Heart and soul—the center of courage and self-love
The breastbone starting at the center point at the base or sternum—this is the area where bravery, courage, and pride tend to manifest themselves. What’s also there is self-love. You’ve heard—“Mary has a warm heart to do such a thing.” Or… “Barry has the courage to take on a big challenge in life.”— The energy of courage manifests itself in the ribcage right behind the sternum bone, sometimes referred to as the heart chakra.
By contrast, when a person has a depressed or compressed ribcage, that person decreases their capacity to experience not just self-love, but feeling cared about. Even though other people may care about them, one lowers their capacity for experiencing and feeling that love by closing the ribcage down. They limit their capacity to express caring and courage in life.
Here’s more: You will find that a person has a greater capacity for self-confidence if their ribcage is higher and fuller. As you go higher to the upper part of the breastbone you discover the part of the body that one holds the energy to stand up for one’s self. This is different from speaking up for yourself, which is higher, at the base of the throat, but standing up for one’s self. The energy of courageous compassion is what I’m talking about.
Picture a mama bear with her cubs and how protective she is over them. Imagine the unbridled fierceness that the mama bear has if some other predator or intruder gets near her cubs. She’ll kill that person, that other animal, to drive them away even if it means the cost of her life.
For you and me, this manifests itself in our willingness to take a stand for what we believe in for our, a cause, or for a person we really care about. That energy comes from this part of the ribcage—open it and you’ll expand. Compress it and you’ll be hesitant to speak, or stand, up for yourself, your loved ones, your livelihood, your cause.
The next area is just above the breastbone at what is referred to as the suprasternal notch, at the base of the throat. That is speaking up for one’s self.
When this area is open and free, you’ll be much more willing to say what’s on your mind, to express your truth, and you’ll be able to say it without hesitation. Certainly, tact and talent are part of how the delivery occurs, but the willingness to make the communication in the first place—that shows up at the base of the throat. Open it and you’ve got freedom. Close it and you’ll notice constriction and hesitation.
In fact, the chest and throat tend to close down when a person is making an uncomfortable communication. Imagine someone clearing their throat, coughing and facing down slightly. They’re trying to open this area so that their truth can come out. When this area is open and free, your message becomes much clearer, especially to yourself.
The ego gets stored in the neck. When the neck is rigid, short, pulled down, stiff, and pitched forward, the energy flow for that person gets constricted. When it’s constricted, it prevents the person from being realistic about who they are to themselves and to others. In the absence of a realistic self-view, people tend to paint a picture about themselves to camouflage the absence or confusion their self-esteem.
When you open this area and bring freedom back to your neck, not only your self-confidence, but also your self-perception is much more likely to be accurate, give you a sense of confidence, and one that is compatible with how other people actually perceive you. It’s likely to also complement how you fit into the universe you’ve built around yourself.
In conclusion: Self-love, self-confidence, courage, caring, and compassion are close cousins in the emotional body. The healthier you become, the more open and free your body will want to become. Today, make the commitment to stand up and speak up for yourself or someone or something you care about. You just might change the world!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Emotional Anatomy of the Face and Jaw
The face stores a wide variety of emotional energy. Stress, worry, joy, gladness, and passion—you can see it in a person’s face. What happens in a person’s history, or if the person doesn’t allow themselves to experience those feelings resulting from events, is, stress or something else builds up in particular muscles… Then you can see anger, un-cried tears, grief, stress. You can even “see” un-communicated thoughts when a person has pursed lips or clenches their teeth.
Anger and resentment, seething and vengefulness are stored in the jaws. Many of us know someone who seems angry most of the time. Look at their jaws. Are they tight? Bulging with veins? Short temper? Is that person overly reactive to the slightest provocation?.
The stress we store in our face and jaw can be harmful to us. Facial stress can age us prematurely. It can rob us of the sparkle in our smile, affect our speech and breathing, and send confusing messages to our friends and loved ones.
