On April 3, I posted some thoughts on Mindfulness — especially as it pertains to breathing, eating and just being overall "present". So as I revisited this post a thought struck me. I've been trying to be more mindful of my everyday activities... and I just noticed that I've switched my breakfast routine without much thought going into it.
Let me explain...
I used to work at a place that provided free breakfast, and the food was actually pretty good. It was fresh fruit and cereals (some better than others), all types of milk (soy, almond, and regular cow milk), yogurts, granola bars, espresso coffee, regular coffee, all types of teas, etc. So, I didn't have to worry too much about eating at home. But, even though I knew I could eat at work, I always had a green smoothie in the morning that was basically a mish-mash of kale, banana, apple, superfoods (like maca, spirulina, and others), almond butter, chia seeds, amaranth seeds and whatever else was about to spoil. This would carry me through the early morning and then I would snack on some fruit to make it to lunch time. So my point is that I really wasn't very mindful about what I was eating for breakfast — although it was healthy and good, I wasn't really listening to my cravings.
Then, I stopped working there in October and started paying more attention to what I was eating for breakfast since I didn't have the benefit of just arriving to a nice spread. Now, this was around October, so here in the NorthEast, it was starting to turn cooler. So I started my mornings with my usual routine of the green smoothie. And after a week or two, I started to realize I wasn't enjoying them. It wasn't the taste that was turning me off. It was that the smoothie itself was not satisfying my craving. What craving? Well, as I listened and became more mindful, the craving was a craving for "warm" food. I was also craving a feeling of being satisfied, of being "more full", of wanting to feel something more substantial in my stomach vs. something light. So, the next time I went to the store, I bought steel-cut oatmeal and some other grain cereals. The next morning, I fired up the stove and made myself a nice hot breakfast cereal. I topped it off with bananas, nuts and some honey and ate it. Wow! What a difference that made. My body was totally satiated and I felt "full" until about 1.30pm.
So that was October, and now we're in June. And ... as soon as the temperature started getting hotter, I noticed that I wasn't craving that feeling of fullness and satiation. My body was wanting something lighter again, something that wouldn't weigh me down and make me feel lethargic in the heat. So, I switched over to smoothies again for breakfast — only that this time around I'm adding a bit of protein powder. Why? Because I don't have a spread ready to pounce on if I'm hungry mid-morning.
My point with this post is simply to share how understanding craving cycles in your life can make a difference in how you feel. Where you live has a lot to do with this, so learn to listen to your cravings based on the time or year and the activities that you're doing. Your body is wise and will always tell you what it needs. It's easy to get into an eating routine because we can be creatures of habit. But, experiment and figure out if slight or big changes make you feel any different.
For now — while it's hot and my body craves lightness, I'll stick with my morning smoothies. Then, as the weather changes and we get into Fall/Winter, I'll reassess and adjust to what my body needs during that time of year. Remember, we used to eat what was immediately available to us during the seasons. A mere 100 years ago, we didn't have the luxury of eating strawberries in the Northeast during January.
Deep down inside our bodies know. All we have to do is to be quiet and listen.
Remember, commit to thrive and #payyourhealthfirst,
-- Chris
