Lucid Nutrition

How Our Weight Affects Us.

I am going to be doing a number of posts exploring how our eating patterns impact our minds and our lives. The following post was written by a very dear friend of mine, who I am so glad I met online, Christine. She will be joining LucidNutrition.com on her path to health, struggles included. You will get to know more about her as soon as she sends me her bio!! But for now, I will just tell you that she is great!! So, Thanks Christine for sharing such intimate thoughts with us. We love you!

An Intimate Meditation Towards Change. Crossposted from ByFlutter.com

We have a socially acceptable bias against fat people. People with weight problems are made fun of, reviled, rejected and thought less of across the board.

In movies, on television, in our media we are bombarded with the stereotype that women with weight problems curl up and eat french fries and ice cream from a bucket and men with weight problems are the funny guys who play side kick to their more attractive friends.

The assumption is that weight carries with it, pound for pound an inverse relationship to worth. The more you weigh, the less you are worth, as a person. The larger you get, the less you are seen. The bigger your pant size, the less likely to be loved.This is not to say that society is to blame for the weight problems of people, but it certainly helps perpetuate the last great wall of prejudice as I see it.

For me, as I am ever flexing and extending an undulating and fluid mass of numbers on a scale, I see the difference in how the world responds. When I am thinner I get appreciative stares, people pay attention when I speak and ask intelligent questions. Doors are held open for me. I am permitted to linger in nice clothing stores without being derisively stared at by the shop girls. I am congratulated for slimming down and working hard.

As if, when I am heavy, I am lazy and slovenly. It seems absurd to pack on weight in order to hide. It is like balancing an elephant on a teacup. You would think that someone would notice that, but people walk past with not so much as a glance. Where as, the thinner me is rarely left without a word, or a proposition. I realize that this is why, when I start to approach a more socially acceptable weight, a switch flips in my brain. The big, red switch with the word “DANGER!” on it. Danger, I might be expected to be as intelligent as I am. Danger, people may expect more from me. Danger, I may have to ward off advances. Danger, I may no longer have a built in excuse to fail.

That’s it for me, really. I see how people bypass me at this weight and I can point my chubby finger and say, “See? They won’t LET me succeed.” When the truth is, it is fear of fully exposing myself that keeps me in my fat suit.This is a disorder. This is not a normal way of thinking. To obsess over food. To indulge then deny. To fluctuate tens of pounds. To control my body in such a way that is not healthy for it.

It destroys me to feel this way, to feel less than. To know exactly what I am doing in a very logical sense and to do it anyway. I am better than this and it is not good enough.

It just isn’t.

Junk Food Charm Bracelet by Nights Requiem.

We are indeed much more than we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are. ~ Adelle Davis

Once a Lucid Eater, Always Lucid.

Best Common Sense Advice From "Top" Diet Plans

 It's 2009. Almost February.  You are still trying to keep up with your new year's resolutions, aren't you? You want to lose serious weight fast, learn to eat healthier, and how to exercise, but don't have time to read every diet book out there. Well, Health.com has saved us time. They have put together a list that encapsulates the best tips from some of the top diet plans out there—for free—so you can start putting the helpful advice into action ASAP. Swimsuit time is just around the corner and so are all the weddings you've been invited to. 

Skinny Bitch: Best Tip: Read the ingredients. Don’t eat anything you can’t pronounce.

 The Biggest Loser Calorie Counter: Best Tip: Try circuit training. The effective, total-body workouts will help you lose weight and inches, as well as boost your metabolism, strengthen your bones, and may even make you more resistant to stress.

French Women Don't Get Fat: Best Tip: Add “petit” and “peu” to your French vocabulary; you can have a little of everything if you stick to small portions.

The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person Best Tip: Differentiate between cravings and hunger. If you can tell the difference between wanting to eat and needing to eat, you can cut out unnecessary calories.

The Thrive Diet: Best Tip: Eat less processed food. Sticking to whole, fiber-rich foods will help you lose weight.

You: On A Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management : Best Tip: Pick a range for your ideal weight instead of fixating on a particular number. You’ll feel guilt-free when faced with the small fluctuations that occur naturally day-to-day.

