Day eighteen: contentment

It is difficult to explain how I feel during this cleanse, because I don't feel hungry, but also don't feel full.  Last night I was reading Judith Lasater's "Living Your Yoga" and I found the word.  The chapter I was reading was about greed, and she said, "A friend once translated a Chinese expression for me. 'Have you eaten to contentment?' This seems a powerful orientation to satiating hunger, be it for food or anything else.  It calls on us to shift our focus from filling an emptiness to experiencing contentment."  Hence, not being greedy with food, just because it is constantly readily available to us.

When we are experiencing contentment (or any emotion for that matter) we have no choice but to live in the moment.  There is no way to be laughing or crying without actually being in the present moment.  When Lasater mentions "filling an emptiness" with food, that emptiness could be actual hunger, or it could also be filling an emotional emptiness or eating out of boredom or habit.  Eating can be a way to fill our time, our bad day, our empty heart, our unhappiness with ourselves.  But the irony is, when we do eat this way, it only results in feeling even worse afterward.

Michael Pollan published a great little book called, "Food Rules," in which he lays out 64 rules of eating to be healthy and happy.  One of the rules that I think is important is, "Pay More, Eat Less."  Good, fresh food is expensive.  But by changing the types of food that you eat (less meat, more vegetables and fruits), and not eating as much, it is possible to spend about the same amount, and still buy organic.  Pollan says that eating less has repeatedly been shown to slow aging in animals, and many researchers believe it offers the single strongest link between diet and cancer prevention.  "We eat much more than our bodies need to be healthy, and the excess wreaks havoc - and not just on our weight."

Here are a few more of his food rules that are my favorites:
- Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third grader cannot pronounce. (e.g. ethoxylated diglycerides, calcium propionate, xanthan gum).
- Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.
- Don't ingest foods made in places where everyone is required to wear a surgical cap.
- It's not food if it arrived through the window of your car.
- Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the color of your milk.
- Buy smaller plates and glasses.
- Do all your eating at a table.
- Break the rules once in a while.

So enjoy the contentment of living in the moment while you eat.  Having liquid meals for two meals a day during this cleanse, makes you ENJOY the one meal of solid food.  Lunch is heavenly.  And contentment many times happens automatically when we have a delicious meal - taking the first bite and saying, "Mmmmm" and just lingering on the flavors and texture.  My grandfather used to say when I was little and wanting more dessert, "What, did you forget what it tastes like?"  The first bite is always the best.  The key is to simultaneously enjoy your food, and also be able to recognize when the feeling of contentment is approaching.  Remember, you can always eat the rest for lunch tomorrow.