, diabetes, and obesity.

Here, I continue with the next 5 smart strategies for achieving and maintaining wellness. Read Part I for the first five strategies.

6. Do As I Do: Participants at the business roundtable discussion were mostly parents and many mentioned how hard it was to tell their children not to eat unhealthy foods while they themselves were eating them. Indeed, children often observe what parents do and do the same, instead of doing what they are told. As parents, we cannot be hypocrites and expect compliance or even respect from our children. This is an opportunity to begin with ourselves and let our children simply follow our healthy habits.

7. Norms Matter: It’s important to change our habits and feel we can safely fit into our respective families, social circles, and cultures. This can be very difficult for someone like me who eats no dairy or other animal products, no gluten, no sugar, and no alcohol. I use my charm to get along with people from all walks of life, and resist peer pressure by letting them know I won’t be happy if I bend my rules for my wellbeing. In being happy and loving as I am, I find more people open up to my lifestyle.

8. Ditch Diets: As we’ve said before, diets often don’t work. We often fail after a few days, weeks, or months. A much more sustainable approach is to change habits slowly and to keep going even if we fall off the wagon. A gradual, not extreme approach, is often best. One of our business participants complained about his failing diet, and I suggested he start with one healthy habit, and once that was intact, he could add another healthy habit. 

9. Only Organic: We all learned from Sashi that in Fiji produce is sprayed with chemicals that are carcinogenic or cancer-causing, to keep it looking fresh. So, we are creating cancer through our typical produce selling practices. FRIEND is taking the lead on this issue by teaching organic backyard gardening to empower families and to address the alarming rates of cancer in Fiji.

10. Back To Nature Is The Future: As we “innovate” towards an organic, sugar-free, gluten-free, whole foods (and in my case plant-based) future, we notice that we are returning to nature. We are eating foods as close to their original form as possible, with minimal processing. Tukuni, FRIEND’s amazing organic restaurant, is demonstrating some of these techniques, including raw and steamed foods.

This concludes my series on behavioral science in the field. I am honored to have worked with FRIEND and look forward to more opportunities to empower community members at the grassroots level. If you have any questions about any of these strategies, contact me.

Sashi Kiran, CEO of FRIEND, speaks about the dangers of cancer-causing chemicals that are often sprayed on local produce. Photo Credit: Mela.