Dr. Phil's The Ultimate Weight Solution Food Guide: Best Tip: Reduce your exposure to unhealthy foods and to the cues that cause you to eat. You can’t eat what isn’t there! (in other words, stop buying junk or fast food when you know it is not worth your money)

The advice above also includes a "Worse Advice from Top Diet Plans" (according to Health.com) but some of those "worse tips"...I actually agree with...with some flexibility. For instance:

The Thrive Diet: Worst Tip???: Eat raw. Didn’t the raw food trend already come and go?

My answer to that question is NO NO NO. I mean does the girl in the picture above look like she is gonna give up that celery stick? The raw food 'trend' should not be labeled as one in my opinion. Every BODY needs whole raw unprocessed foods. I am not saying that one must eat ONLY raw foods, but I think it is so important for us to eat a greater amounts of fruits and veggies in their raw state. Fiber, Nutrients, Detox, Energy. Need I say more? Check out Dr. RitaMarie's Recipe E-books if you are new to raw foods. They will come in handy.

Skinny Bitch: Worst Tip???: You must eat vegan. The dairy- and animal-products-free lifestyle is just too extreme for many dieters.

Well, I don't think anyone must absolutely follow a vegan diet, but being a vegan since 2004 and feeling great makes me a lil' biased. So I will let you decide. I think you should try it for a month at least.  See if it makes a difference in the way you are feeling physically and the way that you think about animals. Here is a link to a great vegetarian starter kit which is always in my sidebar. Also, you should read World Peace Diet by Dr. Will Tuttle and see if that won't turn you into a vegan :)

You: On A Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management : Worst Tip???: Eat the exact same thing for lunch—and breakfast too if you can stand it—every day. The lack of variety may bore you to the point of giving up on your diet.

I am not so sure this is a bad idea. If you were to eat the same thing everyday for breakfast and lunch which includes a colorful array of mixed vegetables, fruits, and grains... how could it bore you? You get satisfaction every time you eat. You look forward to your bowl of oats in the morning, your blueberry on mixed greens salad for lunch. And whenever you do have other (healthy) foods, your taste buds will be soooo stoked. You will learn to appreciate your taste buds and the cravings for the unhealthy junk will most likely be obsolete; vanished. Also, you might be just like my guy who actually LOVE's eating the same thing everyday for breakfast: Bowl of oatmeal, slice of HealthNut lightly buttered, with a whole banana and a cup of fresh squeezed juice, sometimes a small apple.

The Biggest Loser Calorie Counter:: Worst Tip??: Start your own competition à la Biggest Loser, complete with group meetings and registration fees. If you’re into the kitsch, go for it, but without producers, camera crew, and a six-figure salary, it’s not worth the trouble.

I think the underlying point here is to create a support system of people who can encourage one another to stick to their healthier diets and lifestyles. Beyond the registration fees and winning a lump sum of money in this silly tip, is the notion that humans are by nature compassionate beings who will oftentimes do a better job of achieving their goals with the help of a community (even if it is only you, your best friend, and your sister on the healthy transformation mission) For the record, I've never seen an episode of The Biggest Loser, so I might be completely off here.

The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person Worst Tip??: Just say, “Oh well.” If you’re really dreading going to the gym, or just dying to have a few more fries, are you really going to be able to just say, “Oh well,” and stick to the rules of your diet?

Here's is what I take from this tip. Do NOT get so down on yourself when you give in to a temptation, craving, or the sweet pressure in Grandma's kitchen for pan dulce or homemade buttery tortillas. Just DO NOT let it happen as frequently as you let it before. It's all about finding a comfortable balance for you and staying focused. No person, book, or TV show can tell you exactly what you should be eating and when. A magazine, blog, not even a doctor, can know your body the way you do OR are learning to.

I think it's safe to say that  people can begin to suffer from serious mental illnesses (i.e. depression) all because of their supposed dieting failures. Many people start to feel like they have no control over their bodies and lose touch with the reality that they DO indeed have the will power to switch from bad eating habits to GREAT ones. Many people (men, women, and sadly children) have turned the comfort, joy, & energy food brings us into an addiction. The problems escalates. Pounds & toxins added to the body makes a person less likely to work out, to feel their bodies. I think it is natural for a person to want to lose excess weight gain. Your body can not handle being sick anymore. It wants and needs to be free. You are your body. You want to be free. 

