2011 November | Jungle of Life

It became apparent that this version of moderation was all about going without, based on cultural mores rooted in gluttony, politesse and virtues. It made for some complicated relationships: I want this, but can only have a little, which has me wanting it more.

It is the “more” that was — and remains — the problem.

For me. (And maybe for you?)

More food. More conversation. More obligations. More information. I had lost the sense of how I wanted to FEEL during and post-consumption. Back then, it was about filling up, not fueling up.

Big difference.

I wasn’t savouring, I was shoveling. A bulging calendar meant a life well-lived. A heaping plate meant abundance. A full closet meant affluence.

So why was I feeling so depleted?

You know the answer: I was choosing quantity over quality.

In choosing dubious quality, I was producing dubious quality in my relationships, work and art.

Crap in, crap out.

There is this truth: there is only so much room, and there is only so much time. And mercy me, this truth becomes more and more acute with every passing year.

I now approach MOST consumption from the perspective of a small plate at a large and sumptuous buffet of life.

I’m not talking about scarcity here. I’m talking about INTENTION, ’cause, Darlin’ I don’t doubt for a nanosecond that you have the capacity to receive many more gifts, much more wealth and much more joy in your life. And don’t you dare doubt that either.

What I am advocating is crystal-clear clarity about your intention as you approach that buffet.

What do you want from this meal, conversation, hour, visit? Do you want to feel energized? Inspired? Alive? Accomplished? Comforted?

Let this intention inform your every choice.

Will you be satiated with filet or filler? Fact-finding or Facebook? Meeting your mother or “How I met your mother”?

You get to choose.

And if you find yourself becoming overstuffed, overwhelmed, overscheduled or overweight, notice what — and how much — you’ve invited onto your plate.

Believe as I do that you can handle it AND choose differently the next trip to the buffet.

Mindfully.

So go ahead and fuel up. Just don’t forget to leave a little room for dessert.

by Tanya Geisler

Filed Under: Creative Expression, Jungle Writers

November 19, 2011 By Todd Dosenberry 11 Comments

Will Consuming Less Lead to Better Health?

photo credit: kevin dooley

Consumption… would you be able to give up 80% or more of the things you have, eat and do for a million dollars? What if you were told you were going to die if you didn’t? It’s difficult for us to change unless there is a huge reward or if something dramatically bad is going to happen if we don’t. Can you imagine yourself…

Spending a maximum of 10 minutes a day on facebook?
Spending a maximum of 20 minutes a day in your email inbox?
Selling or giving away 80% of your clothes?
Without a car?
Never eating wheat again? What about all grains?
Saying no to gifts this Christmas? What if you instead asked for love and time with people?
Being outside in nature by yourself for 10 hours reflecting on life?
Not spending a single second with technology for a 24 hour time period? 48 hours?
Engaging in only 2 10–30 minute strength sessions a week yet put on all the muscle you desire?
Living in a home with your basic needs and perhaps a few extra strong desires with no clutter?
Cooking simple meals and then taking the time to enjoy your food with family or friends?
Working at your job for half of the time you do now?

Does any of the above seem possible right now? All of it deals with consumption. All of it deals with health. More often than not, we don’t need this or that. With less, we would enjoy life more. We would have more time to spend with those who are important to us. We would have more time for ourselves. We would be less stressed and thus more healthy. I could probably come up with 1,000 or more bullet points and elaborate on them. I’ll stick with the ones that came to my mind first. I’ll now elaborate on them to show you how all of them have improved or could easily improve my life in some way.

Spending less time on facebook

I have a “good excuse” to spend a lot of my time on facebook during the week. I don’t have a job but rather rely on income I receive from my blogs. One of the best ways to market is through facebook. With this being said, I’ve noticed that when I take a day here and there to limit my time on facebook or even go a day without it, I have something meaningful to publish on my facebook wall when that time comes. When I let myself roam on facebook for an unlimited time period I may not have something useful to say but say it anyway because I’m on facebook. I’d be much better off limiting my time on facebook. I bet you would be too.

Spending less time in my email inbox

I used to spend an hour or so with email on a daily basis. Most of it was junk but I thought I had to deal with it. I’ve learned over the past few months that spending 10 minutes some days, 30 minutes others while taking some days off entirely, I am much more productive. I tend to work on things that are more important. During this month my eyes have rarely seen my inbox. Instead, I’ve focused on putting the finishing touches on my ebook, Toadally Primal Smoothies. The official product launch date is December 1 and spending time in my inbox is only hurting me.

