The following is text taken from my book “A Nutritional Makeover”
Foundation of A Healthy Life
“No man fills a vessel worse than his stomach. A few mouthfuls that would suffice to keep his back upright are enough for a man. But if he must eat more, than he should fill one third (of his stomach) with food, one third with drink and leave one third for easy breathing” ~Islamic ancient text~
The way you eat today will result in a series of lifelong choices and habits. To undo the bad habits requires a step-by-step approach, attempting to change one habit at a time.
A technique called mindful eating makes the act of nourishing the body a thoughtful practice. Mindfulness changes one’s attitude towards food and transforms the way one nourishes and cares for the body.
What Can You Do?
The simplest thing we can do is listening to our bodies; it’s so simple that it seems impossible. In this lesson, you will be given tools from ancient wisdom that you can begin applying to your life today. You can choose to count calories (we’ve explained the reasons that’s not necessary), or learn to apply the advice (at least some of it) of this section. It’s simple but not easy. Everything mentioned here is detailed in later lessons.
First, eating the right kind of foods; do your best to eat only;
- In season and local, shop farmers markets; plan your meals around them.
- Organic or homegrown; non-GMO and not sprayed with pesticides
- Grass fed/pasture raised/ wild caught animals for meat including chicken, sea food, eggs, and milk
- Properly prepared grains, legumes, and beans
A balanced meal does not mean all food groups in one meal, some foods should not be mixed for example fish and milk make a toxic chemistry combination that is well known by many cultures. The Jewish do not mix milk and meat, perhaps there is hidden ancient wisdom behind this; after all, the calcium in dairy blocks the absorption of iron. Dairy is best consumed within 2 hours prior or after an iron meal.
Stick with it.
This isn’t a diet, or a fad, or something you will only do for a little while. It is a Nutritional Makeover of your food and lifestyle that in time will bring you nutritional wellbeing and will become second nature to you.
Limit unhealthy meals as much as possible. If you do have one, don’t beat yourself up about it—just do better next time. Remember, meal planning is crucial in sticking with it.
Foundation for a Nutritional Makeover
Converting Your Meal Plan to traditional foods is the main idea. Depending on your ethnic back ground, geographic location and cultural food preference, the actual type of foods will vary, but with the same principles;
- Vegetables will make up a large percentage of the foods you eat; your choices will revolve around what’s in season in your area, with a few exceptions such as onion, garlic, potato, and a few others. When you look at the variety of vegetables available, you’ll realize you actually have a variety of different flavors; you won’t have to eat broccoli all day and you will use healthy fats and spices to add a variety of flavor your vegetables.
- High-quality protein is important to understand how much and from what source to get protein. More will be discussed in Lesson 4.
- Healthy Fats; will become a regular part of your diet and provide a variety of health benefits.
- Starchy carbohydrates, grains and other carbohydrate sources will be part of the plan and you will lean to add more if you’re active enough, and as long as the source of carbohydrates are properly prepared, there is no problem with eating them.
- Probiotic foods will be incorporated in your meal plan as a way to keep your gut flora health which in turn, will keep you healthy. More on probiotics in Lesson 7.
You can still eat foods that are not part of the plan on occasion – if you still want to.
A Nutritional Makeover 