And If you don't feel like exercising today or tomorrow, you may be lacking some key nutrients. Eat more greens. Drink more water. Nothing from a box. Nothing from a bag. Unless of course you picked up some nuts, seeds, or dried fruit (in moderation). Tell me if I am missing something...is there anything else that is TRULY healthy that comes from a bag or a box? I dare you to come up with something

Good food makes us happy. Healthier food makes us happier. Bring awareness to your plate. Be a lucid eater.

Big Food Trend Predictions for 2009

The following list of Big Food Trends and Emerging Trends was predicted by The Food People, UK's leading food trends and food innovation business. It seems like many of their forecasts have already gained some momentum here in the states, but it is still an interesting read. I added my notes and links in italics.

Big Trends for 2009

* Comfort food - Incorporating retro, nostalgia, feel good foods of the past. (ex. Jamba Juice will start selling steel cut oats with fruit for breakfast. Better option for those fast food mornings)

* Scratch cooking and home baking - More cooking from raw ingredients, also more breads, tray bakes, not just because it saves money but also it makes you feel great. (More Vegan/Raw Food Potlucks and Meet-ups)

* Less protein - It is expensive and also there are so many possibilities with vegetable accompaniments. (Thank you World Peace Diet!)

* Thirst for food skills and knowledge - More entry level cookery schools teaching the basics and how to get the best out of what you have. (for example: The Natural Epicurean Culinary School, Austin TX)

Restaurant and farm alliances - Savvy restaurateurs teaming up with farms to bring the consumers food that they know and trust. (For example: Casa de Luz, Austin TX)

* More miniaturization - Things getting smaller – greater choice, less cost, more variety, more cute factor. (The vegan cupcake revolution has been here!)

* Health - Instant nutrition, ultra low calorie, health through natural choices (ex. FDA's approval of Stevia. Finally! )

Emerging Food trends for 2009:

• Beauty foods - Foods that enhance your inner or outer beauty. (Get sweet with fruit)
  

• Raw food - Foods that are raw and retain all of their natural goodness, raw food diets (I am now addicted to green smoothies after participating in a free 3 day cleanse with Dr. Ritamarie a couple of weeks ago. I highly recommend anybody with $97, a blender, and a very strong desire to take their health life to a brighter level to Sign Up for a  7 day cleanse. You are worth it and she is awesome and will give you all the inspiration ad motivation you need to get you through it.
  

• Free food - Incorporating foraging, freeganism, growing your own.
  

• Bistronomics - Avant garde cuisine at bistro prices by using what’s in season, not throwing anything away and using modern cooking techniques

• Community food projects - Power to the people, groups of people sharing land, skills and knowledge to share food within communities (here's a list of Community Gardens in Austin, TX)
  

• Anti (this and that) foods - Foods that fight certain conditions and aliments. (I don't see this trend ever going away, sometimes it can be annoying)
  

• Fun - Introduction of more fun, personality and informality into brands and the dining room
  

• Multi sensory emotional food experiences - Use of alternative techniques to cook, serve, present food to deliver a more all encompassing food experience that is multi sensory. (For ex. several upscale & risky restaurants are popping up in places like New York that are un lit; pitch black rooms allowing for customers to "focus" on the food. Interesting? ) 

Without clarity, we don't know we need to change. Without willingness, we cannot adopt better habits. Without discipline, we cannot keep from falling back into the old habits.

Voices for Animal Rights: To Become a Vegan

The following excerpts are from an interview by David Horton with Will Tuttle, author of The World Peace Diet, for Abolitionist-Online.

This animal thing, some get it, others don’t. Is it lack of compassion or is the prospect of making such a radical change to (vegan) eating ( as opposed to just what you feel like) too much to take on board?

The more I’ve studied this, David, the more I feel that it’s a minor miracle that anyone is able to question our culturally-imposed eating habits deeply enough to go vegan. Across cultures, and across species, all animals take what their parents and culture teach them is their proper food very seriously. What’s true is that our culture’s meals strongly contradict our inherent compassion, so we need early and constant pressure to force us to see certain non-human animals as food rather than as fellow beings we would naturally respect and care about. It’s the example of other vegans, especially vegan communities of one kind or another (even on-line communities), that provides the most powerful psychological and cultural force for healing and liberation.

