Did you know that our taste buds are not necessarily created for our enjoyment? They’re actually designed to alert the stomach as to which acids are needed to digest the foods that are coming down from your mouth. Isn’t that amazing? Wow!
Animals gobble down their food and do not savor it or enjoy the flavors and textures they are eating. As humans, we chew our food to make it easier for the stomach to digest it, and by eating more slowly we get a feeling of being full, more quickly, so that way we eat less food while enjoying it more.
You wouldn’t enjoy your food as much if you couldn’t smell it. Smell works with your ability to taste. You won’t be wise to become a smoker because it burns up the hairs and molecules in your nose, throat, and on the tongue, which diminishes your ability to truly taste your food.
Teach yourself to eat slower, take individual bites, and chew each bite more, and enjoy all the different flavors you have available while eating.
Eat in a peaceful environment. You can plan to stay away from the TV, your electronic devices, and stressful situations during your mealtime, and you will be doing your body a big favor! Your body deserves this personal attention and it will make you feel better.
Can you plan to eat at the table, or outside in nature regularly? Your food is what makes you healthier so provide whole foods that have not been processed or have added hormones, chemicals or insecticides. Make it your lifestyle to avoid these things as much as possible.
Take time and read the labels on the packaging. If it has a lot of sugar or chemicals, then find a substitute, or change what you like and choose to like things that are better for you. Make it a goal to eat whole vegetables each day as much as you can, and make a goal to try new foods.
Another way to approach better health and better taste in some foods is if they are prepared in a different way. Cook more vegetables and add cheese sauce, or butter, and seasoning. Stir fry and add in diced left-over meats with any type of vegetables. Be original because you don’t have to make the dish the same way every time!
If you have vegetables in a different season, they will often be better or worse since it is, or is not, the season they are naturally harvested. Respect the ritual of eating and take time to be thankful for each meal you get to sit down to eat.
When you pause and show respect for your food, you’re actually showing respect for yourself! Your body, your mind, and your spirit are renewed because your food sustains your life force! The RIGHT FOODS, water, and regular sleep are the greatest thing you can do for yourself!
You will do well to continuously learn about food throughout your life. Start now and read to learn more about the foods you are eating and feeding your body.
Learning to use a French Knife makes it so much easier and faster to clean, chop, prepare, and cook your preferred vegetables in all different ways. Practice with the French Knife in your free time and use the chopped vegetables to put into a chicken or tuna salad or cook with half a pound of hamburger and a container of vegetable or chicken broth for a delicious “hamburger soup”.
Especially find out how to cook your favorite things! Make a list of those things, write down the recipes in your journal or throw them in your file for future reference, and see how you can make them healthier. Add the ingredients to your grocery list. Eat less beef and eat more lean meats and fish, because they are easier to digest. Avoid fried foods in most cases but, do grill and stir fry with healthy oils to give you full flavors with less calories.
Eating vegetables raw is quick and easy, and actually preferred. Clean and chop celery, carrots, green pepper, cucumbers, and more and make up a relish tray you can use throughout the week. Dig out your favorite salsa or dip. Buttermilk ranch or bleu cheese are always “favorites” along with a cheese dip. Use hummus regularly which is delicious and healthy! Try different brands of hummus to find the one you like the best. Invest in things that will encourage you to eat more vegetables. The salad bar is great for a quick meal that’s filling and satisfying!
It’s also preferred if you learn to grow your own lettuce, tomatoes, red and green peppers, squash, or any other vegetables! We have one planter that grows everything we need to make salsa! If you don’t have a “garden spot” start off by putting plants in a large flower pot or planter with good potting soil and set it outside the back door. That way you can water it regularly as you step outside every day while taking in good energy from nature.
You can save your family considerable money by becoming “the gardener” and growing some of your food! A lot of food can be grown in a small flower bed with great soil, and consistent watering. If you fail keep trying because no one really has a “green thumb”. It really takes trial-and-error to have house plants or a small garden.
We all learn to pay attention to what the plants are telling us. Take time with them. Can you see if they need less water or more water, less sun or more sun, or can you watch for bugs which might be chomping on them? Soon it’s time to harvest the tomatoes, peppers, or lettuce that the plants are proud to provide you! It’s good practice to take care of living things and a way for you to become a more confident adult.
Did you know that each day, it is important that you include healthy fats in your diet? Make a habit of taking approximately 2 tablespoons of healthy fats like extra virgin olive oil, butter, avocado, green olives, cheese & eggs, nuts, and chia seeds. These types of fats help you by breaking down your unwanted body fat! Yummy fats to make ugly body fat disappear! A deal, huh!
Look at your plate at each meal! Do you see if you have your plate filled 1/2 full of vegetables, 1/4 full of healthy, low-fat protein, and 1/4 full of low-calorie carbohydrates? Learn which of the low-fat proteins, and low-calorie carbos are your favorites, and make a list of them so you will eat them more. Some like a blended shake of vegetables & fruit combined!
For in-between meals eat healthy snacks. Eat fruit, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit regularly. They cost more money but so what! It’s what’s good for you! If you only have those types of healthy snacks around to eat, you’ll get used to eating them and will begin to enjoy them more, or at least just as much as snacks that have no nutritional value and loads of fat and salt.
Replace salty chips with whole-grain rice cakes. Add peanut butter! Go to that container of sliced carrots, cucumbers, celery, sliced peppers, and favorites to munch on. Learn to love Hummus. Some hummus has red peppers or pine nuts on top. If you simply will not eat vegetables and fruit then, buy whole foods in a capsule-like Juice Plus. For every adult order purchased they give you a free order of gummies to give to your children up to 18 years old. This guarantees their proper nutrition and growth, along with yours!
