I spent most of the day today chanting kirtan. Now that's a day full of sweetness, for sure. I drove to Naples to visit my friend Missy, to practice for an upcoming kirtan event that we are doing together. The whole drive down, I was chanting, to warm up and figure out what songs I wanted to rehearse with her. We spent a couple of hours going over the set, and then a couple more hours talking, singing more, listening to kirtan cds, and generally goofing around. She gave me some kirtan cds to listen to on my drive home, so I spent the whole ride home also singing kirtan!
I think that when most of us are blissfully involved in doing some activity that we really love, we don't feel the need/desire for sweets, or even for much food at all. We get into the state known as "Flow," and time just flies by and we can become oblivious to everything other than what we are focused on. I didn't even notice I was hungry until I got back in the car to drive home, and then realized that the almond butter toast I had eaten 6 hours prior had been completely digested and I was Ready. To. Eat. NOW. So, I stopped at the 7-11 just before getting on the highway. I didn't even look at the drink case, I had been sipping green tea and water all afternoon, and wasn't feeling thirsty at all. (If I had looked, I would have found an assortment of colored, flavored, and naturally or chemically sweetened beverages- none of which would have been appealing, anyway.) I walked to the "snack" aisle. Candy, granola bars, pop-tarts, multigrain fruit bars, twinkies, cupcakes, trail mix, chips, crackers, pretzels, etc. I opted for a bag of salted cashews. Everything else looked so unappealing- so "fake." Actually, the pretzels did look good, but they only came in a large bag, which I didn't want to get.
My eyes did linger for a moment on the " Combos." If you don't know what Combos are, you're
actually not alone, because if you look at the ingredients, you still won't know what they are. However, I will admit to eating more than a few bag-fulls over the course of my lifetime. Basically they are either a tube-shaped pretzel or cracker, with a flavored "cheese" filling. (i.e. cheddar, nacho, pizza flavored.) I remember getting a bag of them one time while I was waiting at the train station in NJ, eating most of the bag, and THEN looking at the nutritional information. That was a mistake! One modest sized bag of Combos had over 1400 calories! I was actually floored. Obviously it made an impression on me because I still remember the calorie count all these years later. That's almost a whole day's worth of calories for some people. I'd be willing to guess that they are loaded with fat and sugar, not to mention preservatives, artificial flavoring and coloring. Anyway, the cashews did the trick, and when I did get home I warmed up some leftover lentil soup.
I'm going to be really busy for the next 3 days- we have a guest presenter coming in to the yoga studio for a weekend workshop (Bill Mahony! If you are anywhere near Sarasota, FL this weekend, RUN don't walk to the Garden of the Heart to hear his discussions on yoga philosophy- you won't be disappointed!) I'm super excited, and I know that I'm going to have little time to think about food, which puts me into dangerous territory, because when I forget to eat, I will suddenly find myself StArViNg and ready to eat anything that's in my path. So, my game plan is to stop at the store tomorrow afternoon and stock up on healthful, sugar-free options. (Blackened tofu, rice cakes, avocados, green apples, nuts, radishes, etc.) In the past, I would have stocked up on very different items, like Lara bars, Endangered Species Chocolate, dried apricots, granola. Those things still sound appealing at first, but thinking about them I realize how heavy and full of sugar all of those items are, compared to the first list, which are mostly light and energizing. I think I'm making progress here in my choices, and THAT, readers, is blissful to me.
We are One,
Namaste!
I think that when most of us are blissfully involved in doing some activity that we really love, we don't feel the need/desire for sweets, or even for much food at all. We get into the state known as "Flow," and time just flies by and we can become oblivious to everything other than what we are focused on. I didn't even notice I was hungry until I got back in the car to drive home, and then realized that the almond butter toast I had eaten 6 hours prior had been completely digested and I was Ready. To. Eat. NOW. So, I stopped at the 7-11 just before getting on the highway. I didn't even look at the drink case, I had been sipping green tea and water all afternoon, and wasn't feeling thirsty at all. (If I had looked, I would have found an assortment of colored, flavored, and naturally or chemically sweetened beverages- none of which would have been appealing, anyway.) I walked to the "snack" aisle. Candy, granola bars, pop-tarts, multigrain fruit bars, twinkies, cupcakes, trail mix, chips, crackers, pretzels, etc. I opted for a bag of salted cashews. Everything else looked so unappealing- so "fake." Actually, the pretzels did look good, but they only came in a large bag, which I didn't want to get.
My eyes did linger for a moment on the " Combos." If you don't know what Combos are, you're
I'm going to be really busy for the next 3 days- we have a guest presenter coming in to the yoga studio for a weekend workshop (Bill Mahony! If you are anywhere near Sarasota, FL this weekend, RUN don't walk to the Garden of the Heart to hear his discussions on yoga philosophy- you won't be disappointed!) I'm super excited, and I know that I'm going to have little time to think about food, which puts me into dangerous territory, because when I forget to eat, I will suddenly find myself StArViNg and ready to eat anything that's in my path. So, my game plan is to stop at the store tomorrow afternoon and stock up on healthful, sugar-free options. (Blackened tofu, rice cakes, avocados, green apples, nuts, radishes, etc.) In the past, I would have stocked up on very different items, like Lara bars, Endangered Species Chocolate, dried apricots, granola. Those things still sound appealing at first, but thinking about them I realize how heavy and full of sugar all of those items are, compared to the first list, which are mostly light and energizing. I think I'm making progress here in my choices, and THAT, readers, is blissful to me.
We are One,
Namaste!
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