July 6, 2020
What did I eat today? That is a question I am to answer each day for my nutrition coach and accountability partners. In recent years, with the onset of Social Media; all of sudden it was “cool” to take photos of your food. I’ll admit, I have been known to take a photo of my food when dining out.
Posting photos of food has taken on new meaning for me in recent months. I found I was now making my clean, whole food meals every day at home; and working on mindful eating and nutrition. Since we cannot get together in person, we share during Zoom meetings and through our Facebook and Email groups. I began setting a place for myself each night; to rival any of my favorite restaurants. I use various tablecloths or woven fabric place mats; along with vintage cloth napkins in antique rose print. I always have a candle, or two, or three lit. There is a special goblet of to hold my beverage to accompany my meal. Most times it is a glass of wine. During weeks when I am down to bare essentials of clean eating for my clean slate, my glass contains my other favorite beverage: water. I create a colorful, enticing plate of magic. Then I take a photo of my plated food and setting, and then settle in to focus on savoring each bite.
So what did I eat today?
It starts with my Morning Elixir; which is 1-2 Tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar and 1-2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice in hot water. I delightfully select one of my mugs, that used to be for coffee. I have not had coffee since March 23... and I am not missing it. My accountability buddy LOVES coffee, so that was the first thing she added back when identified foods and drinks that best fuel our unique bodies. I find using my coffee mugs for my Elixir gives me my morning ritual feeling. Today’s mug was my butterfly mug with the saying,
“just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly…”
After my Elixir I wait an hour or so before my first food of the day. I try to hold off until 11 or 12 noon. As I understand it, that gives my body more time to rest from the last food the day before.
Today’s lunch was a smoothie. I made it with spicy arugula from my garden, a red carrot, a couple sticks of celery tops with the leaves, a small pink lady apple, half a banana and I used the reserved beet water that I saved after boiling my beets last week.
Late afternoon I often need a snack. Today I had one of my homemade Raw Cacao Bliss Energy Balls. I have been perfecting my recipe to satisfy my love for chocolate. My food processor, which I barely used before all this mindful eating, is getting a real workout. This batch of Energy Balls contains pulverized cashews, pistachios, almonds, hemp hearts, unsweetened flaked coconut, medjool dates, cashew butter, coconut butter, maca powder, mesquite powder, raw cacao powder. I form the mix into little balls and roll them in cacao nibs, put them in the refrigerator. The crunch from the nibs and the blend of sweet and salty and cacao does the trick. I love these and I know exactly what is in them.
Dinner was a bowl of colors and textures and flavors. Quinoa made with the reserved liquid from the black beans I made last week. Then black beans, corn, sautéed onion, orange bell pepper and yellow squash from my garden. A half sliced avocado and a dollop of fresh pico de gallo. I’m not having dairy this week; however, my daughter is... so she had a dollop of sour cream with her bowl.
Dessert, because I do have a sweet tooth, was overnight gluten-free oatmeal with chia seed pudding; made with cashew milk and flavored with cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, salt, vanilla. Sometimes I top it with fruit, like a banana.
Along with sharing what I eat each day, my mindful nutrition journey includes a journal... to really examine and learn about my relationship with food.
My understanding of mindful nutrition is not about fasting. More so, it is eating with greater awareness and care to allow me to:
take personal responsibility for my nourishment and promote personal discipline,
keep in mind those in the world who lack staples to survive,
and put greater focus on gratitude and God, who gives the gift of food.
I am seeing great results from mindful eating for my physical, and my spiritual health. And yes, there are times when I choose to have treats; and that, too, is a mindful act.
I offer for prayer this night, a version of The Five Contemplations by Thich Nhat Hanh.
This food is the gift of the whole universe, the earth, the sun, the sky, the stars and the hard and loving work of numerous beings.
May we eat with mindfulness and gratitude so as to enjoy every bite.
May we transform our unwholesome mental formations, especially those that cause us harm, as they indirectly harm all we touch.
May we keep our compassion alive by eating in such a way that we reduce the suffering of living beings, preserve our precious planet, and reverse the process of global warming.
We accept this food so that we may realize the path of understanding and love.
— Thich Nhat Hanh (via Cape Sangha)
