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 3 of 3
A 3-week path to more mindful eating habits

Last summer, when I was fasting in Thailand, I read Savor, a book by Thich Nhat Hanh. The fast was a success and it was also a struggle to stay on it at times. I fasted for 11 days while there and in the end I learned a lot about myself. During that time I took ownership of my own self-sabotage and I confronted and honored it with love and compassion. One thing which really stuck with me in the book Savor was the idea of the hungry ghost. Hanh talks about a thin ghost-like figure with a long narrow neck, a huge distended belly and a tiny little mouth. The concept is that we can eat all day or night long and never be satisfied. “Though they are constantly ravenous, driven by the desire to eat, their tiny mouths and necks prevent them from swallowing the food they ingest. The act of eating does not help them overcome negative emotions and cravings. Eating more only causes them to have more pain and agony. Are you consuming like a hungry ghost?”

We continue to eat to fill a void that cannot be filled with food. Because we eat foods that do not satisfy that empty place and sometimes we eat when we are not hungry, and sometimes we eat foods that do not nourish or serve our bodies, we are left feeling like a hungry ghost, wandering the kitchen or grocery store isles looking for something that is not there. If any of this sounds familiar, you are not alone. Many people I’ve spoken to have experienced little set backs which feel like the hungry ghost has taken up residence.

Here are some tips I learned from Savor and from my experience in Thailand to help you going forward:

1. Listen to your body with compassion – You are more capable of helping yourself if you listen to your mind and body with compassion. Guilt and hopelessness will subside if you honor your path by acknowledging that you are now, in this moment seeking a healthy body and a balanced weight. Don’t judge yourself, love yourself and recommit to your goals daily.
2. Appreciate what you already have – Ask yourself:  “What nourishes joy in me?, What nourishes joy in others? Do I appreciate the many reasons for joy that are already in my life?” What do you already have in your life that brings you joy? Friends, family, a nice house, nature, a body that works well. Take a moment to sit with a pen and paper and write a list of everything in your life that makes you happy.
3. It has to come from you – Acknowledge yourself for what you have already accomplished. If you are reading this, it means you are taking steps to improve your health and your body image. Why do you want to make this change (of eating better or losing weight)? Allow yourself to truly feel that life would be significantly better without your current “problem” as you would feel better and become healthier. This decision has to come from you – no one else. Once you realize that you really are in charge and that you can make a new choice in every moment, you will start making changes for the better.
4. Make it a practice, not an idea – Like going to yoga, cleaning your house or making your kids lunch every day, mindful eating is a practice. It is something you have the opportunity to practice 3 or more times every day. Let yourself have it! Give yourself the gift of practicing eating well every day (not getting it perfect, but practicing it). Before you know it, you will find your practice isn’t practice anymore, it has become a habit and you are doing it effortlessly!

To mindful eating,

Elaina Love
www.PureJoyPlanet.com
www.ElainaLove.Com

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

21 Days to Break the Habit! Part 2 of 3
A 3-week path to more mindful eating habits

This week, I’ve had a lot of opportunities to practice better habits with my eating. I am probably getting this “opportunity” to practice because I am blogging about mindfulness this month. Thich Nhat Hanh says that if you ask for more patience, God does not grant you patience, but circumstances for you to learn more patience. To me it feels like walking through mud with loose shoes on, but I think he’s right!

Over the past few days, I have felt a little vulnerable and sensitive. When I feel sad, overwhelmed or just pooped out, one of my less-than-perfect habits is to turn to food for comfort. This week was certainly one of those weeks! Luckily though, since last week’s blog was so fresh in my mind, I was able to use some of the principles mentioned. On the top of my mindfulness in eating list was to ask myself if I was actually hungry. The answer was not always yes, and last night, even though I was not at all hungry, I ate a heavy meal plus dessert anyways. Did I feel comforted? The funny thing is NO I didn’t. I felt exhausted and went to bed early. It may seem like I was defeated and that mindfulness was not my friend as I woke up early this morning feeling groggy and feeling lethargic. I wanted to just roll over and go back to sleep as that old vicious cycle of sluggishness was rearing its head. By Grace, the next thought came from my mindfulness training. The thought was more of a voice, and it said “if you go back to sleep you will wake up later feeling worse. If you get up now and do something, you will feel great in an hour.” I had to move fast before I could defeat that thought. So even though the last thing I wanted to do was exercise, I told myself, “just put on your clothes and shoes and get yourself out on the trail. You don’t have to run or even work hard, just get out there.” And guess what? It worked! I found myself feeling happier, juicier and much more energized by the time the one hour walk was over. I even ended up going further than I had planned and feeling quite accomplished when finished. I felt I had overcome a habit that would have stopped me in the past even though it seemed I had made a bad choice in the beginning.

The other practice I used quite a bit this week was to turn to prayer when my eating was a little “out of control”. Prayer has worked as a very strong practice for me as a way of overcoming my all too human weaknesses. Even though I am not religious, I find that calling upon a higher consciousness for support really works for me.

To sum up this week, here are four mindfulness in eating techniques that have worked for me:

1. Connect with loved ones. In moments of weakness be with people who will support your highest outcome.
2. Ask! Pray or ask for Grace and visualize your victory.
3. Just move it! If you feel like self sabotage is kicking in, put some shoes on and get outside.
4. Make a vision list or vision board of your physical goals and keep it somewhere you can see it. This will help to keep your goals in front of you.

I find that when I am with others it’s easy to only eat when I am hungry and to make the very best, healthy choices most of the time. For me, the challenge and the practice begin when I am alone and my day is done.

I asked my super healthy friend the other day if he has any “vices” left. I really didn’t expect him to say that he did, except for maybe chocolate. He told me that yes, he did. When he is not taking care of himself emotionally and spiritually (he does this by taking time to be alone, meditating and exercising), he finds that he over eats! “Wow,” I thought, “we are all so much more alike than we know.” Today I hope you will take comfort in knowing that sometimes, we are all less-than-perfect, and that is perfectly human!  Just keep practicing.

To mindfulness,

Elaina Love
www.ElainaLove.com
www.PureJoyAcademy.com

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+.