by Erin Owen | Jan 27, 2012 | General
“You mean a food’s energetic qualities can affect
my ability to lose weight and perform at my
optimum level?“
Absolutely!
Let’s say you really want to lose weight because
dragging the extra pounds around is tiring you
out, making your joints ache, and ultimately
making life less fun.
Ask yourself: “Are the energetic qualities of the
foods I’m eating supporting my desire to lose
weight?“
Want to listen to this blog instead? Click Blog_012712_FoodChoices2.
Here, the term “energetic qualities” simply
refers to the ways in which a food’s unique energy
affects the energy in your body. Does it warm you
up or cool you down? Does it build you up or clean
you out? Does it make you feel lighter or heavier?
Does it make you feel more grounded or more
energized? Does it make your insides more damp or
more dry? And so on…
I know, I know. You might be wondering: what
happened to simply counting calories? Or, looking
at the ratio of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats?
Looking at your food choices through the lens of
energetics might be totally new to you, and that’s
a good thing! If you want to see different results
in your life and boost your performance, you can’t
keep doing the same thing again and again. You
need to be inspired to try on a different way of
thinking and being – so, stay with me and see what
you learn.
If you want to lose weight, then your energy is
likely sluggish, making it easier to stay glued to
the couch and than head outside to enjoy your day.
To counter this, you want to pick foods that will
motivate your body to get moving and let go of the
excess.
Here are two foods to consider — one you’ve
heard of and another that may be totally new to
you:
–Fresh ginger root, which is known to promote
healthy digestion and blood circulation, as well
as warm up the body, which is said to aid in the
fat burning process
–Burdock root (aka “gobo” in Japanese cuisine),
which is known to cleanse the blood, thereby
freeing up your energy and even leading to clearer
thinking. It’s energetic effects are also
recognized as helping to reduce sweet cravings and
reduce fat levels in the body.
Eating either or both of these foods is like
saying out loud to everyone you know: “Yes,
indeed, I do want to get things moving and release
this extra weight now! I want to feel lighter and
move more easily in my body so I can perform
better in my daily life!”
On the other hand, here are two foods that you
should definitely keep eating if you want to enjoy
the same old heavy, achy, stagnant feeling:
–French fries. Yes, they taste so good, but the
general category of fatty, greasy, deep-fried
foods have sluggish energetic qualities that
contribute to poor digestion and slower
metabolism. Plus, as you likely know already,
foods fried at high heat are laden with trans fats
and contribute to inflammation in the body, which
can cause or exacerbate joint pain.
— Ice cream. You likely already know that high
sugar intake relates to high insulin levels in the
body which leads to more fat being stored and more
difficulty releasing fat from its storage places
in the body. But you may not know that processed
foods that are filled with refined sugars actually
drain your energy, muddle your thinking, and can
make your bowels sluggish.
Eating either or both of these foods is like
saying: “Ooooh, yes, I really really really want
to hold on tight to this extra weight, feel tired,
and generally lack in enthusiasm for life? Please,
please, can I?” But, really now, do you? I don’t
think so.
So, try on this new idea of food energetics and
see what you learn about yourself, your weight,
your performance, and so much more.
For further information about food energetics…
There are many different ways to think of the
energetics of food. To read more about Steve
Gagne’s view of food energetics click here.
Annemarie Colbin shares here her view on how our
emotions affect the energetics of food.
And for a more medically oriented Eastern view,
click here to read more about the Traditional Chinese
Medicine view of food energetics.
Ready to achieve more without burn out, ignoring
your family or becoming a slave to overworking?
Then book your Performance Breakthrough Session
with me today. Enter discount code “Embrace2012“
for 50% off my public rate and invest less than a
dollar a minute for this transformational 1-on-1 coaching
session with me!
Not yet received my free, 1-minute audio wisdom course
in your email in box? It’s designed to melt stress, refocus
your energy, and refuel your spirit FAST! And you can listen to
it anywhere, even on the go. Sign-up on any page of my website
and receive a link to your first short audio inspiration. It’s
just like having me there by your side!
Looking for a speaker for your next event? If you
want to inspire your group to get better results
at work and at home (and get their Zen on too)
then I’m your gal. Email me directly to talk
details.
by Erin Owen | Jan 24, 2012 | General
“You mean my food choices affect my energy level
and performance?“
Yah, a lot.
Let’s say you want to feel more energized so you
can get more done.
Ask yourself: “Am I eating food with lots of life
force energy?“
Prefer to listen to this blog? Click Blog_012412_FoodChoices1.
Life force energy is the qi (or “chi”) that gives
life to (and animates the life within) every plant
and animal in our world, including you!
Whole foods, straight from nature, have the
greatest amount of life force energy.
Foods that come from a box or bag, that have been
processed, have much less life force energy – and
in some cases have none worth speaking of.
Think of it like a really, really long game of
telephone. Remember that game from childhood,
when kids whispered words into each other’s ears,
beginning at one end of a line and waiting to see
what silly words came out at the end of the chain?
