Jan
29
The Raw Foods Diet Experiment
Filed Under Mindful Food, Mindful Growth, Mindful Living | Leave a Comment
Vegetarians don’t eat meat, and vegans avoid all animal products. But what about that mystical third category? The Raw Foods diet has gained increasing popularity lately and has been a subject of hot debate in the health and nutritional community for some time now. Essentially, this rather unique diet requires that you eat everything (and that means everything) raw. Translation: the raw foods diet has you eating lots and lots of fruits and vegetables.I have always had a strong interest in dietary themes. I spent several years as a “pescetarian” - avoiding all meat products save fish and seafood. Even today, I occasionally return to my vegetarian roots when I feel my eating habits slipping out of control. From personal experience, I know without a doubt that such dietary changes can help bring about profoundly positive changes. Although I do not have direct experience as a raw foodist, the diet has always intrigued me.
You can imagine my excitement, then, when I discovered that legendary personal growth blogger Steve Pavlina was doing an experiment of his own and sharing his results with the world day-by-day.
You can read each of Steve’s entries here:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
To read Days 11-30, visit Steve’s blog.
Perhaps Steve’s work will inspire you to consider a similar 30-day trial…
Jan
29
Stopping When You’re Full: A Guide to Eating In
Filed Under Mindful Food, Mindful Living | Leave a Comment
Read the first post in this series - Stopping When You’re Full: A Guide to Eating Out
Stopping when you are full is definitely easier at home than it is in a restaurant, but it is still not easy, by any stretch of the imagination. Especially when it comes to snacking.
Don’t do anything else while you are eating. It’s been proven that people will eat up to 30% more if they are eating while they are distracted. Put the book down, put the phone down, and step away from the TV and the Computer. Don’t snack while you are cooking, driving, walking, riding, swimming, or singing. Even if it’s just a snack, sit down and taste your food for a change.
Use smaller plates. This is a trick that everybody knows, and we probably have excuses for. At any thrift store there are usually lots of sets of china in a multitude of sizes and shapes. It is no longer necessary to have all the same plates. Get some to mix and match for a set of 2 to 6.
Put your soup in a mug. My bowls look so empty with a cup of soup in them, but my coffee mug looks full! Also, a cup of soup is literally a cup of soup, so the portion is right. Tons of these at thrift stores too if you can’t stand the idea of having soup and coffee in the same cup (even if it’s not at the same time, which I don’t recommend).
Always have soup or salad. Low in fat and calories, high in nutrition a cup of soup or salad is the best way to start a meal off right. Also, they are designed in a way that forces you to eat more slowly, aiding in digestion and helping you recognize the “you’re full, stop now” signals.
Drink Water. Even if you’re not thirsty, drinking water keeps you from eating when you think that you might be hungry but really you aren’t. And it keeps you from eating when you are full and you think you might want more just because.