The famous sentence “You are what you eat” has been around for quite a while now, but still there is alarming amount of people with no awareness or concern about their diet. Understanding and taking control of our eating habits is very important and crucial for our quality of life. There are different questions regarding mindfulness when it comes to eating. The most basic ones being What we eat, How much we eat and How we eat.
What: Our bodies consist of billions different cells, constantly regenerating. Old cells keep dying and new ones are being born every second. Thus throughout our lives our body “transforms” completely couple of times. We can observe this the easiest on our hair, nails or skin. And since the cells need something to feed on, naturally it comes from the food we digest every day. We are able to survive on fast and processed food high on sugar and fat for a long time. But when the “sudden and out of the blue” health issues arise, it is often too late. These days there are tons of healthy diet information and tips and it is only our comfort, laziness and old habits that are in our way. Do some research, try different things and listen to your body. Find out what works for you and what not. Eating healthy is not at all that hard, it can be very tasty and really cheap too.
How much: Still wandering why you can’t lose weight? Because you eat too much. It is that simple. Start eating less and move more and miracles will happen. We don’t really need as much food as we believe, especially with the sedentary lifestyle that most of people have these days. The alarming rise of obesity almost everywhere is an obvious proof of that. If your stomach needs to digest food all the time, even in your sleep, it’s logical that you will lack energy for other things. It is actually really good for the body to be hungry. It makes you feel more alive. We do not need to start with one-week hunger strike, although it is definitely something we should all give a try at one point. As they say “the dose makes the poison”. Anything, however good, in excess is not good for you. And with food it goes double.
How: It is quite hard to get proper nutrition from bad food, but it’s almost impossible while shoveling it unconsciously into your mouth and staring at your smart phone or computer. The food is a gift and it should be treated with respect and gratitude. Christian prayer or Buddhist blessing, to name just a few, are there for a reason. That doesn’t mean that we all need to sing and pray to every meal we eat. Just simple thought of gratitude and focusing on actual eating, chewing and appreciating the flavor, instead of the new episode of The Vampire Diaries, is good enough for the start.
