How do we Eat Positive in a Negative Environment?

As a nutritionist, I often become a friend to the people I counsel, often more of a lifestyle coach than a nutrition advisor.  I think that being a good friend is having the ability to make that person feel better about themselves.  That kind of goes without saying, but I think many of us get into relationships that actually can make us feel less of ourselves.  We also might be influenced by others to think of the world in a negative way, and without getting too Dr. Phil J, I think that we have to stand up for our own perception constantly.  I am challenged by clients who I naturally consider my friends, that tell me everything around them is so negative that it is almost impossible to view our world in a positive light.  I say “our world” because the world is that which we perceive it to be, and we can’t help but be influenced by the thousands of other mirrors we reflect throughout our day.  I was told as a young girl by a wise man that if the world ever appeared bad to me to simply imagine that I was a mirror only reflecting out on them so that I would never be wrongly influenced by anything around me, and all my thoughts and feelings would be protected when I need them to be.  Well, that becomes difficult when we are being bombarded by negative energies everywhere we go.  We simply forget to turn the mirror around.

In America, or at least the majority of America, we live in a fast-paced society that focuses more on what is happening externally rather than internally.  I think many of us feel guilty if we are not constantly busy and taking care of everyone else.  When we are stressed and overworked, we become victimized into the negativity that surrounds us at work, on the television and amongst our peers.

Food can be one of the most negative influences on our life.  It can also be the most positive.  I think we all can believe in the idea that eating negative food, that is food that has no to low nutritional value, can result in negative emotions, which in turn gives you distressed focus and mental clarity.  The cycle is a vicious one, in which a mind can learn to react to negative events or outside stresses by demanding food that it is associating with pleasure to balance that impending stress.  If you’ve always been eating low to negative energy foods such as cheeseburgers, french fries, sugary sodas, and other fried, dead, and processed foods, your body will actually demand more of them, which only creates more frustration, impatience, and a reduction to total depletion of good sustained energy.

How can we begin to break the cycle of always leaning on negative to low energy foods, some of which we have been eating since childhood?  The first step is to learn to recognize the panic mode button when it goes off, triggering your body to demand a pleasure balance to the negative stress.  When you are in a panic or stress mode, try to take deep breaths and clear your mind.  If you can slow your breathing down to 10 breaths per minute, you can eliminate various stresses and emotions, and gain the temporary focus to make a positive energy choice.  This is the point where it is crucial to have positive energy foods readily available.  This is easier when you are at home, and have your kitchen, but this becomes challenging if you are in an office, car, airport, or on the go.  Train yourself to carry portable and functional foods with you at all times.  It is true that most of us will always eat what is readily available.  So, keep it simple, and carry positive energy foods wherever you go.  You can plan ahead what you eat, just like you plan ahead what you are going to wear or do.

 Once you catch your breath and gain your focus, and feel the craving for pleasure, find the good positive foods that you have readily available, take a few bites, and discover how the process will create a new and much healthier cycle to replace the old one.  Your mind will now associate positive energy foods as being a solution for stress and negativity.  You will now be in a cycle towards a more healthy body and mind.   Start out by practicing your own method of calming yourself before you start eating.  Practice, practice, practice, and eventually, your body will be trained to make the choices that will lead to a continuous cycle of positive energy.