In your book, you explain how animals have a purpose, how they establish social order and express their natural intelligence. If we don’t acknowledge their sentience and sophistication is it because we eat them and support their exploitation?

Yes, this is a basic psychological mechanism that we automatically engage whenever we find ourselves in a position where we are knowingly harming others. Our natural compassion can’t stand it. So if it’s “food animals,” then we have to psychologically distance ourselves from them, using all kinds of stories that are supplied by our culture’s institutions (religion, science, education, family, government, media, etc.) that these animals were put here by God for us to use, that we’d die in 24 hours of a protein deficiency if we didn’t eat them, that they don’t have souls, and so forth. We do the same thing for “enemies” we think we have to kill in wars – reduce them to mere “insects” or “vermin” in our minds so that we can harm them. Same with people we enslave. In The World Peace Diet I refer to this as our culture’s underlying mentality of reduction and exclusion. It is ritually injected into us through our culture’s daily meals and all the stories surrounding our routine mistreatment of animals used for food.

Chapter 7 is about the Domination of the Feminine and you cite two prime examples: the hen and the cow. “Dominating others requires us to disconnect from them.” Is that what men do when they try to dominate women? Is it the arrogance of our species, the ease with which we are able to disconnect? Is this the biggest mistake of our species?

Yes, I think that this is probably the biggest mistake we humans make. And yes, it plays out in relationships between men and women, and also in many other ways as well. Domination requires disconnection and also reduction. Most women know how it is to be looked at as “meat” and as men, we are taught early on to look at women in that way, as we are taught to look at certain animals as well. I would not say, though, that it is easy for our species to disconnect. We’ve got to remember the ferocity of the programming we endured!! It’s tremendously powerful! From the time we lose our mother’s breast, we are forced to eat the flesh and secretions of brutalized animals two or three times every day, in the most important, relentless, ongoing rituals in our culture: our daily meals. We are taught continually to disconnect the reality on our plate from the reality that it took to get it onto our plate. Yes, we are masters at disconnecting, but only because we have been forced to practice it rigorously and religiously since birth. We could also be masters at connecting if we were taught those skills! The wealthy elite only maintains its power because the masses eat foods of death, disconnectedness, and enslavement, and reaps its own enslavement. We will be liberated when we liberate those who are at our mercy!

There’s more toxins coming into our bodies from animal products than from plant foods. Why?

That’s a big question! Animal foods concentrate physical toxins. For example, the legal limits on pesticides sprayed on crops fed to humans are stricter than on crops fed to animals. All pesticide residues concentrate in the fat, flesh, milk, and eggs of animals, especially the way animals are forced to eat slaughterhouse waste and the feces and flesh of other animals in today’s factory farms. Fish concentrate toxins to an even greater degree, as I explain in my book. On top of all that, there are the heterocyclic amines, carcinogenic substances formed by cooking animal flesh. In addition, there are the basic components of animal flesh: saturated fat, cholesterol, and acidifying animal protein, all three being now understood to be basically toxic to our human physiology. On top of all that, there are what I call in The World Peace Diet the metaphysical toxins: we are eating the vibrations of grief, terror, anxiety, despair, and panic. No wonder the biggest demand for pharmaceuticals is not just for statin drugs, digestive drugs, insulin, and other drugs to fight the physical devastation of animal-sourced foods, but drugs for depression, rage, and insomnia! We become what we eat and what we practice!

All through your book you come back to this one matter of the vital connection we all have with our culture and the natural world in the food we eat. “It all begins with our most fundamental social ritual: eating”. Can you say something about our meals and the way they hold us back?

Our meals of hidden violence are devastating our earth, torturing millions of beautiful and sensitive animals daily, and laying waste the inner landscape of our thoughts and feelings. The wars, diseases, neuroses, and crimes we see around and within us have their genesis in the wars, diseases, neuroses, and violent crimes we inflict on billions of animals routinely and completely unnecessarily. The basic sense of disempowerment people feel to change “the system” stems from their daily meals, which are the rituals that keep us as domineering commodifiers, enslaved ourselves!

I am seeing more and more people “get” the message of The World Peace Diet and begin to share it with others, and this is the foundation of the healing of our world and of our culture and ourselves. We will continue to be merely ironic in our quests for peace and justice and wisdom until we make the connections that are on our plates and authentically come into alignment with our true nature of compassion and share this uplifting and liberating understanding with others. I encourage everyone to teach a community course on The World Peace Diet, and to spread the message of compassion, not just for ourselves, but for all living beings and all future generations. As they say, “We are the ones we are waiting for!”

Mindful Eating Inspiration

By Thich Nhat Hanh

Mindful eating is very pleasant. We sit beautifully. We are aware of the people that are sitting around us. We are aware of the food on our plates. This is a deep practice. Each morsel of food is an ambassador from the cosmos. When we pick up a piece of a vegetable, we look at it for half a second. We look mindfully to really recognize the piece of food, the piece of carrot or string bean. We should know that this is a piece of carrot or a string bean. We identify it with our mindfulness: "I know this is a piece of carrot. This is a piece of string bean." It only takes a fraction of a second.

When we are mindful, we recognize what we are picking up. When we put it into our mouth, we know what we are putting into our mouth. When we chew it, we know what we are chewing. It's very simple.

Some of us, while looking at a piece of carrot, can see the whole cosmos in it, can see the sunshine in it, can see the earth in it. It has come from the whole cosmos for our nourishment.

You may like to smile to it before you put it in your mouth. When you chew it, you are aware that you are chewing a piece of carrot. Don't put anything else into your mouth, like your projects, your worries, your fear, just put the carrot in.

And when you chew, chew only the carrot, not your projects or your ideas. You are capable of living in the present moment, in the here and the now. It is simple, but you need some training to just enjoy the piece of carrot. This is a miracle.

I often teach "orange meditation" to my students. We spend time sitting together, each enjoying an orange. Placing the orange on the palm of our hand, we look at it while breathing in and out, so that the orange becomes a reality. If we are not here, totally present, the orange isn't here either.

There are some people who eat an orange but don't really eat it. They eat their sorrow, fear, anger, past, and future. They are not really present, with body and mind united.

When you practice mindful breathing, you become truly present. If you are here, life is also here. The orange is the ambassador of life. When you look at the orange, you discover that it is nothing less than fruit growing, turning yellow, becoming orange, the acid becoming sugar. The orange tree took time to create this masterpiece.

When you are truly here, contemplating the orange, breathing and smiling, the orange becomes a miracle. It is enough to bring you a lot of happiness. You peel the orange, smell it, take a section, and put it in your mouth mindfully, fully aware of the juice on your tongue. This is eating an orange in mindfulness. It makes the miracle of life possible. It makes joy possible.

The other miracle is the Sangha, the community in which everyone is practicing in the same way. The woman sitting next to me is also practicing mindfulness while eating her breakfast. How wonderful! She is touching the food with mindfulness. She is enjoying every morsel of her breakfast, like me. We are brother and sister on the path of practice. From time to time we look at each other and smile. It is the smile of awareness. It proves that we are happy, that we are alive. It is not a diplomatic smile. It is a smile born from the ground of enlightenment, of happiness.

That smile has the power to heal. It can heal you and your friend. When you smile like that, the woman next to you will smile back. Before that, maybe her smile was not completely ripe. It was ninety percent ripe. If you offer her your mindful smile, you will give her the energy to smile one hundred percent.

When she is smiling, healing begins to take place in her. You are very important for her transformation and healing. That is why the presence of brothers and sisters in the practice is so important. This is also why we don't talk during breakfast. If we talk about the weather or the political situation in the Middle East, we can never say enough.

We need the silence to enjoy our own presence and the presence of our Dharma brothers and sisters. This kind of silence is very alive, powerful, nourishing, and transforming. It is not oppressive or sad. Together we can create this kind of noble silence.

Sometimes it is described as "thundering silence" because it is so powerful.

Magic in Eating

excerpt from Bob Makransky’s book Magical Living

We all know that "you are what you eat"; and many of us are becoming aware that this maxim has a spiritual as well as a physical dimension. We know we feel better when we eat well – when our bodies, rather than our minds, dictate what we should or should not eat. Many of us have experienced a complete change in attitudes and outlook on life by simply changing our diets. Whole bodies of thought, such as the Jewish kosher laws and macrobiotics, have evolved to stress the spirituality of food, to emphasize its sacredness.

