Please enjoy today’s article from Elaina Love, author of three recipe books and founder of Pure Joy Planet and Pure Joy Academy as the guest columnist every Friday in the Journey Back to Self  Blog. ~ Chris

21 Days to Break the Habit! Part 1 of 3
A 3-week path to more mindful eating habits

We’ve all heard it before, “chew your food until its liquid”, “don’t watch television while you eat”, and “put your fork down in between bites”; don’t eat fried foods, blah, blah, blah…

These are all well and good as far as a theory goes, but when the fork meets the fudge, what is actually going on in our heads? Stress and hurriedness is a big part of our modern life, and it is most likely here to stay. So instead of trying to resist what persists why not just go around it for a moment or two? What I mean by this is that even though life is busy and we have lots to do every day, we can still carve out a few precious moments to ourselves, and mealtime might just be one of those perfect moments.

You don’t need to start by thinking that each meal has to be the perfect mindful meal, or that you can never watch TV or read a magazine while eating, because that is just unrealistic. What you can do though is take even one part of that meal (perhaps the first 5 minutes) to check in, breathe and be grateful. For the next seven days in this 21 day journey, practice the 4 Bs of mindfulness around eating:

1. Be curious:  Am I hungry? This is a good question to ask before you go looking for something to eat. Especially if it is a snack vs. a meal. Sometimes though, even meals can be eaten mindlessly and not out of true hunger just because it’s mealtime. So before loading your plate or picking up your fork ask 3 simple words: “Am I hungry?”
2. Breathe:  This leads to my second principle. You may decide, even though you are not hungry, and even though you think it might not be the healthiest choice, instead of saying “I know I shouldn’t be eating this but…” Take a moment to stop thinking any negative thought and take a deep breath (or 3). A long, slow breath. If possible just close your eyes for 1-2 seconds (try it now). That’s it! Now your heart may be beating just a bit slower and you may be a little more present before taking that first slooow bite. Enjoy it!
3. Be grateful:  Take a moment to say thank you (silently or shared with your family or friends) to the abundance that you are about to enjoy. Who grew your food? Who picked your food? Who drove your food to the store? Who prepared your food? How are you able to afford to buy this food? Just take a moment to say thank you to just one person who contributed to your meal.
4. Begin Again:  I love the words of Esther Hicks (Abraham-hicks.com) “I can begin again.” If you forgot where you are or what you are doing and you find yourself half way into a container of ice cream with no idea how you got there. STOP! Start at step 1 and begin again.

Bringing Pure Joy and Gourmet Bliss to the Planet,
Elaina Love
Elaina Love is the Owner/Director of PureJoyPlanet.com and is also a professional Chef, Instructor, and Detox Counselor at Pure Joy Culinary Academy. She is a Lifestyle Counselor, co-owner of Pure Joy Academy.

Chris Sopa is founder and owner of Chris Sopa International, Inc. You can learn more about her at www.ChrisSopa.com. Find her at Facebook.com/ChrisSopaInternational, Twitter @ChrisSopa, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Please enjoy today’s article from Elaina Love, author of three recipe books and founder of Pure Joy Planet and Pure Joy Academy as the guest columnist every Friday in the Journey Back to Self blog. ~ Chris

It seems that the longer I eat a high raw, low glycemic, gluten-free, health promoting diet, the more beautiful I feel inside and out. It’s not just about looking in the mirror and seeing clear skin, sparkly eyes and rosy cheeks (although it is quite nice); it’s also about how we feel on the inside. The holistic approach has never applied more than when it comes to feeling and looking good.

What is the Holistic Approach? It is being aware of our entire being. Not just the physical body, but also our spiritual body and its need for solitude, silence, reflection, gratitude, journaling, prayer, and meditation. Then there is our sweet, beautiful, innocent emotional body that craves and desires to be loved and comforted above all else. One thing I know for sure is that the better I eat, the better I feel, and the worse I eat, the worse I feel. Emotions are directly tied to our food choices. Our moods are so tied to our eating habits that it’s almost funny how simple it is. Try fasting for a day or 2 and you will know what I mean. All those things that usually annoy you or make you depressed just fall away easily. I have spent many a fast or cleanse laughing at how I take myself so seriously sometimes. It’s all a cosmic joke and the joke is how easy it is once we decide to make feeling good a priority.

The question for some of us is why don’t we make good choices even though we know what is good for us? There are a lot of obstacles that can stand in the way such as cravings, too many “bad” choices, being hungry when there are no good choices in sight, and so on. A conclusion that I have come to over the years is that it is not about what you do some of the time (10-20%) but more about what you do 80% of the time. If you spend 80% of your time berating yourself for what you did during your 20% you are missing it! Missing the good parts of life! Sure, there are going to be times when all you want to do is indulge, and there is nothing inherently wrong or bad about that!!!! We are hard-wired to eat and survive; it’s what we do! We are in human form, and part of taking form is that we desire to experience the sensual side of things such as getting a massage, making love, sleeping in and eating delicious foods.

The balance is in finding the right times to cleanse and eat well and the times to be decadent. At Pure Joy Academy we teach the 80-20 principle which is 80 percent of the time you are building and maintaining and 20% of the time you are cleansing and repairing, whether that is drinking a green juice every morning (or 2x a week), doing a 7-day juice fast at the change of season, a 6-day liver flush or just one day of 100% raw foods once a week. Pick what works best for you, create a plan and put it on your calendar so you will be accountable.

Here are some recipes to get you started:

Chia-Coconut Breakfast (a great oatmeal replacement!)

½ cup chia seeds
1 ½ cups purified water (to soak the chia seeds)
1/3 cup macadamia nuts or Brazil nuts
2 Tbs. coconut oil (make sure it’s high quality and smells fresh)
3 Tbs. xylitol, honey or yacon root syrup*
6 Tbs. orange juice (about 1 orange)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. vanilla, butterscotch or rum extract
6 drops liquid stevia

1. Soak the chia seeds for 2 or more hours, you can soak them up to 12+ hours.
2. Blend everything but the chia and water together until creamy.
3. Mix the cream with the soaked chia seeds.
4. Refrigerate or enjoy immediately.

* You may substitute another sweetener for yacon such as maple syrup or honey, but yacon will be best for people with sugar imbalances and diabetics.

Lasts 4 days refrigerated.

Summer Cucumber Tomato Special

1 medium tomato, chopped
1 small cucumber peeled in stripes and chopped (seeds removed if big)
1 large avocado cut into cubes
1 half of a lemon or lime squeezed
1 half to 1 tsp. Himalayan Salt Crystals
1 Tbs. of olive oil (optional for a richer flavor)
Mix everything together and enjoy!

To your inner and outer beauty!

Elaina Love
480-788-5581
Elaina@PureJoyAcademy.com
www.PureJoyAcademy.com Raw Food Culinary Academy
www.PureJoyPlanet.com Products and Recipes

Chris Sopa is founder and owner of Chris Sopa International, Inc. You can learn more about her at www.ChrisSopa.com. Find her at Facebook.com/ChrisSopaInternational, Twitter @ChrisSopa, LinkedIn, and Google+.