What diabolical foods are lurking in your cabinets?
It’s like a classic film noir detective movie ”Food Crazy – mystery of the obesity epidemic”. So who committed the crime? Was it those Fats, sitting in the shadows with those sneaky Cholesterol minions? Those construction worker Proteins? Or, those sexy Carbohydrates…
The mystery has spanned years. And all the best detectives have at one point or another thought they have discovered the culprit.
The media has been telling us for years that Fats are villainous evil things. I remember the first time I saw pretzels with a Low -Fat sticker. I was in shock- I didn’t know there was a high fat model?? Did you? But with every food fad a new champion arises to fill your snacking void. And pretzels were that new champion. Before you knew it everyone was recommending a low-fat diet because “research showed” that fats where the cause of obesity and heart disease. But the reality is there wasn’t any real research.
As the detectives dug deeper, they realized they that the whole family wasn’t evil. There are some good fats, the Unsaturated Fats. But those Saturated guys, they were still evil. So stay away from them.
During this time, Red Meat started to get a lot of heat for hanging out with those evil Saturated Fats. On top of that, there was that issue of mad cow disease. So Red Meat became blacklisted, and in some circles all meat started getting looked at with a skeptical eye. But Soy, being that knight in shining armor, came to the rescue gave everyone a low fat healthy alternative to meat. Well, at least until people found out too much Soy wasn’t good either.
Now the media has uncovered that the true villain has been that sexy temptress sitting right in front of us the whole time. Carbohydrates. She may look sweet but I tell you, she is a cold hearted killer.
My question to you is, Are Carbohydrates to blame for the obesity epidemic in America? Do you believe it?
I don’t.
The one constant over all these years of food news is that, as a society, we tend to take extremes and go all or nothing. We’re not very good at advocating (via broadcast public health statements) or following middle of the road approaches. Let’s face it, saying to cut something out entirely is clearcut- then we can just screw-up and start to yo-yo back and forth with guilt. Yes, that’s how it usually goes. Sound familiar?
From an Eastern perspective, the problem isn’t which food is evil and needs to be avoided. The problem is our minds obsession with finding a villain. Every food from an Eastern perspective has healing properties. I’ll say that again:
Every food has healing properties
Even sugar
Science wasn’t wrong when they said fats or carbs or whatever they find next. But you have to understand that your body is part of an interconnected environment that changes every day. One day you may need more fat. While another you need a lot of carbs. The problem begins when we ignore our bodies and start using our mind to determine what to eat on a daily basis. We get sick. The mind is poorly equipped to manage the body’s needs. The good news is our bodies do a great job. Any woman who has been pregnant can tell you they knew exactly what they needed. The body has a megaphone during that time, you simply don’t get the ignore option. The problem is now we have lost the ability to listen to the bodies needs. We only know how to follow what the mind wants. And you can see where that is getting us.
The answer is simple, but hard to do.
Eat for the body, not the mind.
I was trying to come up with quick bullet points on how to eat for your body and not your mind and realized it was easier said than done. So I’ve decided to write a whole post on it. Stay tuned for “How to eat for your body, not your mind”…
For now, to whet your appetite for the sequel post…here are some simple things to start to watch:
- Pay attention to how your body feels, when you eat and afterward: Are you tired, refreshed, energized?
- Do you feel satisfied when you eat and afterward? Is the satisfaction from your mind or body?
- What villainous nick names have you given to certain foods? or naughty things you say to yourself after eating something “bad”?
Want to share with the class?? Please do leave your comments! Maybe we can vote on the best villainous food nick name!!
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Categories: Eat, Health
The Amazing Micro-Pause Meditation
Original photo taken by JetSetWilly
In our fast paced world everything needs to become more efficient, take up less space and do more. Most of us want a way to slow down… but meditation takes too long, tai chi takes too much space, and you can never make that yoga class you keep trying to get to. We have the best intentions but don’t always reach our goals. Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a pause button for your life.
Let’s face it, everything micro is in. But that leaves the ancient art of meditation as something that most people would like to do but don’t have time to do. So in keeping with the trends, I’ve created the answer. (insert favorite infomercial voice here) Introducing the. . .
Well now you do. Introducing the. . .
(insert favorite infomercial voice here)
The Incredible Micro-Pause™!!!
The best thing about the micro-pause is that you can take it wherever you go. And in our busy world, we don’t have time for a meditation practice or a long vacation. Now you can have your own special holiday for a whole 30 seconds. That’s right! 30 seconds and a little space to call your own. And if you act now you can get all these wonderful bonuses:
- Less irritability
- Better productivity
- More focus
- A peaceful healthy glow
- In short, you’ll be the envy of your co-workers!
All for the low cost of…
F*REE
Ok, I like to joke, but there is a lot of power to the micro pause. It will take practice but this little pause can change your day in a big way (now I’m rhyming). I’m sure you’re all saying I want one! How do I it? Very simply.
You pause for 30 seconds
I know we are all very busy. If we can take 3 minutes to brush our teeth, we can all take 30 seconds for ourselves. If you’re feeling adventurous try squeezing at least 6 micro pauses into your day. Don’t worry if you get addicted to them. I guarantee your productivity will go up.
The idea is simple whenever you switch tasks, pause for 30 seconds (make sure you time it with your stopwatch on your phone until you get a feel for what a real 30 seconds feels like).