My Two Nutrition Rules

Pizza is seen as such a junk food, something that we shouldn't have too often or we will be unhealthy or put on the pounds. I agree to this if the pizza is dripping with grease and it's only vegetable is the scant layer of tomato sauce. Yes this type of pizza, which usually sells for $2 a slice or something, is not exactly health giving. It is really more health robbing, pulling nutrients out of your body in order to be digested, creating indigestion and strain on the poor liver and causing reactions and stress that you may not see right away. Pizza that is loaded with veggies, made with a whole grain crust and has just enough goat cheeseor raw cheese on it, like the one shown here, is great for you.

I am pretty in tune with my body and I know that if I eat something my body doesn't like I am going to feel it and pay for it. Sometimes I eat it anyway, not the greasy pizza just something my body doesn't like, it's a good reminder. I have two rules that I follow: eat what I enjoy and enjoy what I eat. For me a greasy $2 slice of pizza has zero appeal, same goes for a snickers bar. They are foods that I used to eat and never thought anything of. Now that I eat mindfully my tastes have changed. Highly refined foods with artificial or altered ingredients taste really awful to me. I don't enjoy them so why would I eat them. I have found that since I have become a "nutritionist" many people around me have an impression that I only eat foods that are nutritious and that I follow strict rules. This also comes along with some health issues I have had and the dietary restrictions I did impose on myself to get better. That I follow strict rules is not the case though. Like I said, I only really have 2 and they are not that strict; eat what I enjoy and enjoy what I eat. The reason I choose not to eat the greasy pizza or store bought cake filled with hydrogenated oil is not because I see them as unhealthy and that I don't want to put that into my body. It is because I don't like the way they taste and I don't like the way I feel after. Why eat something that you don't enjoy?

I realize that the foods that I do enjoy are usually nutritious but that is because real, natural and whole food tastes good to me and fake, unnatural and refined food does not. I am sure you have noticed that I have a fair amount of dessert and treat recipes on my blog and I do enjoy sweets. The sweets I enjoy are made with wholesome ingredients, some of them contain sugar but in it's natural form. That's where the rule of enjoying what I eat comes in. I have been on a very restrictive zero sugar, zero fruit diet before. Some of you may know it; it is the dreaded candida diet. When I was on it and followed it exactly without cheating one teeny bit I became very stressed out and my symptoms became worse. It didn't work for me because the stress of it all actually negated anything good the diet could have been doing. That is why when I choose to eat something that may not be the most healthy, nutritious food I really enjoy it. I eat it when I am relaxed, I enjoy every bite and all it has to offer. I eat it guilt free and I feel okay after.

Try this, the next time you sit down to eat, really taste your food. Take a bite and put all of your awareness into it. Notice each flavour, texture and everything else it has to offer. How does it taste to you? Are you really enjoying it or are you simply eating it because it is there and you have to eat to live. Or are you eating it because you know it will give you quick energy or fill an emotional void?

Eating mindfully will change the way you see food and it will change the way you digest it. The way you eat is as important as what you eat. If you would like to learn all the tricks on how to eat mindfully and how it can change your health check out my workshop here http://www.ahealthierme.ca/events.htm