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Your Menu for Mindful-Eating Pleasure
Created for your delight by Susan Tate
Breakfast
~Relaxing Breath Appetizer~
Enjoy three precious breaths right now and at the beginning of every meal. Taking three gentle breaths before you eat supports your body in accessing the calming parasympathetic nervous system, which paves the way for healthy digestion. You can add a blessing or sacred prayer here too, if you like.
~Break-the-Fast Early Morning Special~
This dish is for the healthy-minded person who wants to lose or maintain weight. Eat breakfast within an hour of rising; otherwise, your body goes into fight/flight mode, and thinks it’s starving. Stress hormones (including cortisol and adrenaline) rush into the stomach to support fight or flight rather than to digest food. That response can lead to weight gain.
~The Great Combination Plate~
Enjoy a delightful combination of quality protein, low-glycemic carbs (see resources at the end of the menu), healthy fats, and fiber to start your day. You’ll feel pleasantly full and won’t spike your blood sugar.
~Nutritious Nutritionals~
Choose pharmaceutical-grade vitamins from a company that uses Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). Be sure to take them as directed.
Beverages
~Wonderful Water~
Drink good, filtered water. It’s good for you in too many ways to count!
On the Side
~Fruit & Nut & Veggie Mix~
Unsalted nuts and seeds, colorful organic fruits, or crunchy veggies create a great snack. Some people plan ahead and prepare them “to go”.
~Vitamin D-Light~
Get out and enjoy the sunshine (without sunscreen) 20 minutes a day. You’ll enhance your mood and your body will benefit in so many ways!
~Blood Sugar Soother~
Keep your blood sugar level by choosing low-glycemic foods. Eat three meals and at least two healthy snacks a day. Note how great your mood is when you stabilize your blood sugar this way.
~Superfood Concentrate~
Dense with nutrients we can’t make ourselves, superfoods offer powerful anti-oxidants and are calorie sparse. Here are a few choices: blueberries, cacao nibs, gogi or açaí berries, greens, green tea, beans, wild salmon.
~80/20 Deal~
Choose really great, healthy foods at least 80 percent of the time and don’t fret or stress out about the other 20 percent.
Lunch
~Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner . . . or Lunch?~
(This may be one of the most valuable offerings on this menu.) Who’s showing up at the table? The critic, the little girl or boy, the lonely one, the victim, the sabotaging one, the perfectionist, the sad or depressed one, the rebellious teen? You may want to invite the wise loving one you really are. Observe your food choices lovingly.
~Whole-Fat Foods Pleasure~
(Does this really say WHOLE fat? Yes!) Delight in whole-fat organic dairy foods rather than highly processed low or nonfat dairy products. Yes, really, this is a good thing (that’s why the word “whole” is used . . .). You’ll eat less and feel more satisfied.
Happy Hour
~Delicious, Delightful Laughter~
Laugh for one minute. It doesn’t matter if you fake laugh or really laugh, the body creates the feel-good endorphins that produce a natural high that’s legal!
Dinner
~Blue Plate Special (+ Other Colors Too)~
Enjoy your inner artist by selecting a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables to enjoy with your healthy protein selection. Choosing foods from a rainbow of colors adds a variety of antioxidants to delight your plate, palate, and senses.
**Important Note: Kitchen closes at 8 p.m.!**
Don’t eat past 8 p.m. unless you are a sumo wrestler.
(That is what they do to add their weight!)
Dessert
~Three Bite Special~
Enjoy three bites of your most favorite dessert. You’ll find that you will savor the first and last bite the most, so no need to put too many extra bites in between. And if you do, don’t count them and totally enjoy the pleasure.
Bedtime Snack
~Vitamin G – Gratitude~
Elegantly ending your day with a serving of gratitude is an essential nutrient. Look for things all day long to be grateful for and recall at least three of them right before you drift off to sleep at night.
Resources
Wellness Wisdom: 31 Ways to Nourish Your Mind, Body, & Spirit by Susan Tate
The Slow Down Diet: Eating for Pleasure, Energy, & Weight Loss by Marc David
Create the Body Your Soul Desires by Dr. Karen Wolfe and Deborah Kern, PhD
Food Matters (A film available on Netflix I highly recommend.)