Healing Journeys with Suzie Daggett
Here it is, just a few days before 2007 when we face the holiday weight demons – or not! Some people have a struggle with eating during the holidays and thus feel a need to reduce or diet in the New Year. However, for those who are choosing to eat consciously, their take on a New Years resolution may be geared to something other than weight control. The difference is a way to eat by knowing what is best for your body and how to determine the right amount to eat. I asked three nutrition experts, Kathy Sheffield, Mary Marlet and Susan Rice to educate us on how one begins to eat consciously for better, higher quality sustained health.
Kathy Sheffield, Therapist, Nutritionist, Feeding Specialist
In a sense, we have grown so conscious about our eating that our natural inborn capability for feeding ourselves is confused. We have access to the very best and the very worst food, and mostly people are living in the two extremes. Here are some ways to stay conscious as you eat:
- Conscious eating is not being so constrained by “food rules” that each meal is measured as success or failure.
- Eat so that you get hungry at regular intervals. Eat to satisfy natural appetites for flavor, for fat, for sweet. Eat to satiety, or satisfaction. A good meal prevents a whole host of trouble with eating.
- Eating is so basic to living that if you are unhappy with your food, you are unhappy.
- Feeding yourself deserves your time and attention. When you know you will eat predictably and reliably, chaotic eating will calm down.
- Meals so nutritiously zealous that they do not taste good deny natural appetites that will get the better of you at some point. Meals that ignore reasonable nutrition undermine natural capabilities to regulate appetite.
- People eat better over the long run when all food that they like can be fair game some of the time. Overly restrained eating sets up food preoccupation and overeating.
- Feed yourself regular, satisfying meals between holiday goodies. It will help you know how much of these you really want or need.
Kathy Sheffield, RD, MFTI, 530-265-2202
Susan Rice, Consulting in Nutrition, Toxicology and Pharmacology
Conscious eating is being aware how the foods that we eat affect our bodies, emotions, mind, and spirit. The benefits of conscious eating are enormous, but few of us are devoted to the practice. By eating consciously, we live in the moment, experience the smell, taste, and texture of our food and drink, and recognize the effects on our body. We fuel our bodies, satisfy our physical hunger, and nourish our senses when we consciously eat. We also identify when our hunger is emotional or spiritual and cannot be satisfied by food. When we consciously feed our physical hunger, and not our other hungers, we never overeat.
Conscious eating starts with a decision and follows with action. We purchase nourishing foods and have them available for us to eat when we are hungry. Most of us need to give ourselves permission to take the time to eat without multi-tasking. Sitting in a quite place away from distractions allows us to be conscious of the food before it goes into the mouth, to see the color and shape of the food, and to give thanks that we have food to eat. By eating consciously, we nourish our bodies and we provide a relaxing atmosphere to relieve the daily stresses. We avoid that overly full feeling, the heavy lump in the stomach, and a nervous, aching gut. An added bonus is that when we savor our food we tend to eat less.
Susan A. Rice, PhD., D.A.B.T., 530-273-3923
Mary Marlet, Holistic Nutritionist and Whole Foods Caterer.
I always look at the amount of pre-packaged and processed foods people eat. Those foods lack in nutrition and have harmful substances such as sodium, sugars, and artificial ingredients. Busy lifestyles and the misconception that cooking from scratch is expensive and time consuming are some of the reasons people eat them. I encourage eliminating one or two pre-packaged items a week and substituting with a fresh food, like a vegetable. Cutting up a head of broccoli takes little longer than opening a frozen or canned vegetable. Steaming takes only a few minutes. You can go to the store three times per week and buy fresh, in season vegetables and steam enough to last for a couple of meals and reheat what you need the next night. If vegetables are overcooked, nutrients are lost and the texture of mushy vegetables turns kids off. Buy different colored vegetables each time as they have different vitamins and antioxidants. Tell your kids they are eating the colors of the rainbow to encourage them, and yourself. Do the same with fruit. Mix them up and make it fun. In little time, you will have your routine.
The extra time and expense it takes to cook fresh foods is minimal. Compare to all the packaging that goes in the garbage and how often you take it out. You pay extra for the packaging, and you pay disposal companies to pick it up. Eating freshly prepared foods is conscious for your health, budget, and the planet.
Mary Marlet, 530-268-0484, www.treeoflifenutrition.com
Healing Journeys is a column written by Suzie Daggett for the Grass Valley Union newspaper. Suzie interviews a variety of health practitioners most Fridays in the Wellness section. Click here to read past articles. Enter "Suzie Daggett" in the search box to get listing of all articles. |