Selling most of my clothes

I used to sell American Eagle clothing on eBay. This resulted in me having way too many freaking clothes. I had about 25 polo shirts hanging in my closet! This was absurd to say the least. However, I’m proud to say that I am down to 2 polo shirts! Along with the polo shirts I have sold or given away most of everything else. I simply did not need it and I now have less clutter in my life as a result.

I don’t own a car

I sold my car about 2 months ago. It was one of the greatest days of my life. I have not bought a car since and I don’t plan on buying one anytime soon. In fact, I’m literally looking to go carless till at least the year 2020. Instead, I’m going to seek out cities where a car is not at all necessary. I’m living in Chicago as I type this. I was in Oahu, Hawaii for 40 days where the bus will literally take you anywhere on the island. There are thousands of cities around the world where walking, riding a bike or taking public transportation is a riot. Life has slowed down for me and I am much more appreciative of life.

I don’t eat wheat

Last month I asked you if you were ready to ditch wheat. I don’t eat wheat as a normal part of my diet anymore. It used to be the centerpiece but since giving it up my health has improved in many ways. I’ll eat the occasional food item that has wheat but this is truly very rare. It’s getting easier and easier to say no to any wheat that comes my way. This is actually true with all grains as a matter of fact. Instead, I eat more quality meats (think grass-fed beef) along with more veggies and fruits.

Less Christmas gifts this year

I used to get a lot of gifts for Christmas. It was fun as a kid but it has grown old super fast. I told my mother I did not want any gifts this year. Instead, I simply want to spend quality time with my family. I’d rather have all of us go skiing even though none of us ski. I want love. I don’t want gifts. She insists she gets me something but I’m confident it will be less than any Christmas before which I’m looking forward to! I have 3 siblings and we mutually agreed to not buy each other gifts this year. Instead, we will spend quality time when the holidays are here. To be honest, it’s a huge relief to realize this.

Spending more time outdoors

I’ve never spent 10 straight hours in nature by myself but I do plan on doing so many times for the rest of my life. Imagine how slow life would go if you did this. Just 2 weeks may seem like a year. It’s almost like you add years onto your life. We all complain how short life is. Well, why not slow it down? Why not get off facebook? Why not get outdoors? Why not just sit and reflect? I’ve definitely taken more time to reflect on my life. I walk a lot more. I’m living in Wrigleyville, Chicago, IL right now with my brother and have a one mile walk to Lake Michigan. It’s where I am headed when I finish writing this post.

Technology fast

Have you ever gone 24 hours without technology? What about 48 hours? I’m talking about ditching your cell phone, computer, and anything else that eats up your time. I did this for just over 72 hours a couple months ago. I was on Lake Michigan and had no internet access and no phone reception. I’ll admit that there was a TV but I hardly watched it. It was one of the best 3 days of my entire life. I was outside a lot by the lake. What did I do? I spent quality time with my parents and older brother. I read books. I did a cold water plunge in the lake. I ran on the sand. I chatted with my family over a fire. I cooked food and ate it. I reflected. I played Sudoku. Soon, I’ll be doing this regularly. Are you ready for a 24 hour technology fast?

Less exercise, more play

I rarely exercise. I want to enjoy life. I also want to be fit. This is why I am a huge fan of bodyweight exercises. To me, it’s fun but it’s still a great workout. I usually engage in push-ups, pull-ups, squats and planks. I have no routine. I just do! I quit when I want to. I also engage in sprint intervals when I feel like it. Aside from that I may run if I feel up to it. I walk a lot, move around in general, play, dance, etc. Today, exercise is a blast. Do you love your workouts or dread them?

