Diet is more personal than religion and just as volatile a topic. I will state outright that there is no perfect diet, no proscription for everyone, just what is right for you. It is your birthright to dictate what you ingest. What you eat is what your body will become over time and your body reflects your choices directly. The popular quip that "you are nature's creation at six years and your own creation at sixty" resonates. Remember, you are a powerful creator.

Diet choice needs to be a reflective process. As in all things your success will be dependent on your own self awareness augmented by the judicious use of printed resources and other's considered experience as a starting point. All choice must reflect your own body awareness and receptivity. Your body is your guide, not fashion, not popular nor professional opinion.

Your family culture and upbringing dictate many of your food habits and assumptions. Tackling personal food choice confronts how you respond to change not only in your food consumption but in other aspects of your daily life.

At various points in my life I have been extremely carnivorous, omnivorous, vegetarian and almost vegan - and not necessarily in that order. I have food combined and have been on therapeutic regimes that excluded various foods while having a minimum of 50% non-root vegetables on every plate. Food rules and ideologies abound. In my case, my original family culture was to boil it to death and then fry it for good measure. Mushy peas rule!

Here are a few rules of thumb that I use now for food choice.

fresh foods > dried > frozen > canned
organic freshly picked> local freshly picked> organic> industrial vegetables
whole foods > processed & enriched > fast foods
live foods - seeds, nuts, fresh fruit, freshly harvested vegetables, sprouts
fresh fruit eaten only on an empty stomach
avoid additives and industrial chemicals
avoid overcooking, overheating and microwaves
avoid food combinations that create gas, stomach upset or mood change
avoid non-fermented soy products
avoid trans fats
avoid GMO

Just adhering to the last three avoidances eliminates most conventional industrially processed food outright.

What I found as I have ventured on my inner journey has been that my diet has "simplified". I find that as I contemplate a food choice the deep inner feeling may be of no longer "needing" that food item. I am not giving something up, I am not going without; there is just no more desire for that food. It started with coffee then progressed from there. Letting go of coffee was easy as I no longer was in need. I was known as Mr S. Coffee - S. was for serious!

I no longer "need" in order of letting go:
coffee
red meat
white meat
black tea
seafood
green tea
eggs
strong condiments
salty foods
sugary foods

It seems that the need for external stimulants and mood "enhancers" diminishes as I follow an inner path. It is as if my moods are being dictated internally rather than by external circumstance and daily pressure alleviating the need for an "upper". Dark chocolate (70% cocoa mass) remains a favourite in moderate quantities, however.

Namasté
Stephen Vardy
Victoria BC Canada
+250.598.6679