We all have some idea about the importance
of eating healthy. But let us put very straight here that sufficient nutrition
is actually the prerequisite for being healthy and avoiding organ failings or
problems in nervous system and so on. Even behind cases that seem to be of
minor importance like our day by day energy level or general mood, can stand
unbalanced nutrition and vitamin deficiency. The treatment is often taking antidepressants
what causes even more vitamin deficiencies (as a common side effect of this
kind of drugs), instead of looking at the alimentation patterns of the person
with a proper, professional look.
Actually it is quite easy today to get good
quality information about basic healthy nutrition guidelines. If you are following
these guidelines, and more, are committed to some kind of special diet with the
objective to be healthy, congratulations! You are doing something for your own
well-being and short and long-term health. Be proud of it and enjoy every
single bite of the food that you carefully selected to put on your plate. Be strict
and strong about your own set rules but do not be radical or feel guilty if you
make exceptions once in a while.
A
healthy diet is supposed to be FUN too. Healthy
does not only mean that the chemical compounds of the ingredients will
probably result in favourable biological reactions in our body. It needs to be
healthy also from the psychological aspect. Following a healthy diet is a
restriction but it is something that we deliberately commit to. It should not
feel like a prison but as a kind of selfcare. Obviously, if we follow a special
diet we will have to refuse things on the street, in a restaurant or at a
gathering. Our life is going to be more complicated than just ‘going by the
flow’ and letting everything ‘flowing into our organism’ as suggested by
billboards and fancy snack bar shop windows. But each time we keep this
restriction makes our will power stronger.
Though it can be confusing sometimes how
these own set rules stay in our mind. If we build up a healthy mindset about
our diet choice and even abstains, our body will be grateful. While consuming
each bite of healthy food, we need to remind ourselves to its healthy nature.
That way it will taste even better and we program our body and senses to
appreciate eating healthy food.
Enjoy that they are fresh, they are closer
to nature than their processed, preservative and colorant stuffed counterparts.
If you have even the opportunity to go for the biological ones, appreciate that
they have almost no chemicals inside, consequently carrying much more vitamins.
Compose your meals like ceremonies of loving your body. Everything you put
inside of your body will turn to you. So
you will turn to what you put inside? Yes, and the way you do it.
Imagine
a beautiful plate full of colours, organized carefully in an aesthetic way.
Imagine that you have the chance to sit down calmly and eat it slowly, using
all your senses. Enjoying the colours, textures, smells, the tastes of the
ingredients and the spices as well.
When we eat slower our organism absorbs
more nutrients from the same food. To eat at a calmer pace is also important
because we eat less by letting our organism send the signal to us ‘hey there, I
am getting full’ as it digests the food partially. So we avoid overeating, so
common now in developed countries, thus putting unnecessary strain to all our
organism.
Now imagine, you are eating slowly, letting
yourself relax (so important!) and appreciating all aspects of your meal. You
are ‘eating with all your senses’ which means you obtain much more energy from
the same food compared to simply consuming it unconsciously. In Yoga, the vital
energy is called prana, and we try to
augment the amount of it in our body by different breathing techniques. Though
breathe is not the only source of vital energy.
‘The
wise speak not about the senses of speech, vision, hearing, and touch, but
about a group of Pranas, since all these senses are manifestations of Prana.'
- Charakha Samhita
So if you already voted for a healthy diet,
that for sure contains a lot of restrictions from what you might desire during
your busy life, why not enjoying it with all your senses? Why not getting the
maximum pleasure out of it? Appreciate all the ingredients, appreciate the
plants that grew the fruit we are eating and appreciate nature that nurtures us
by providing all these aliments.
by Fanni Szintai-Major (Life Mentor, Certified Nutritionist, Personal Trainer and Yoga Teacher)
