Saturday, January 12, 2008

Your Raw Diet 2008 ~ Designed by YOU!


Now two weeks into the New Year, chances are that you're just starting to get into your groove with life and work, and thus can finally begin to turn your attention to your diet.

Did you go raw or stay raw over the holidays or did it all fall by the wayside and now you're feeling it?

Either way, now is the perfect time to get clear on how you want to move forward in your raw life for the coming months, and the following exercise based on one taught to me by Prof Rozalind Graham is an excellent tool for helping you come to clarity, to create boundaries and to finding a place of peace with your food choices because they've been designed 100% by you!


What to do...

All you need to do is take a clean sheet of paper, ideally A4 size, and draw either a fairly large circle in the middle of the page or draw around the hand that you normally write with (this, you will note, is also likely the hand that feeds you!) When you're done, next draw a circle around the first circle/hand that allows at least an inch of space to write some more words in, then another and another, so that you have two more circles around that circle at least 1 inch apart from each other. You should end up with three outer rings and a middle area.

When you've got your circles, starting in the middle and working out list what foods, drinks etc. fall into the following categories:

1) Middle area: List all those foods you are 100% happy to eat as everyday staples to your diet
2) Next circle out: List those foods that you wouldn't ideally eat on a daily basis but if you did you wouldn't feel at all bad about it
3) Next circle out: List those foods that you wouldn't eat UNLESS you were really stuck and there was nothing else to have
4) Final circle: All those foods that you won't eat under any circumstances from this moment forward


Feel better?

Clarity is a good thing and this exercise will really help you to get clear on what's important to you and why. It also may get you thinking more or seeing things that you didn't before. Feel free to spend some time on this as what you write here can make or break your health and body goals in 2008.

When you're done, now that it's there in front of you, of course now all you have to do is stick to your own rules! So pin this up somewhere that you'll see it most of the day or fold it up and carry it around in your pocket or bag, and see how you get along for the next week or so. When you set your own rules it's a lot more healthy and fun than following someone else's idea of what's good for you and you're much less inclined to break them.

As an aside, if you're a parent or carer you can use this exercise to show others who feed your child or loved one what's okay and not. By colour coding the areas as well as being very clear with your wording you can much increase the likelihood of someone doing as you ask as it will be so clearly laid out in front of them. (You could even use it in a restaurant if you wanted to!)

Cheers to clarity and to a healthy and happy body in 2008!
© 2008 Karen Knowler

Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach publishes "Successfully Raw" - a free weekly eZine for raw food lovers everywhere. If you're ready to look good, feel great and create a raw life you love get your FREE tips, tools and recipes now at www.TheRawFoodCoach .com.

No comments: