“Your body is precious. It is our vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care.” ~Buddha
1. Count Your Blessings
Honor your food and express your gratitude. Many people skip meals every day because they don't have a choice. Be grateful that you are able to have something on your plate!
2. Be Aware of Your Senses
Eating is more pleasurable when it is a multi-sensory experience. Take the time to notice what's on your plate. Use your eyes and notice what is on your plate. Smell the aroma. Chew slowly so you can appreciate the flavors and experience the textures.
3. Appreciate All Foods Equally
Enjoy all foods and a variety of foods everyday. Appreciate the fact that each and every food can provide you with the essential nutrients your body needs to grow and flourish!
4. Acknowledge Your Feelings
Acknowledge your feelings with certain foods. Don't avoid food because fear of weight gain. Don't overeat foods that are supposed to be healthy because too much of anything will be unhealthy!
5. Take the Stress Out of Eating
Be present and mindful at every meal. Take away any distractions (tv, radio, computers, etc) and just enjoy your meal and the goodness every bite brings.
6. Love Your Food
Love what you eat, Eat what you love!
Cerise
Showing posts with label nutrition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nutrition. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Food for the Mind, Body, and Soul
Currently writing a research paper on cancer therapy treatments and the importance of nutritional support for cancer patients during those treatments. I always had the assumption that people die from cancer because of the devastating effects of the disease itself and never realized what a giant role nutrition plays not only in the prevention of cancer but also therapy and rehabilitation. People diagnosed with cancer and undergoing therapy treatments start to experience changes in their taste buds causing them to lose their appetite resulting in poorer intake of required nutrients to maintain a healthy immune system. This leads to chronic protein-energy malnutrition resulting in cancer cachexia and anorexia. Hence, we often see cancer patients slowly withering away and literally dying because their lean muscle mass is deteriorating and their muscles and organs are no longer able to function properly. Given the adequate nutritional support, cancer patients may have a higher chance of survival. However, sometimes it's not that they don't want to eat, it's because they can't! The effects of the therapy not only causes them to lose their appetite but also fatigue, nausea, and vomitting. Eating is no longer a pleasure and becomes a chore while some patients find themselves eating just to please their family members.
As healthy individuals, we are given so many choices regarding our nutrition. We have a variety of food choices available and because of that, we often take that blessing for granted by feeding our bodies with foods that can do more harm than good. We have to realize that our body is not garbage can that can handle unlimited amounts of junk and start treating it like a fine engine that requires specific fuels to function properly. Adequate nutrition is the only way that will allow the engine to maintain a healthy immune system that will get us through any battle we are fighting whether it be physical, mental, or emotional.
I understand there are a lot of people out there that are fighting their battle with food - myself included. Almost every moment of my life, I find myself in some kind of battle with food. What we need to realize is that food is not our enemy but instead our friend that serves to nourish and protect us. Food provides us with the necessary nutrients to maintain physical, mental , and emotional wellbeings so that we can enjoy and live life. Similar to friends, without foods, our day at the amusement park wouldn't be as fun or exciting. However, we must learn to choose our foods wisely in the same way we choose our friends. Only in good company can we find more joy and excitement in life!
As healthy individuals, we are given so many choices regarding our nutrition. We have a variety of food choices available and because of that, we often take that blessing for granted by feeding our bodies with foods that can do more harm than good. We have to realize that our body is not garbage can that can handle unlimited amounts of junk and start treating it like a fine engine that requires specific fuels to function properly. Adequate nutrition is the only way that will allow the engine to maintain a healthy immune system that will get us through any battle we are fighting whether it be physical, mental, or emotional.
I understand there are a lot of people out there that are fighting their battle with food - myself included. Almost every moment of my life, I find myself in some kind of battle with food. What we need to realize is that food is not our enemy but instead our friend that serves to nourish and protect us. Food provides us with the necessary nutrients to maintain physical, mental , and emotional wellbeings so that we can enjoy and live life. Similar to friends, without foods, our day at the amusement park wouldn't be as fun or exciting. However, we must learn to choose our foods wisely in the same way we choose our friends. Only in good company can we find more joy and excitement in life!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Life Cycle
School started and once again I find myself lagging behind in other aspects of my life. This semester started out pretty smoothly despite the fact that I lost most of my strength and endurance due to prolonged inactivity and finding myself struggling to walk up five flights of stairs every morning. I tell myself every week that I will start exercising but with the hectic schedule I find my exercise regimen no where in sight. So instead of making time specifically for exercising I will incorporate exercise into my daily activities. I will let you know how that goes.
One class this semester particularly catches my attention - Nutrition Through the Life Cycle. The class teaches me that every decision we make will ALWAYS somehow end up affecting one or more aspects of our lives later on.
From our discussions so far, I learned that basic things that we do such as drinking alcohol or even engaging in excessive exercise may increase the risk of infertility. Also, the nutritional status and/or disease state of the mother directly affects the nutritional status and/or disease state of the newborn. For example, mothers with folate (a vitamin) deficiencies will give birth to babies with neural tube defects giving rise to an undeveloped or malformed brain. Once born, the mother's decision on whether or not to breastfeed the baby affects the chances of the baby becoming obese as an adolescent. In addition, the food choices that the family makes will influence the child's perceptions and food choices later in life as we continue to eat things that we grew up eating. Poor nutritional status as a young age may lead to chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers.
I find that interesting because as a female, I would like to become a mother one day. The class made me realize that the choices I am making in my daily life as of this moment can affect the future of my children before they are even born.
This not only applies to nutrition and diet but also to other things in life. Before we take any step or make any decision we need to examine its costs and benefits. Things that bring temporary satisfaction often bring permanent harm. Though the consequences are not always apparent, they will slowly sneak up behind us because many things cannot be undone. Life is a cycle, and what goes around will come around.
One class this semester particularly catches my attention - Nutrition Through the Life Cycle. The class teaches me that every decision we make will ALWAYS somehow end up affecting one or more aspects of our lives later on.
From our discussions so far, I learned that basic things that we do such as drinking alcohol or even engaging in excessive exercise may increase the risk of infertility. Also, the nutritional status and/or disease state of the mother directly affects the nutritional status and/or disease state of the newborn. For example, mothers with folate (a vitamin) deficiencies will give birth to babies with neural tube defects giving rise to an undeveloped or malformed brain. Once born, the mother's decision on whether or not to breastfeed the baby affects the chances of the baby becoming obese as an adolescent. In addition, the food choices that the family makes will influence the child's perceptions and food choices later in life as we continue to eat things that we grew up eating. Poor nutritional status as a young age may lead to chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers.
I find that interesting because as a female, I would like to become a mother one day. The class made me realize that the choices I am making in my daily life as of this moment can affect the future of my children before they are even born.
This not only applies to nutrition and diet but also to other things in life. Before we take any step or make any decision we need to examine its costs and benefits. Things that bring temporary satisfaction often bring permanent harm. Though the consequences are not always apparent, they will slowly sneak up behind us because many things cannot be undone. Life is a cycle, and what goes around will come around.
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