Many times, emotional stress can work the other way around as well. We can resolve a personal issue with a professional therapist. Sometimes, however, the person, or the negative energy from the issue may remain stored in the muscles of their body. So, in a sense, the emotions keep re-creating themselves because they haven’t been released from the body.
When a person is experiencing a Facial Reposturing® treatment, sometimes, a person may emit a tear when the facial muscles are stimulated and release latent emotional energy. Some people notice a dramatic and visible result when they come out of their Facial Reposturing treatment. They have a bigger, brighter smile that comes from the new freedom of movement they feel in their cheeks.
When you release the old tension patterns from a person’s face, what happens is the natural authentic self begins to shine and radiate from the person. Their smile looks more authentic. Their eyes are brighter. There’s a quiet confidence that comes to the countenance of a person’s face. Even if the person still has some unresolved issues—they come to a point when they, at least, no longer store it in their face.
There’s a natural, unforced mirth that shows in a person’s cheeks as a result of releasing the tension patterns that get stored in a person’s face. It becomes physically and structurally possible for them to experience authentic joy. Aliveness, peace of mind, radiance, and enthusiasm is the proof on the face of a person whose soul is free.
Anger and resentment, seething and vengefulness are stored in the jaws. Many of us know someone who seems angry most of the time. Look at their jaws. Are they tight? Bulging with veins? Short temper? Is that person overly reactive to the slightest provocation?.
The stress we store in our face and jaw can be harmful to us. Facial stress can age us prematurely. It can rob us of the sparkle in our smile, affect our speech and breathing, and send confusing messages to our friends and loved ones.
Many times, emotional stress can work the other way around as well. We can resolve a personal issue with a professional therapist. Sometimes, however, the person, or the negative energy from the issue may remain stored in the muscles of their body. So, in a sense, the emotions keep re-creating themselves because they haven’t been released from the body.
When a person is experiencing a Facial Reposturing® treatment, sometimes, a person may emit a tear when the facial muscles are stimulated and release latent emotional energy. Some people notice a dramatic and visible result when they come out of their Facial Reposturing treatment. They have a bigger, brighter smile that comes from the new freedom of movement they feel in their cheeks.
When you release the old tension patterns from a person’s face, what happens is the natural authentic self begins to shine and radiate from the person. Their smile looks more authentic. Their eyes are brighter. There’s a quiet confidence that comes to the countenance of a person’s face. Even if the person still has some unresolved issues—they come to a point when they, at least, no longer store it in their face.
There’s a natural, unforced mirth that shows in a person’s cheeks as a result of releasing the tension patterns that get stored in a person’s face. It becomes physically and structurally possible for them to experience authentic joy. Aliveness, peace of mind, radiance, and enthusiasm is the proof on the face of a person whose soul is free.
Introduction to “Journey Through Your Emotional Body” series
Different parts of the brain control and respond to different parts of the body. In a similar way, different parts of the body store and transmit different types of emotional energy.
Many of the phrases that exist in our language testify to the type of emotion that is stored in different parts of the body. Such as “pain in the neck” when someone is bothersome. “Weak in the knees” when a person feels like they have trouble confronting the truth, especially when it comes to an authority figure. “Shouldering responsibility” the shoulders happens to store authority. Or when someone has the guts to do something, courage comes up from the abdomen and moves through the chest into the center of bravery, courage and pride.
There are different aspects of our emotional-selves that deserve as much attention as we pay to being fit and looking good. Consider the energy required to heal your body when it is wounded or has a condition.
Starting at the top of the head, face and jaw, The “Journey Through Your Emotional Body” series will be an analysis based on observations from my clinical practice over 20 years and commentary from my clients and my discussions around each area.
Welcome to the world of Reposturing where the mind, body and sprit are considered as one. On Friday November 20th, look for “Heart and soul—the center of courage and self-love” the emotional anatomy of the neck and chest.
Many of the phrases that exist in our language testify to the type of emotion that is stored in different parts of the body. Such as “pain in the neck” when someone is bothersome. “Weak in the knees” when a person feels like they have trouble confronting the truth, especially when it comes to an authority figure. “Shouldering responsibility” the shoulders happens to store authority. Or when someone has the guts to do something, courage comes up from the abdomen and moves through the chest into the center of bravery, courage and pride.