The "spiritual quality of food" is not a metaphor: food contains a light fiber energy which is as important to our sustenance as vitamins and proteins, but which is not susceptible to chemical analysis. And just as the vitamin and protein content of food can be diminished by processing or overcooking, so too can the light fiber content (energy) of food be diminished by disrespect.

Light fibers can be thought of as good feelings. When we feel good, we can literally glow. When a food plant or animal feels good, it glows.

Love from the Roots

Not all cultures have been so cut off from their true feelings about food as ours is today. Many Native American tribes had a deep awareness that they were a part of what they ate – e.g., the buffalo. They lived with the buffalo, followed the buffalo, prayed to the buffalo. They were one with the buffalo, and thus to them eating was a sacrament. Many modern Native Americans maintain this same attitude of reverence towards maize.

But in America today, we mine food, extract the nutrients out of it, strip it, rape it, and throw it away. What little nourishment for the spirit is left in food, by modern agricultural and processing methods, is completely destroyed by the way we eat it. We use food in a most disrespectful manner – stuffing it in gluttonously whether we are hungry or not, whether it tastes good or not, whether we really want it or not; and then we waste food as if to piss on it. Like sex, we have turned the sacredness of eating from a joyous, spiritual act -- into a source of great shame.

Eat for Nourishment, Gently

An infant doesn’t conceive of his food or his mother as something separate from himself; he doesn’t feel more important than his food, and therefore doesn’t feel disconnected from it. When an infant eats, he mingles with his food: he touches it, he gets to know how it feels. It’s pretty, it satisfies his hunger, it makes him happy. But when an infant first sees adults eat, it makes him feel shame. This is because we adults don’t identify with our food. It’s as if our food is not a part of us, like what we are putting into our mouths is something foreign to ourselves. We attack our food as if it is separate from us, and it is the act of eating which allows us to use it. We bite it off in huge mouthfuls like ravenous hyenas, chew it and swallow it with gulps of contempt. We come together in great rituals like Thanksgiving and Christmas in which we engage in orgies of gluttony and wastefulness to jointly validate our shame, all the while calling it glory. And that lie makes us even more ashamed; so we lie about that one too, and call it glory. And so on. And nobody will look at what they are really feeling, because if being pigs has brought us glory, why look at what pigs we are?

Respect your Food

While it is true that the original light fiber energy in food can be vitiated by disrespect anywhere along the line – in handling, processing, cooking, or eating – it is also true that light fiber energy, being more flexible than vitamins or proteins, can be restored to food by respecting it and treating it as sacred – by sort of ritualizing the activities connected with it.

First of all, it’s important that you try to grow some of your own food, even if it is only a couple of pots of herbs or jars of sprouts grown on a window shelf. Try to throw in at least a pinch of homegrown herbs or sprouts into every meal you cook (not necessarily into every dish, but every meal). Can you visualize yourself casting fibers of light (positive energy) into the food as you add your home-grown herbs or produce? Can you, in your own way, bless your key, staple ingredients – salt, flour, sugar, honey, etc?

Be a Happy Cook

Observe that you should never be in a bad mood when you cook, nor must you eat food cooked by someone who is in a bad mood, or even an indifferent one. A burger from a McDonald’s where the employees are a light, happy bunch can actually be better for you than a plate of organic brown rice from a vegetarian restaurant where the cook is bored or is angry at the manager.

You can easily tell when food has bad vibes. It’s not that it tastes bad per se; rather, it feels wrong or out of place in your mouth – there’s no incentive to chew it and swallow it. Whenever you get a feeling like this about something you are eating, spit it out. Don’t swallow it, not even to be polite. Much processed, convenience food tastes like this – bland, insipid, effete, enervated – but people get so used to this kind of food that they can’t tell the difference any more. They just assume that feeling lousy all the time is how you’re supposed to feel, and they cease to notice that it's their food which is bringing them down.

Finally, talk to your food. Thank it as if it were alive and could understand you. Not a long conversation, just a simple acknowledgment that you are aware you are in the presence of something that is worthy of your respect, and from whom you wish a favor. You wouldn’t ask a human being for a favor in a surly, disrespectful manner. On the contrary, you would ask humbly and respectfully, and feel gratitude for the favor when granted.

And this is how you must address your food: take small bites, chew it slowly and mindfully, eat in silence paying attention to the act of eating, and never eat until you are full.

