Eating Right

Here we go again! One more post about diet.

At the outset, I would like to say that there is NOTHING new that you will see here. You know everything already.

I might even be plagiarizing this since all I know is either from talking to/ observing others and from reading articles.

Another note: I am not a dietitian or a doctor. If you have health complications, I suggest you check with them before you read any further.

Then WHY am I writing this?

Because we all know what we are doing wrong and what we should be doing to set things right. Correct?

Yes. However, are we able to do it?

Unless we repeatedly suggest this to one’s subconscious, it just does not stick.

For some, a diet may be difficult to follow given an underlying physiological or psychological condition.

Will I say cut out all your carbohydrates and sugar? NO!

What I am going to say is profoundly simple. Yet it will be very difficult at first.

It will be difficult for achieving this continuously this for the first 10 days.

Even if you do not; but stick to this process, over time one will realise that this is indeed a simple way to improve one aspect of one's life.

30 minutes before your meal, have a glass of warm water.

When you eat, and you may eat as many times as you may feel hungry, you must cut out all distractions (no mobiles, books...NOTHING) and spend 1 minute looking at the food you are going to eat.

If you have things running in your mind, DO NOT EAT!

You may have a prayer at the food table that you can say at this time but all the while taking in the sights and smells of the food.

Then you pick up a portion of food that is half your little finger's length and not more than two fingers in width and put it in your mouth.

Once the food reaches your mouth, keep it there for 5 seconds while your saliva rolls around it.

Then chew the food THIRTY TWO times. Yes! 32 magical times. You may do this fast or slow. Some say it is better to be slow.

Once the food is a complete paste, let it slide down your throat slowly.

Wait for 5 seconds and then pick the next portion.

Do this EXACTLY for all the morsels you eat.

If you are satiated or tired but there is still food in your plate, let that be.

You will relearn over time the portion sizes that work for you.

Do not drink water or any liquid during the meal.

If you have eaten in the manner I have mentioned, you will not need any liquid to help the food down your digestive tract.

Forty-five minutes to an hour later, drink two glasses of warm water.

This need not be plain water but not a fruit or vegetable juice or a sweetened drink either.

REMEMBER...NO cold water or drinks in between meals.

Read these preparations at the end.

Can you have cheat days? Every day can be a cheat day.

There is NO compulsion to stop the food you want to eat.

The only thing is that it is best to have a diet that goes something like 50% carbohydrates, 25% fat and 20% protein and 5% of vitamins and other minerals. All of these should have a good quantity of fibre to qualify as a balanced meal.

As an aside, did you know the one thing that our body needs a lot of and in variety during the digestion process? It is gut bacteria. The small intestine is where all the nutrients are separated and sent forth into the bloodstream and it is the task of the symbiotic bacteria living in our system to do this complex breakdown. For this one needs to eat a lot of and different kinds of fibre. Fibre also helps increase the feeling of fullness/ satiety much quicker than if one were to eat processed food. Maybe I shall cover the types of fibre in another post. In essence, varied fibre foods lead to varied bacteria. And we need upwards of a trillion of those little things in our gut!

Try to have your dinner early. However, it should not be later than 8:30 PM.

The later you eat, the more you need to stay awake. After you have your dinner, you need at least 2 hours before you hit the bed.

Why should it be no later than 8:30 PM? It is because one needs to be in deep sleep between 11 PM and 4 PM. This is the time when the body resets.

How much sleep is required? On occasions where one must, one should have a minimum of 5 hours. Normally sleep should not be less than 6 hours and 30 minutes…ideally for 8 hours!

Now that you have read until here, here is a simple thing you need to do.

Take "Number of Rooms in Your House" copies of the below text and paste it in each room. I suggest you do this even in your bathroom. It should be visible in front of you as you eat.

Ø  30 minutes before a meal: Drink a glass of warm water

Ø  Cut out all distractions when you sit to eat

Ø  Eat half-little finger length by 2-finger width morsels and roll it in the mouth for 5 seconds

Ø  Chew the food 32 times

Ø  Slowly gulp the food

Ø  Repeat till satiated

Ø1 hour after the meal: Have 2 cups of warm water

Below are some water-based drinks doing the rounds in India:

1.      Boil 1 litre of water with 1 tablespoon of dried ginger, 4 teaspoons of coriander seeds and a fistful of fresh tulsi leaves. Strain it and drink.

2.      Mix 1 glass of milk with 4 glasses of water and add 3 cloves of garlic in it. Boil it till it is reduced to 1 glass. Strain it and drink this instead of tea/ coffee.

3.      Add 1 teaspoon each of turmeric powder, asafoetida powder, fenugreek and fennel seeds with a few 'curry' leaves to 500 ml of water/ buttermilk and warm it for 5 minutes. Drink twice or thrice daily.

4.      Heat 4-5 black peppercorns and 1 large betel leaf in 1 litre of water, until it boils. Filter it and drink it through the day. Alternatively, tweak your regular glass of buttermilk by mixing the paste of 10 curry leaves in it.

5.      Take 10-15 leaves of holy basil (‘tulsi’), 4-5 of night jasmine ('parijata'), 4-5 of neem, 6 of wood apple ('bael'), and raw turmeric. Crush into a paste and boil in 1 glass, or 250 ml of water, and reduce the solution to half. Add jaggery and cumin powder. You should drink this after breakfast or lunch, and not on an empty stomach. Having this decoction once, a day for a week is enough. Do not have it for long periods, as it may be a burden on the liver.