There are different aspects of our emotional-selves that deserve as much attention as we pay to being fit and looking good. Consider the energy required to heal your body when it is wounded or has a condition.
Starting at the top of the head, face and jaw, The “Journey Through Your Emotional Body” series will be an analysis based on observations from my clinical practice over 20 years and commentary from my clients and my discussions around each area.
Welcome to the world of Reposturing where the mind, body and sprit are considered as one. On Friday November 20th, look for “Heart and soul—the center of courage and self-love” the emotional anatomy of the neck and chest.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Organization Detox
Every spring, many of us start to look at our homes, garages, and automobiles to see what we can clean out, give away, or toss. There is this curious phenomenon that happens when people start to get organized. They start getting weird—and then they get frustrated. Organizing is a good thing. Why should there be stress around it?
Think of organization as detoxifying one's life. The whole process calls for equally detoxifying your mind and body. The process itself may even make you feel sick, tired, cranky or just a little “off”. Here's a basic principle in the physics of vitality & wholeness: “How organized your life is reflects how healthy your mind and body are.”
When you change one area of your life, you'll likely feel an innate drive to make changes in other areas too. They toss things they no longer need. Many of my clients suddenly notice a desire to get in shape, improve their diet or change relationship status with friends, associates and "significant others."
When you feel tired, unsettled and off-centered, it's your body's way of saying, "Slow down, I need to catch up with you and figure out where you put all the furniture, food and forks". If you don't give yourself time and space to get used to the new arrangement, that can give you a bad attitude & really stress you out.
You can avoid "flip-out-factor" by doing stress neutralizing activities such as getting a massage, taking a walk or doing a fun and familiar activity you already know how to do.
This will help your mind, body, and spirit the opportunity to re-synchronize quickly & safely.
I have worked with many professional organizers for myself and for my clients with great results. At the same time, I avoid the "flip-out factor" by scheduling myself to receive structure-improvement oriented bodywork, such as Reposturing Dynamics and message therapy.
For a professional organizer in your area, call The National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) at 856-380-6828. For a Reposturing Dynamics Practitioner, call 1-888-7POSTURE.
Think of organization as detoxifying one's life. The whole process calls for equally detoxifying your mind and body. The process itself may even make you feel sick, tired, cranky or just a little “off”. Here's a basic principle in the physics of vitality & wholeness: “How organized your life is reflects how healthy your mind and body are.”
When you change one area of your life, you'll likely feel an innate drive to make changes in other areas too. They toss things they no longer need. Many of my clients suddenly notice a desire to get in shape, improve their diet or change relationship status with friends, associates and "significant others."
When you feel tired, unsettled and off-centered, it's your body's way of saying, "Slow down, I need to catch up with you and figure out where you put all the furniture, food and forks". If you don't give yourself time and space to get used to the new arrangement, that can give you a bad attitude & really stress you out.
You can avoid "flip-out-factor" by doing stress neutralizing activities such as getting a massage, taking a walk or doing a fun and familiar activity you already know how to do.
This will help your mind, body, and spirit the opportunity to re-synchronize quickly & safely.
I have worked with many professional organizers for myself and for my clients with great results. At the same time, I avoid the "flip-out factor" by scheduling myself to receive structure-improvement oriented bodywork, such as Reposturing Dynamics and message therapy.
For a professional organizer in your area, call The National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) at 856-380-6828. For a Reposturing Dynamics Practitioner, call 1-888-7POSTURE.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Thriving On Stress
Thriving On Stress
Every day, you live with the consequences of how you react to the stress in your life. Whether you realize it or not, your response is costing you (and your family, friends and business) dearly -- physically, emotionally, professionally and monetarily.
The American Heritage Dictionary, 3rd edition defines stress as:
"A stimulus or circumstance causing a disruptive or upsetting condition in response to external influences…capable of affecting physical health…characterized by increased heart rate,…blood pressure, muscular tension, irritability, and depression."
Stress is costing you time and money
The number of workers adversely affected by stress is rapidly increasing and may be costing employers more than $100 billion a year, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The American Institute of Stress puts the figure at $200-$300 billion a year.
After 24 years in the health and wellness industry, I have found a new definition:
Stress is your physical response to perceptions of life challenges you have.
Stress is not a "thing" by itself -- It is neither good nor bad on its own. Think of it like the instrument panel of an airplane. If a dial reading is too high or low, the airplane gets off balance. Regardless of the weather, the goal of the pilot is to fly the plane safely, to keep the instrument dials optimally balanced. Your job is similar. You must pilot yourself through the challenges of your life while keeping your "stress dials" as balanced as possible.
Stress, Self-Control and Self-Mastery
We need stress in order to live. Stress is a wake-up call, letting you know what area of your life needs work, development and attention. In the game of Self-Control and Self-Mastery, what stresses you out is probably where you personally need to grow.
Life Without Stress
How would life be, if there were no stress? Relationships would never happen. If they did, they would never grow, change or evolve. Work would always be the same--same sales, same customers, same service, same rules. Societies would not change or evolve. Even in the Stone Age, the wheel would have never been invented. Not the clock, not the automobile, not language or paper.
Most of us don’t want life completely without stress. Most of us would choose to be in relationships that grow. We would choose work that changes with market demands. We would want society to evolve and technology to be developed to improve our lives. We want stress to be part of our lives—we just need skills and boundaries to help us make stress an ally to gain self-control and mastery.
Life with Vitality and Self-Mastery
Living with vitality is taking control of our lives in every way. We are responsible for the happiness in our homes, the success in our careers, the peace in our minds, the enjoyment in our lifestyles, the health in our bodies, and the joy on our planet. We make good decisions that lead to quality in our lives. Living with vitality is having self control and life mastery. Almost everyone can achieve that.
Revive to Thrive
Thriving on stress to achieve vitality is like flexing a muscle. Building & developing muscle tone requires that you spend time and attention to pushing your muscles to their maximum ability and to resting, relaxing and nourishing them. Then it makes sense to revive your ability to thrive on stress by having a system of nurturing which restores your ability to handle a maximum amount of stress.
To thrive, you must recreate
Studies have shown that 62 percent of health club members go for the purpose of minimizing stress, and that number is growing daily. What my personal investigation has shown is that certain people seem to gravitate toward specific recreational activities consistently.
Many sales people tend to gravitate toward competitive activities (fast paced, high adrenaline) such as racquetball, tennis, basketball, kick boxing and drag racing. I have found that CEOs and general managers gravitated to strategy-dependent recreation, such as golf, billiards, tennis, marksmanship and chess.
Recreation is the KeyWhen we recreate or play, our "healthy" hormone levels return to normal. Furthermore, the part of us that we hold back in a stressful situation has a chance to "come out," express itself mentally, emotionally, psychologically and physically.
The Main Five Reasons why you want to use recreation to thrive on stress:
1) It’s usually easy to do
2) It’s fun to "play"
3) It provides balance -- Helps you "get a life!"
4) It gives you activities that help you spend quality time with friends & loved ones
5) It may add years to your life -- with quality
The Top Five Things you can do to neutralize the effects of stress--Almost Anytime
1- Deep breathe & Do Nothing
How: Sit quietly, eyes closed. Breathe deeply--in through your nose, then out through your mouth. Breathe deeply 3-5 times then normally for one minute or more, without responding to your surroundings. Repeat.
Benefits: Sends oxygen to brain, nutrients to cells and helps clear your thoughts.
2- Drink ample amounts of water daily
How: Take your weight in pounds and cut in half and drink that many ounces of water per day (e.g., 150 lbs. =75 oz water). Key point: Don’t drink when eating, as the water dilutes your digestive juices. If you feel the need for water while eating, you may be eating too quickly for your digestive juices to flow. If it is because of consumption of salty foods, drink the water anyway if your body craves it. Add two cups of water to every one cup of coffee, alcohol or soda.