Oprah Finding Her Way

First of all, I don't watch television. But the other day when I was at the gym I went for the lightest magazine on the rack to help get me through my elliptical climb (it was too hot outside) and I had to avoid glancing up at Fox News blaring on the screen above me. How could I resist Oprah's beaming smile on the cover of the May 2008 issue? I know, I know, it's so mainstream. But you know what? I read it from cover to cover and shhh! I even took it home with me. I was astonished to find legit ways for provoking a personal health transformation. I'm not just talking about those Get Skinny Quick Tricks, but more about the subtle ways the articles were leading to  peace in innermost states. I thought "Yay, Finally!" and "Wow! The global healing phenomenon is accelerating so rapidly."

I was happy to think that there was something in this magazine that my busy bee Mother might pick up on. Or an article my country life Grandmother Hazel would cut out and give back to me. Or possibly, even just one sentence that could stick in my nonchalant sister Nova's head.

You see, I already know this movement is strong digitally. It's everywhere online. People are waking up and sharing ways to do so. But NOW it's on the tele AND right where it needs to be: Oprah Winfrey. No matter what you think of her, this can not be a bad thing. She has a huge following!

Guess what? A couple of days after I read the May edition, Dr. Will Tuttle sent out a newsletter stating his enthusiasm for Oprah's 21 Day Cleanse in accordance with Kathy Freston and inspired by Eckhart Tolle. For the record, I have never read either of their works. Anyway, Will asked me to publish the letter to his web blog. (I edit, post, and add pictures to WorldPeaceDiet.com) You should Read it.



I think Will and his wife Madeleine are passionate beings, true to their cause, and doing an outstanding job of spreading the words, energy, and motivation for people to eat spiritually healthy for increased social harmony. They are constantly on the road giving lectures. When will they be in your area? Overall, they help people bring consciousness to their dinner tables. To bring awareness to it all...This, is what Lucid Nutrition is about, so I support 100% of their generous efforts.

The question is: Can Oprah Winfrey tolerate ALL the truth about food? Would reading The World Peace Diet change her forever? Or will she carry on after her 'cleanse', back to her same ol' eating habits? I honestly think not. We are all ever evolving.

Good Luck Oprah Winfrey. You have finally caught even me.

Changing the World from the Inside Out

SAVE THE DATE: May 31, 2008 — 11am–5pm EDT

Dear Friend,

Please join Ken Wilber, Deepak Chopra, and Andrew Cohen on May 31 for an unprecedented 6-hour internet broadcast, entitled, “Changing the World from the Inside Out.”Your hosts, Jeff Carreira, Director of Education for EnlightenNext, and Elizabeth Debold, Senior Editor of What Is Enlightenment? magazine, will guide you through 6 continuous hours of fascinating dialogues and discussion with leading visionaries in the field of conscious evolution.

The only way to participate in this event is by signing up as an Evolutionary. Signing up is free and takes less than a minute. You will be joining 5,000 (and growing) like-minded individuals from around the world, all inspired by the perspective of Evolutionary Enlightenment and other cutting-edge approaches to spiritual development and cultural transformation. I sincerely hope you'll join me and our international network of evolutionaries for this exciting and rare opportunity. 

Thank you for your time and passion for change.

  Sincerely,

Jeff Carreira

"Man's creative struggle, his search for wisdom and truth, is a love story." Iris Murdoch

Why you should know the Health Ranger

Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, is serious about saving this world from ill health on all fronts. He is a man with a mission of teaching people how to be healthy; a holistic nutritionist who overcame obesity, crippling pain and chronic disease using natural health strategies he freely shares with others.

