Cleveland Health Coach

3 Steps to Mindfulness in Your Diet

“The Hungrier You Are, The Hungrier You Stay.” — Deepak Chopra

One of my very favorite doctors/motivators/writers is Deepak Chopra. I am never left hungry when I have spent any time at all with his words. I was listening to him today, talking about this reality that so many of us have that is…overeating or under nourishing ourselves, i.e., eating pizza or muffins for example, when we want or need a quick bite.

How is it that we get ourselves stuck in such a predicament?

One of the cycles we fall into is not getting quality sleep, which causes us to want to eat/drink the wrong foods. Eating and drinking the wrong foods and at the worst times, causes us to not get quality sleep. Deepak provides us with some fantastic tools for getting outside of this cycle.

Our first goal is to become more mindful: aware. Self awareness helps us get out of the unconscious or automatic pilot state to which we can attribute so much of our out of balance.

Let’s look at the simple steps we can put in motion to break our unconsciousness and create fuller awareness.

3 Steps to Mindfulness in Your Diet

1). Deepak tells us we must create a natural rhythm for our lives: a sleep pattern to heal our minds and bodies. How do we do this? We can begin going to bed and waking up at the same time everyday. The second part of this is to get out of bed as soon as we awaken.  Over time our bodies learn what we are putting in motion and the body and mind begin to align.

2).  We must reduce chronic stress. How can we do this? We can meditate daily, spend some time outdoors and absorb the sounds of nature, or do any quiet time with deep breathing.

3). We must get out of automatic pilot. We must move ourselves from unconsciousness to awareness. How do we do this? We become more and more aware by simply asking ourselves questions. Why I am eating this? Why am I doing this? What is causing me to blur out and act impulsively? The identification process can help us to make new more positive decisions that can create new habits and cover up old habits.

Our minds are considered our strongest muscle. As we expand and grow our minds, becoming more awake, aware, and nonresistant, we are better equipped to create new strategies for our lives, make better choices, and get to those new healthier habits. Do you want to be in a starving — I do not have enough state — all the time or do you want to be not exactly replete but not exactly starved either?