Benefits: Makes body fluids flow better, gives more energy and increases flow; helps you sleep; organs work better; helps body release toxins and waste better; improves body’s cooling system; lowers blood pressure.
3- Napping
How: As little as 5 minutes --- no maximum (whatever your body says it needs, if time allows); Some people sleep in sets of two 4-hour naps every day. Go to a place you can rest, cover eyes or turn off lights (no light) and give yourself permission to go to sleep, set alarm clock (put across room if necessary so you get up when you need to).
Benefits: Allows body to get deep sleep which has double or triple benefit of just closing or resting your eyes. Accelerates body’s restorative process. Adds an extra half hour of productive mental energy per 5 minutes of nap time. Lowers blood pressure.
4- Stretching
How: Nice upper body stretch --- lock your thumbs and put arms
above head way up high, don’t bend back; reach arms down and back behind and reach up again (shoulder circles) --- backwards swimming stretch.
Benefits: Helps pump lymphatic system; improves immune system function; helps pump body fluids; stimulates circulation of blood; helps lift rib cage so you take more air in per breath.
5- Play / have fun
How: Always have 2 or 3 things you can do with no warm-up and no prep (putting darts, Frisbee in parking lot--fly across, chase, repeat, Nerf basketball, reading "fun" stuff -- anything you don’t have to calculate or think about).
Benefits: Gives mind a break from routine and time to refresh mental sharpness.
Thriving on Stress: The ongoing game of Achieving VitalityAchieving optimum vitality and peace of mind is the ultimate goal in the ongoing game of thriving on stress. However, by understanding what your personal challenges are, you can start to react differently to situations you perceive as stressful, then you can be at peace with yourself. But achieving vitality is not easy. It is personally challenging. It requires perseverance. The benefits far outweigh the costs. I believe the game can be enjoyable as well as personally rewarding.
Excerpted from "Thriving On Stress"—A report on how you can use Recreation to neutralize the effects of stress. To order the full report, click here:
[INSERT LINK]
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Craving Your Way to Power with Food
Every year, I read and hear about “this year’s diet”. The name of the diet changes from year to year, but the intent is the same: You want to lose weight, or detoxify your system—And you are willing to sacrifice pleasure and flavor to reach your goals. Sure enough, last year, three weeks after you started “the diet”, you were back to your old ways—only then you felt guilty about it. Not to worry though. After a few bites of your favorite “guilty pleasure” comfort food, the feelings of failure and inadequacy just faded away. Oh well, there’s always next year.
What happened? Although you had good intentions, your body’s innate nutritional and emotional needs are being managed by your hormones and endocrine glands. You cannot quickly change the tastes and textures your body naturally craves. The secret of success in achieving your health goals AND mastering the process lies in knowing what your body is truly craving and satisfying it immediately.
Yes, you can have your cake and eat it without guilt—if you satisfy the real cravings you have soon enough. What is unique about the Craving Category approach is, it encourages you to listen to your body and put a time, taste and texture to everything you eat. That's the way the body works, that's the way the mind works. By taking charge of your cravings, your life will run better. It will eliminate frustration and you will be happier and more at peace with yourself.
How to find your Craving Categories
Step 1
On a two-column page or spreadsheet, make a list of your favorite foods of all time, and a list of foods you eat on any two or three days (it is not necessary that the days be consecutive). For example: Bacon, eggs, an apple, a chicken sandwich.
Step 2
Next to each food item, jot down a brief description of the taste and texture of that food (or how you think about that food). For example: An apple is crisp, semi‑sweet, juicy, easy to eat, and it's not messy.
Step 3
Take your list of tastes, textures and descriptions and write the list in one column of a second two-column page or the 3rd column of a spreadsheet. For example: 1-Crisp, 2-Semi‑sweet, 3-juicy, 4-easy to eat, not messy.
