Discovering the Best Food for Good Energy

Treat your food as if it were an extension of yourself for a better outlook on life. (©Jose Ramón Aguirre/Cover)

What we eat reflects our attitudes, our thoughts and our overall wellbeing. Too often we leave food as the last man on the totem pole. We find ourselves too busy to make home cooked meals resulting in convenience foods, which last time I checked, not the best for your health. Food should never be thought of as an inconvenience, although sometimes that hunger does come at the most inopportune time.

One of the major issues we have today in modern society is that the industrialization of food has compromised the nutritious value we so desperately need. Most often we don’t pay attention to where our food is coming from, how it’s getting treated or how it will affect our bodies when we consume them. A recent increased awareness of healthy organic and wholesome eating has definitely set some forward motion. We are a large society that intuitively wants to feel good.

Consider how your food choices would change if instead of being annoyed at the inconvenience of eating, you were excited and grateful for actually being able to enjoy a meal? Treating your food as if it were an extension of yourself, because, ultimately, it is. If you had a bad attitude while you ate, consider what the results are when that food heads into your internal organs? We have all had the experience of eating when we are upset, or angry often times resulting in an unwanted bellyache. Sometimes, the results of this can have opposite effect? Maybe you seek to fill yourself with foods that are comforting? Sugary, starchy, and fatty options more often than not result in even more not so good feelings.

Most people say they gain weight when they are upset, or stressed out. This may have to do with what they are eating, or lack of movement or exercise due to a condition or just lack of motivation. There could be countless other reasons for this, however this is not what we are addressing here. This is about what sort of energy you are putting into your food, to what you are eating. This is about being kind to your food, and being kind to yourself. When you make your food choices with an intention of kindness and gratitude your food choices will tend to change.

As Yoga teacher I have learned and help teach how to maintain a mind, body and spirit connection. Learning how and why food plays such an important role has helped me understand the importance of this. Noticing how the food you are consuming makes you feel is key. Ask yourself to notice how your body reacts to what you are eating when your attitude is in a not-so-good place. Then notice if by changing your attitude, and your energy towards it, changes your foods choices. You never know, changing your attitude may actually make what your are eating taste better?