Balanced Eating & The Bodies Intelligence

Before I get started, I'll address the picture…
I was making a green smoothie and my grandmother was making some french fries. I do love french fries, though I eat them in moderation. And yes, I did have a couple before drinking my green smoothie.


If eating 100% healthy feels good to you, please do. If eating unhealthy / non-nutritious foods feels good to you, then do that. If you've found a balance for yourself between the two "extremes", great…

This post isn't to say what is the "right" or "wrong" way of living. The purpose here is to shed-light that you can dance between extremes in life (though I'm particularly just discussing food), the bodies intelligence, and ultimately to do what FEELS GOOD (of course anything that does not bring harm to another).

Our bodies are intelligent beyond measure and our natural state is one of thriving health.If things that are considered unhealthy feel good to you, then do that… though do it with awareness and an openness to listen to your body. With awareness brought to everything we do, we learn to HEAR the body which is always working to give us "signs" to direct us into a state of harmony.

Your body may give you an undesirable digestive reaction, or cause a breakout, dry skin, a rash or redness on your face etc. Just like our cars have indicator lights that tell us when the engine needs to be checked, or to change our oil etc., the body has it's indicator "lights" as well. Unfortunately, unlike our cars, we do not have a user manual, because each body is unique, and changes at different times of our lives.But fortunately… we have the ability to NOTICE… to notice changes in our minds and bodies, and take mental notes or even journal it.


I LOVED bread, sugar (still do, I might add), and dairy, though my body was responding to these things in an undesirable way. When I look back my body had been reacting negatively to bread, dairy and added sugar for a long time but I didn't LISTEN TO MY BODIES INTELLIGENCE.

I cut out dairy, and felt instantly better. Next I cut out wheat/gluten and three days later I noticed more energy and the undesirable body responses stopped! Shew…. what a relief. Once I removed these bigger "blocks" in my health (wheat/gluten (bread) & dairy), I noticed sugar was also causing some more subtle undesirable reactions.

It is a process of course cutting out anything we enjoy though once we "get-over-it", we naturally start craving things that are healthier for us. Every BODY is different. Your body may be able to process a grilled cheese sandwich without a problem. Though if I did, I may feel equivalent to you after your 21st birthday : /


For the first few years I was EXTREME with my diet and would not eat anything that even touched wheat/gluten or dairy. Though some may have food allergies that require these extreme guidelines, I did not.

I realized that if I have something with sugar once in a while, I will be okay. I do ENJOY eating healthy now and I CRAVE healthy foods, though I'll have some french fries, pizza, cake, cookies etc. in moderation (gluten & dairy free of course).
One little side note on gluten and dairy free… Gluten & Dairy Free doesn't necessarily mean healthy. You can have gluten free cake cooked with 2 cups of sugar and a stick of butter. You can have dairy-free-cheese pizza, which may be made with processed un-healthy ingredients… though…. in moderation…. that's right, it doesn't matter.


Buddha spoke of the "middle way", which is the path of moderation.... and I have learned the "middle way" isn't perfectly centered.

Do what feels good and adjust as needed!

Balance can not be defined and written in a book…
Learn to Listen To Your Body and do what feels good for YOU!


Tip:

The body can be used to help make decisions as well. Anytime you need to check-in about something or make a decision, take a pause and a few slow deep breaths, and notice how your body feels when you think about the different choices.
With practice, you learn to use this tool more easily.If you don't already do this, try it out and have fun with it.
Once you learn to use this ability you will see this is one of your Jedi-Powers - listening to your body is "Using the Force"!





Thanks for reading,
Eric Brown

founder :: Mindful Moon iPhone App