Step 4
In the second column of that second page, make a list of all the foods you can think of that fit in each category. Foods that are crisp: Apple, grapes, crackers, pears, watermelon, toast… Foods that are easy to eat--not messy: Potato chips, grapes, apples… Foods that are semi-sweet: Dark chocolate, cantaloupe, pear salad.
Step 5
With your craving categories, rearrange your list from most to least-healthy. Crisp: Apple, pear, grape, watermelon, toast, crackers… Easy-to-Eat—Not messy: Apple, grape, potato chips… Semi-sweet: Pear salad, cantaloupe, dark chocolate…
We've got one list of categories that we extrapolated from our original food list, and we may have 10, 15, 20, 30 or 50 categories of food that we select from throughout our lives that we can put all the food we eat into. We've got another list of all the foods we like. What we should have done by now is take the food we like and put category designations for each food. What about the next food? How would you categorize a hamburger?
By listing foods this way, you will be able to develop your shopping list and your everyday list of foods easily. Let's say you're going over to someone's house, and you want to help them prepare a great meal for you. Say, "These are the foods that I love… Can you make something kind of savory, sweet and chewy, but not greasy?". Shazzamm! Barbecue grilled chicken, marinated overnight in the family secret-recipe of sea salt, molasses, olive oil and Jerk seasoning, slow cooked to perfection! Now THAT’S what I’m TALKIN’ about!
You can post your list with a magnet on the side of your refrigerator, so when you go shopping, you can use it as a guideline for yourself seasonally, or you can have someone else make up the shopping list, because they know what your categories are. For my clients, Ed and Rosalie, she does the shopping, and, because she has a list of Ed's categories, she can just pull Ed's craving category list out and take it shopping with her to make sure that he has food at home in each of his categories. Because she makes the selection, she's going to also pick the healthiest foods for each of his categories.
Here's another way to consider your Craving Categories: Roxanne has two lists from which she selects her food. One of her headings is, "Reward Foods" and " Comfort Foods That Make Me Feel Good About Myself”. Her healthy shopping strategy is to always shop from the second list. On particularly stressful days, she will stop and pick up a small piece of her favorite gourmet chocolate, which is on her “Comfort Foods” list. She never keeps more than a small portion of comfort food at home.
Take a look at all your Craving Categories and, based on the information that you have been gleaning from your nutrition books, you can begin to rearrange the order of the foods on your lists. You can rearrange them according to how easy each food is to get. Put the easy ones at the top and the logistically cumbersome things to get at the bottom of the list. You can also categorize them from the most healthy to the least healthy.
The foods I eat during the week are different from what I eat on the weekends. During the week, I'm on the go and I need to eat foods that are easy to prepare. On the weekend, I eat more sit‑down meals because I have an hour or so to eat. When I go out for fine dining, I ask the server what’s on the menu that is kind of savory, sweet and chewy, but not greasy. Then I let them surprise me with their interpretation.
You can categorize foods in whatever way is significant to you. You can make up a list for every part of the country you're in. If you're in the South and you like gumbo or some other set of southern dishes, they fit in different categories for you, or maybe they fit in the same categories that you can only use while you're in another country. You can carry your list or have it in mind as you order your food, shop or when someone else will prepare food for you.
Use your Craving Categories list until you have a working command over the food selection process. Soon, you'll find that you can truly have your cake and eat it too. Bon Appétit! ˜˜˜--Aaron Parnell
What happened? Although you had good intentions, your body’s innate nutritional and emotional needs are being managed by your hormones and endocrine glands. You cannot quickly change the tastes and textures your body naturally craves. The secret of success in achieving your health goals AND mastering the process lies in knowing what your body is truly craving and satisfying it immediately.
Yes, you can have your cake and eat it without guilt—if you satisfy the real cravings you have soon enough. What is unique about the Craving Category approach is, it encourages you to listen to your body and put a time, taste and texture to everything you eat. That's the way the body works, that's the way the mind works. By taking charge of your cravings, your life will run better. It will eliminate frustration and you will be happier and more at peace with yourself.