Generally Mike Adams suggests avoiding the following:

• Sodium nitrite (causes cancer)
• MSG / monosodium glutamate / yeast extract (causes obesity and nerve damage)
• Hydrogenated oils (causes heart disease)
• High-fructose corn syrup / sugar / sucrose (causes diabetes and obesity)
• Artificial colors (causes behavioral disorders)
• Aspartame (causes brain damage, optic nerve damage)
• Homogenized milk fats (cause heart disease and cardiovascular disorders)
• Red meat (absolutely no beef, pork, or other red meat)
• Cows' milk, cheese and dairy products
• Soft drinks, junk foods, snack foods or fast foods
• Processed foods such as cookies, crackers, frozen dinners, etc.
• Fried foods
• White flour and any foods containing white flour
• Refined carbohydrates such as breads, cereals, pastries, pizza dough, etc.
• Fruit juice drinks
• Brand-name laundry detergents (loaded with toxic fragrance chemicals)
• Popular deodorants (contain aluminum)
• Fluoride toothpaste (fluoride is a dangerous ingredient)

And

• Absolutely no prescription drugs or pharmaceuticals whatsoever.
• No visits to M.D.s or western medical doctors (visits naturopathic physicians only)
• No following the USDA's ridiculous Food Guide Pyramid (Download the Honest Food Guide below)
  
• No steroids, andro supplements or other questionable bodybuilding supplements
• No diet pills, stimulants or fat burning pills
• No fad dieting

His recipe for Health Success includes:

• Quinoa (boiled, used as cereal or soup base)
• Tofu, soymilk and soy products
• Healthy oils from: avocados, extra virgin coconut oil, macedamia nuts, cashews, almonds, peanuts, flax oil, olive oil
• Daily breakfast with Jenny Lee Supergreens shake: 2 cups soymilk + 1 scoop supergreens powder + 1 tablespoon aloe vera gel + 1 tablespoon coconut oil + coral calcium powder + stevia + chocolate rice protein + natural peanut butter
• Superfoods such as chlorella, spirulina, sea vegetables, broccoli sprouts, sunflower sprouts, wheat grass, and various greens powders
• Massive quantities of vegetables: salad greens, cilantro, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, snow peas, okra, tomatoes, zucchini, etc.
• Raw, fresh fruits, especially berries (massive quantities of blueberries)
• Healing foods such as garlic, ginger, onions, etc.
• Daily doses of nutritional supplements: whole food supplements, organic vitamins, Standard Process tablets, Alive! supplements, vitamin C
• Daily doses of rainforest herbs: Amazon herbs, chanca piedra, etc.
• One hour of full exposure to intense natural sunlight on a near-daily basis with no sunscreen (important for vibrational nutrition and essential for mental health, bone density, vitamin D production, etc.)
• Other various nutritional and herbal supplements depending on need

Be sure to Download the Honest Food Guide.

At the end of the day, if we were to follow The Health Ranger's lead and guidelines for healthy living, we would see that his work is instrumental and healing (as extreme as it may seem). Mike Adams provides enlightenment in the form of digital books via Truth Publishing, his media company, with titles such as: The 7 Laws of Nutrition,The Five Soft Drink Monsters, Spam Filters for Your Brain, Grocery Warning: Avoid the Groceries that Cause Disease, and How to Halt Diabetes in 25 Days. These information packed titles are to be discovered through his website. There you will also find free e-books available for download such as, How to end Cruelty to Animals, People, and Nature; An Introduction to Cell Foods; Superfoods for Optimum Health: Chlorella and Spirulina; and the Healing Power of Sunlight & Vitamin D. Amazingly, he also has time to provide us with daily emails and 1500+ articles through News Target. Thanks Health Ranger!!

 

The Consumer Wellness Center.

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The World Peace Diet

The World Peace Diet by Dr.Will Tuttle is the first book to make explicit the invisible connections between our culture, our upbringing, our personal food choices, and the source of all humanity's sufferings. Dr. Tuttle offers a plethora of ways to make a positive transformation in our individual and collective lives by first and foremostly following a vegan diet.

On April 16, 2007, I attended a book signing for The World Peace Diet authored by Dr. Will Tuttle. The event which was generously and kindly brought to us by the Society of Peace was certainly a night to remember. Delicious vegan foods such as tofu egg rolls and tamales with pineapple tomato sauce were provided by Banyan Foods. (Please visit The Society of Peace website for further event listings and volunteer opportunities)

Posted below is the video from the book signing of Dr. Tuttle demonstrating an intricate explanation of his book, The World Peace Diet. You will find it evident that Dr. Tuttle is not just trying to sell us another "diet" book; rather he has zealously set out with the honorable mission of bringing compassion into our lives and awareness to our plates.

Support Lucid Nutrition! Buy through Amazon today:)

I dedicate this post to the memory of Tomahawk.

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