The foods you eat impact you one way or another! Bad things have a bad impact! Yes, they do! Remember that, and remember, everything you put into your body is going to affect you and the way you feel and act! Are you sluggish and have low energy? A problem! Can you feel indigestion coming on? Wrong thing to eat! Are you experiencing brain fog? May be poor nutritional habits.
So, do you see how you’re feeling? Are you feeling really good! Your body is playing a significant part in the way you are feeling. You are still young and suffering fewer illnesses. You can be a big help to yourself by controlling what foods you have around and what foods you give your body to work with! You may go a long time without illnesses! For me, at age 75, it’s been a lifetime free of pharmaceuticals, operations, chronic, and regular sicknesses like cases of flu and colds.
I use supplements recommended by a nutritionist, and eat good food with the money I’ve saved on doctor bills! I’m aware of what I’m eating and I continue to try new things and think about how I can make it better. A couple of years ago I cut my sugar intake by 50%, down to under 100 grams a day. So, try new things and balance your body out with what it needs to operate at its best capacity!
Did you know that there are some things that can ROB YOU OF YOUR NATURAL ENERGY! This happens when people use stimulants and add things to their body like caffeine and caffeine drinks, alcohol, pot and drugs, and especially tobacco! These things actually drain you of your natural energy and significantly reduce your good health!!
Unfortunately, people often become quickly dependent on these supposed “stimulants”! This is because they think that they need more and then more of that stuff, to help them get “More Energy”! It’s a real ruse, and they are intentionally being deceiving into thinking they can “RELAX” more”. The fact is, it really just gets worse!!
Because of the dependence on societies “stimulants” they need more and more to help them have energy. But in fact, they’re actually being robbed of their every day “Natural” Energy, and their Ability to Relax!
Do you want to be free of these types of problems? Have an occasional cup of tea or if you’re over 21 a little alcohol, like a beer or a glass of wine. But then stop. That’s the way you keep control over these powerful addictions! Put up a red flag in your mind because, believe me, they are much more dangerous than they appear. Don’t believe in them because society wants to sell you on the glamour and hide the extreme cost to you, in money and in health. Society wants to see you waste your life away, while they make lots of money from you, with buying these products.
Moderation is a wonderful thing and gives to you, instead of takes away from you. Can you be happy with just a small amount? Or do you think that you have more of an addictive personality? Find out who you are and what you like however, Ease into it gradually! Don’t jump! These stimulants are extremely dangerous!
I was told that it’s 1000 times harder to break a habit than it is to make a habit! Isn’t that terrible! You can get sucked in, just because you were “trying something out” and it may take you years and years to get out! I know it because it’s happened to me and others around me. So take caution right now! Bad habits are wasting your life so watch out!
Also, Remember that food itself can turn into an Addiction. Don’t snack constantly, or think about food continuously.
Stop eating before you’re full, to avoid over-eating. Your stomach will tell you when you are hungry and it will give you a message that it’s feeling like “it’s getting full”. Watch for your stomach’s message and then stop. Obey! Take notice and LISTEN to it. Take its advice and finish up! Push the remainder of your food away. It has enough to work with and you’ll feel fuller after you stop eating because your food is still getting into your stomach!
I know! We were all told to clean up our plate however, it’s going to be a waste either way. It’s going to be waste in the trash can, or it’s going to be waste on your body. Right!? Don’t let that “extra amount” be the waste on your body!
This will help you keep your proper body weight. Your body doesn’t need any more food and eating just because it tastes good or it’s going to go to waste, is a problem. Obesity is misery, and once you’ve put the extra pounds on, you’ll find it very, very hard to carry them around with you all the time.
It’s also hard work to take those extra pounds off your body!! So, learn what your body is telling you it wants and what it doesn’t want. Module 2 in Life Skills for Confidence shows you that your body is your best friend and will do anything for you!! So, show it Respect and don’t take advantage of it!
Watch what you’re doing and reduce certain types of food because they’re empty calories! Especially fried foods and sugar! Empty calories may taste good but do very little for your nutrition, and even less for your youthful, beautiful bodies.
Train yourself now! Limit or avoid the “sugar and salt cycle”, and reduce the use of both of these items. You need very, very little amounts. Check the sugar and salt amount on the things that you’re currently eating. It may be time to turn over a new leaf! Also reduce and use less “animal fat” that’s on your meat, less fried foods, and less white carbohydrates like white pasta, white bread, white rice, and even white potatoes.
Choose foods that are made with whole and enriched grains. Check the packages on pasta as many are enriched! Skip white bread, use brown rice, and eat fewer potatoes and more sweet potatoes or yams. You’ll feel the difference with this type of a whole food diet. It’s one you can make for yourself and enrich your future.
Some foods are quick and easy to use and can be combined in many different types of recipes. One that is cheap, is beans. Beans are high in protein and fiber, iron, calcium, and vitamins, but low in sugar and carbohydrates. That’s terrific, isn’t it! They’re really an ideal and affordable dish. If you’ve been raised on beans, it’s a good thing for you. Each week eat beans as a side dish replacing your “empty” carbohydrate choices. Find the ones that are your favorites, and make some delicious dishes because there are tons of different kinds of beans!
What you learn to do now, that is healthy for you will be what you pass on to keep your children healthy. Reprograming yourself! This is an investment in your future and in your life! But it’s also an investment in the lives of your generations who will follow after you!!
There is NO FREE RIDE! I’m sorry to tell you! You will pay one way or the other. By choosing better foods, you’ll feel, look, and be Better!
The time is up! Now you have the opportunity to walk this path of better health and greater joy for your spirit. Caring for others is a way to feel more joy. So, grow a little garden, feed and teach others about the “good foods”, and practice eating European style. You will be more relaxed and Confident! Take care and watch out for where you are going! It is a Beautiful Road ahead!