How to find your Craving Categories
Step 1
On a two-column page or spreadsheet, make a list of your favorite foods of all time, and a list of foods you eat on any two or three days (it is not necessary that the days be consecutive). For example: Bacon, eggs, an apple, a chicken sandwich.
Step 2
Next to each food item, jot down a brief description of the taste and texture of that food (or how you think about that food). For example: An apple is crisp, semi‑sweet, juicy, easy to eat, and it's not messy.
Step 3
Take your list of tastes, textures and descriptions and write the list in one column of a second two-column page or the 3rd column of a spreadsheet. For example: 1-Crisp, 2-Semi‑sweet, 3-juicy, 4-easy to eat, not messy.
Step 4
In the second column of that second page, make a list of all the foods you can think of that fit in each category. Foods that are crisp: Apple, grapes, crackers, pears, watermelon, toast… Foods that are easy to eat--not messy: Potato chips, grapes, apples… Foods that are semi-sweet: Dark chocolate, cantaloupe, pear salad.
Step 5
With your craving categories, rearrange your list from most to least-healthy. Crisp: Apple, pear, grape, watermelon, toast, crackers… Easy-to-Eat—Not messy: Apple, grape, potato chips… Semi-sweet: Pear salad, cantaloupe, dark chocolate…
We've got one list of categories that we extrapolated from our original food list, and we may have 10, 15, 20, 30 or 50 categories of food that we select from throughout our lives that we can put all the food we eat into. We've got another list of all the foods we like. What we should have done by now is take the food we like and put category designations for each food. What about the next food? How would you categorize a hamburger?
By listing foods this way, you will be able to develop your shopping list and your everyday list of foods easily. Let's say you're going over to someone's house, and you want to help them prepare a great meal for you. Say, "These are the foods that I love… Can you make something kind of savory, sweet and chewy, but not greasy?". Shazzamm! Barbecue grilled chicken, marinated overnight in the family secret-recipe of sea salt, molasses, olive oil and Jerk seasoning, slow cooked to perfection! Now THAT’S what I’m TALKIN’ about!
You can post your list with a magnet on the side of your refrigerator, so when you go shopping, you can use it as a guideline for yourself seasonally, or you can have someone else make up the shopping list, because they know what your categories are. For my clients, Ed and Rosalie, she does the shopping, and, because she has a list of Ed's categories, she can just pull Ed's craving category list out and take it shopping with her to make sure that he has food at home in each of his categories. Because she makes the selection, she's going to also pick the healthiest foods for each of his categories.
Here's another way to consider your Craving Categories: Roxanne has two lists from which she selects her food. One of her headings is, "Reward Foods" and " Comfort Foods That Make Me Feel Good About Myself”. Her healthy shopping strategy is to always shop from the second list. On particularly stressful days, she will stop and pick up a small piece of her favorite gourmet chocolate, which is on her “Comfort Foods” list. She never keeps more than a small portion of comfort food at home.
Take a look at all your Craving Categories and, based on the information that you have been gleaning from your nutrition books, you can begin to rearrange the order of the foods on your lists. You can rearrange them according to how easy each food is to get. Put the easy ones at the top and the logistically cumbersome things to get at the bottom of the list. You can also categorize them from the most healthy to the least healthy.
The foods I eat during the week are different from what I eat on the weekends. During the week, I'm on the go and I need to eat foods that are easy to prepare. On the weekend, I eat more sit‑down meals because I have an hour or so to eat. When I go out for fine dining, I ask the server what’s on the menu that is kind of savory, sweet and chewy, but not greasy. Then I let them surprise me with their interpretation.
You can categorize foods in whatever way is significant to you. You can make up a list for every part of the country you're in. If you're in the South and you like gumbo or some other set of southern dishes, they fit in different categories for you, or maybe they fit in the same categories that you can only use while you're in another country. You can carry your list or have it in mind as you order your food, shop or when someone else will prepare food for you.
Use your Craving Categories list until you have a working command over the food selection process. Soon, you'll find that you can truly have your cake and eat it too. Bon Appétit! ˜˜˜--Aaron Parnell
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