In a previous blog post I wrote about the different kind of eating styles (read here Whatatarian are you?) and today I would like to focus on why would we make the choice to eliminate certain foods from our diet.
A Yogic diet is pretty much a Vegetarian diet. Why? Because everything that we eat, we not only eat the physical part (like the calories, nutrition, vitamins) but the energetic part as well.
Have you noticed how certain foods make you feel?
I find the following applying to me:
- Dairy/cheese makes me heavy. After days when I have cheese - I need more sleep. Now I value my 5 am wake up time so much, as that is my ME time, why would I wanna give that up?
- Alcohol makes me loose consciousness. Not in the obvious way, that I drink so much that I become unconscious, but you see where the word is coming from? Basically when I drink, I am not in charge anymore. So all limits go out of the window. As I have been meditating daily for 31 minutes since November 2022 to raise my consciousness - drinking would be pretty counter productive, and my body actually naturally says no to it now
- Cakes make me depressed. Period. I want it. I have it. The next day I wonder what hit me. This is still a work in progress I am afraid. Yogi Bhajan says that sugar takes away the radiance of a woman. Totally agree with this.
So what do I eat to feed my soul (or aspire to)?
As a Yogi thrives for balance, I follow the 80/20 rule in my diet. 80% of the time I eat clean, healthy, nourishing foods like below and 20% of the time I eat 'rubbish' as in cake/ice cream/fish & chips, you get the picture.
My healthy savoury breakfast may be gluten free brown bread (I am not gluten intolerant, just choose that option when I can) with salad with a topping of either
tuna mixed with coconut yoghurt, avocado-lemon-coconut yoghurt mix and a boiled egg, humus with grilled mushroom or Philadelphia light with smoked salmon.
A sweet breakfast would be oat banana pancakes with a dash of coconut yoghurt and berries, a vegan protein smoothie or sugar free granola with almond milk and fruit.
Lunch would be a Buddha bowl, mushroom bulgur with halloumi cheese, sweet potato bun with chestnut and mushroom burger, seafood risotto, baked eggplant with quinoa and tofu, zucchini spiral and pasta with oat cream spinach sauce and white fish, or something along these lines.
If you wish to add a snack, I have one in the early afternoon, some healthy options may be fruit with nuts, banana-spinach-oat-vegan protein smoothie, fruit with a square of dark chocolate, crisp bread with peanut butter and cucumber-pepper slices, chia pudding with a bit of fruit, crisp breath with humus and cucumber-pepper-celery slices, banana ice cream
Dinner would be just before 6 pm to make sure that I have a nice little window of intermittent fasting of 14 hours (6 pm - 8 am) . Dinner choices may be smoked salmon salad, carrot / broccoli / pumpkin soup, goat cheese-avocado-mango salad, ratatouille, mozzarella tomato with rocket, grilled asparagus-tomato-tofu with home made tzatziki of coconut yoghurt with cucumber and garlic.
In September 2018 I put on my Vision Board that I would like to eat for Peak Energy. Not to loose weight ( I had a few extra stones on me) put to eat in a way that gives me energy. The Lockdown of 2020 was a gift to our family as we found an amazing nutritionist who has introduced us to this kind of healthy eating, with amazing results - stones were dropping off, fun was had and we were at peak energy. Both our bodies and our souls felt nourished. So much so that we have stuck with this kind of eating ever since. Of course the above meals are just a few examples, but we do like to follow a regular weekly meal plan, which takes away so much pressure from figuring out what to cook, what to buy. You have even more energy as time is saved too.
How do you eat for peak energy?
Love
Dora