Perfection is not the goal
Let蘑菇视频 save ourselves the suspense: I am not perfect; you are not perfect.
Perfection only exists in the fake world of Hollywood, and in the dangling carrot of virtually all advertisements.
I submit that conservatively better than 50 percent, and more likely better than 90 percent of folks who give up on one diet and exercise regimen or another, do so because in their mind they fail to live up to some ideal. The great and entertaining philosopher Alan Watts said that life is basically 鈥減rickles and goo鈥�; not the sharp-edged, clean and clear experience our egos would like it to be. This is no less true in regard to our quest for optimum health.
Our bodies look like fixed objects, but nothing could be further from the truth. Every day, every meal, every breath, every bite we swallow either feeds our cells and makes us stronger, or poisons them and makes them weaker and malformed. Literally 鈥� every single one. This is unbelievable news for those who are willing to consider it: that no matter what 鈥渟ins鈥� you may have committed against your own body, even up to your last meal, the very next choice you make can and will move you toward better health, and healing, if only you choose wisely. I mean鈥ow! That is personal power, folks! That is the absolute argument against thinking 鈥渋t蘑菇视频 too late,鈥� or 鈥淚 missed my chance鈥� or 鈥淚鈥檓 too far gone.鈥� That one fact alone is enough to get up every day and try again, no matter how good or bad your choices were yesterday, or even in the last hour. Literally, 鈥渢his too shall pass.鈥�
In an inspiring interview (available on YouTube), Raymond Francis, MIT chemist and author of 鈥淣ever Be Sick Again,鈥� points out that no matter what your current condition or state of health, it can be cured, or at least significantly improved, through lifestyle and dietary changes. And these changes do not have to be drastic and overnight. The very well-known doctor Dean Ornish, originally known for his 1990 study showing heart-disease reversal through plant-based eating, concluded in his more recent book 鈥淭he Spectrum,鈥� that the degree to which we can move toward ideal health and diet choices determines how powerful and fast-acting are the results, but that we need not be perfect now or ever: in a nutshell, he says 鈥渨e have a spectrum of choices鈥� to improve our condition. It goes without saying, but just to be sure, if you have any diagnosed 鈥渃ondition,鈥� and especially if you are on a regimen of pharmaceutical cocktails, you are well-advised to work with your physician (and I also recommend a natural-health practitioner where available).
This is tremendously empowering news for all of us, who for one reason or another are addicted to taking in chemicals and food-like substances (credit for that phrase to Michael Pollen), instead of real food. So there蘑菇视频 my 鈥渟ales pitch鈥� of the day 鈥� everyone, and I MEAN EVERYONE, and ANY time, can make significant health improvement by their very next dietary choice.
Every journey has a first step: it is quite reasonable for you to ask what is yours.
I suggest, if I may, to begin with creating 鈥渕indfulness鈥� in regard to your health and appetite. This term mindfulness is used frequently in the world of meditation. It means being present in the moment. It is a habit that should be natural, and probably was for all of us as a baby, but through overload of stimulation through television, background noise, family members, crowded streets and public places, we have developed filters to protect ourselves that make us less aware and sensitive to our surroundings.
While this may serve us at times for survival, it most emphatically does not serve us in regard to eating. Like most new skills and habits, it takes more work at first before they become natural. So let蘑菇视频 suggest a modest, manageable list of tactics to begin our journey to better mindful eating:
1. Minimize extra noise and stress while eating: for example, play soft background music instead of blasting the T.V. Try to keep dinner talk to light and hopefully cheerful conversation, rather than discussing heavy topics such as poor grades, or household finances.
2. Put down your fork between bites in an attempt to slow your rate of food intake. It takes at least 15 minutes for the amount of food in our stomachs to register in our brains and give the sense of being full.
3. 鈥淓at鈥� your drink, and 鈥渄rink鈥� your food鈥hew food fully, especially carbohydrates, so that the digestive enzymes in the mouth have an adequate chance to do their job. There is also research suggesting part of the sensation of being satisfied in our brain is related to how mush we chew. Similarly with drinks, let the mouth enzymes mix with the substance. Pure water is an exception.
4. Eat the 鈥渉ealthiest鈥� stuff first: salad and vegetables. There is only so much room in the stomach: eating more veggies is great, but not so much if we get them by force-feeding them into a stomach already full with saturated fat and fried, nutrient-poor food-like substances.
5. Here is the Nutritional Agnostic advice that I have been giving for years in health classes I taught: try isolating different types of meals, and then hyper-focusing on how you FEEL 30 to 90 minutes AFTER. The goal is to look at the food, and replace the anticipation of the TASTE with the association of how it makes you FEEL. Jack Lalanne was quoted as saying, 鈥渋f it tastes good, it can鈥檛 be good for you.鈥� While this may be somewhat extreme for effect, it is not terribly far from the truth. We need to eat for nutrition, which is for our cells. Most people eat for ego 鈥� which is purely by taste, or how good it 鈥渇eels鈥� going in. The 30 to 90 min test is the real truth of whether it was food or poison. It cannot be both.
I predict that without exception, a salad made with fresh ingredients and a simple dressing (lemon juice, or a small amt of olive oil and vinegar) will feel infinitely better than either a pizza, or a burger and fries. I promise you from experience that if you practice this mindfulness eating mantra, you can and will retrain yourself to 鈥渟ee鈥� the after-feeling when you look at a food, stronger than you will see it蘑菇视频 initial, superficial appeal to your taste buds. This then will be your first and most important step toward improving your life, and perhaps more importantly, the lives of your children and other loved ones.