The original full nutritional potential or
meaning of the food gets a bit more diluted for
every step it takes along the
growing-picking-distribution-processing chain —
or in the case of whole foods like carrots or kale
— for every single minute, hour, and day the food
is away from its roots or its roots are out of the
soil.
Using the analogy of the telephone game again, if
the food started out as carrots in the ground with
green tops sprouting above ground – by the time it
ends up as canned carrots, it might have some of
the original color and flavor of the carrots, but
not much life force energy and greatly reduced
nutritional value.
Your ability to perform on the job or at home or
in the community is directly affected by the
amount of life force energy in the food you eat.
Your food choices affect your performance. You
need that life force energy to fuel your own life.
Ask yourself: “do I want to perform like a carrot
with its greens on top or a partially cooked
carrot saturated with liquid in a can?” I know,
it’s silly to think of it that way. But, just
imagine how different your energy level and
performance might be if you made different food
choices!
You might normally choose so-called fast foods or
convenience foods and drinks because you really
want to quell your hunger and fuel your brain as
quickly as possible, thinking that these foods
will give you the energy to do what you need to
do. But, unintentionally, your food choices end up
working against you.
The next time you’re looking to boost your energy
so you can perform better, will you reach for
another coffee or caffeinated soda or energy drink
or candy bar? Or, instead…. how about next time
you reach for beautiful, fresh, whole foods that
are actually bursting with life! Life that you can
use to be your best and perform at your optimum
level!
Ready to achieve more without burn out, ignoring
your family or becoming a slave to overworking?
Then book your Performance Breakthrough Session
with me today. Enter discount code “Embrace2012“
for 50% off my public rate and invest less than a
dollar a minute for this transformational 1-on-1 coaching
session with me!
Not yet received my free, 1-minute audio wisdom course
in your email in box? It’s designed to melt stress, refocus
your energy, and refuel your spirit FAST! And you can listen to
it anywhere, even on the go. Sign-up on any page of my website
and receive a link to your first short audio inspiration. It’s
just like having me there by your side!
Looking for a speaker for your next event? If you
want to inspire your group to get better results
at work and at home (and get their Zen on too)
then I’m your gal. Email me directly to talk
details.
by Erin Owen | Dec 20, 2011 | General
If I were stranded on a desert island and could
only take 6 food ingredients with me, what would I
choose?
Strangely, I’ve been pondering this question
lately. Why? I’m not sure. Perhaps it’s the
universal transformative time we’re all a part of.
Or the fact that I’ll soon turn 40 and feel its
approach as an important call to grasp life by its
horns and move forward stridently. Or perhaps the
prevalence of television shows focused on being
stranded on an island (though, truth be told, I’ve
never watched a single episode of one).
Whatever the reason, I’ve been thinking about
this question lately.
What 6 food ingredients would I take with me if
stranded on an island?
Why 6 and not 5 or 7? Why 6 and not 2 or 10? I’m
not sure. But, 6 has a nice feel to it. In
Chinese, the word six is “liu” (pronounced like a
quickly slurred “Lee-oh” on an uphill climb). And
another word in Chinese with the same
pronunciation but different meaning is the word
that means “to flow”. As in, to be in the flow of
life. Abundance flowing into one’s life. And so on.
So, in Chinese, the number six corresponds to good
things coming into one’s life.
What 6 ingredients?
1. Onion.
2. Garlic.
3. Brown rice.
4. Black beans.
5. Avocado.
Ah, but the sixth? I arrive easily at these first
five. On any given day in our house we have these
ingredients. There is almost always a freshly made
pot of seasoned black beans and freshly cooked
brown rice. While not always perfectly ripe,
avocados sit in one of the bowls or baskets in our
kitchen. Either the hand-carved wooden bowl we
purchased on the island of Zanzibar on our
honeymoon to Tanzania. Or, the dark woven basket
that sits on the black shelves against the bright
orange wall.
And, onion and garlic? I can’t imagine cooking
anything without them. Even though the Buddhist
diet discourages them as inciting the sexual
nature, I simply find them to bring delicious and
almost essential flavor to any dish.
Avocado? So creamy, so nourishing, so healthy.
And oh how I wish I lived in a climate where the
avocado grew right outside my back door.
If someone dared me to live a locavore diet,
focusing solely on what grows or is raised within
a 100-to-150 mile radius around my home, I would
clearly be in despair.
The sixth ingredient? It varies by the day and
the season. Sometimes I simply add salt. Not
really a food, but an incredibly important
ingredient in preserving food. Other days I pick a
practical fruit like banana or apple. Sometimes I
entertain the idea of picking a type of animal
protein or fish, but one never makes my imaginary
list. Finally, I settle on fresh water.
Yes, water.
It’s not a food, I know. But, if I were on an
island, I’d most likely be surrounded by salt
water (though I do know there are islands in the
middle of large bodies of fresh water).
Without water, I’d be lost. After fresh air,
water is the second most important nutrient for a
human being. Heck, a living creature of any kind.
And so the list is final: onion, garlic, brown
rice, black beans, avocado, water.
How about you? What’s on your list?