Living with less clutter

I want to see the world. I’ve been all over the place since the middle of July of this year. I was in Hawaii for 40 days, then back with my parents in Grand Rapids, MI for 2 weeks and am now in Chicago with my brother. I plan on living somewhere in Florida to start 2013. Guess what? All I have is a carry on bag and a backpack. Talk about living without a lot of clutter! Sure, I have some stuff sitting at my parents, where I lived for 23 years, but I plan on selling at least 80% of it. I don’t want it. It’s clutter and needs to go. I’m not suggesting you live out of a carry on bag, ok?! Why not take baby steps and just de clutter as time goes on? Go take 10 minutes right now. I’ll wait…

Cooking simple meals and enjoying food with family and friends

Not much can beat a simple home cooked meal that is enjoyed with family or friends. Can you think of much? I’m not talking about bland meals. I’m talking about simple meals. For example… why not cook up some grass-fed ground beef with a few of your favorite spices? Throw in some apple cider vinegar too. Chop up sweet potatoes into bite sized chucks, throw on some butter, add salt and pepper to taste and throw into a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. Feel free to mix the 2 when both are done. This is an incredibly simple, satisfying, nutritious, healthy, delicious meal. Create it with your family or friends and then enjoy it with them. If you are by yourself then take the time to sit, enjoy and reflect. Don’t watch TV or read. Eat!

Working less

What if you only had half of the time to work? What would you do? Maybe you would take a few days to organize what you do at work. You would then focus on what is the most important. You would realize that a lot of the stuff you do on a regular basis is 100% unnecessary. I believe MOST people can work less but still get more done. We work way too much. If your boss all of a sudden told you that you only have to work 5 hours a day, 4 days a week, how would you react? I bet you would be ecstatic! You may tear up out of pure joy. As a result, you would become more productive because you would be less stressed and more happy. When I decide to limit my work time I end up doing what’s productive and ignore what’s not necessary. Life is a lot more fun this way. What do you think about all this? Are you ready to enjoy life instead of stress out about it? Are you ready to get your health back? Maybe there is something that you can add to this list. Please leave a comment below. Thanks for reading!

by Todd Dosenberry

Filed Under: Health, Jungle Writers

November 16, 2011 By Paula Pant 10 Comments

Consumption is a Rorschach Test

What’s the first thing that pops into your head when you hear the word “consumption?”

Bob might think of consuming food. Turkey smothered with mushroom gravy. Mashed potatoes topped with melted butter. Roasted squash with pesto.

Angie might think about consuming alcohol. Loads of it. Beers during the football game. Shots at the bar. Wine with dinner. A martini apéritif.

Gina thinks of oil and gas consumption: drilling in the wetlands, fueling inefficient cars.

Will thinks of home energy consumption: leaving the lights on, failing to caulk or seal drafts around doors and windows.

And I think about financial consumption: spending money we don’t have on things we don’t need.

“Consumption” is a Rorschach test: one word, tons of interpretations. Few other words have so many meanings or apply to so many topics.

Take a second to consider what pops into your head when you hear the word “consumption.” I’m betting that the first thing you think about is a topic that applies to your life in one of two ways:

You Rock At It — It’s a topic you feel passionately about. Will thinks about home energy consumption because he’s so committed to having an energy-efficient home. He adds insulation to his attic, he screws aerators onto his faucets, he installs motion-activated light sensors in each room. Gina thinks about gas consumption because she carpools with her Prius.
You Stink At It – Er, that’s my crass way of saying that you recognize this topic as a weakness. Angie thinks about consuming alcohol because somewhere in her subconscious, she realizes she shouldn’t drink so much. Bob thinks constantly about food even though his cholesterol is high and he needs to lose weight.

But there’s a common thread between all the topics that “consumption” applies to: using something vs. wasting it.

You can use food to supply nutrition to your body, or you can stuff yourself silly. You can sip wine – even Jesus turned water to wine – or you can pound drinks until you blackout.

You can use the least amount of fossil fuels necessary to lead a productive modern life, or you can – as my roommate used to do – crank the heating system in your home up to 85 degrees while wearing shorts and a thin T-shirt in January.

You can waste your hard-earned money on knick-knacks, or you can spend on high-value items and experiences that bring joy to your life.

The key to distinguishing wasteful consumption from “value” consumption is to simply be a little more deliberate, a little more mindful.

Ask yourself:

Do I really need another slice of turkey?
Do I really need a third glass of wine, or can I stop at two?
Do I want to spend this $20 on another sweater, or do I want to add it to my Pay-Off-The-Mortgage-ASAP fund?

Some people over-consume. Others take the knee-jerk opposite reaction and deprive themselves. Neither tactic is sustainable.

But consuming mindfully? It’s simple. It’s balanced. And it ups your quality of life.

So think back to the first topic that popped into your head when you thought about “consumption,” and ask yourself: How can you approach that area of life more mindfully?

by Paula Pant

Filed Under: Jungle Writers, Personal Finance

November 13, 2011 By Jason Kotecki 19 Comments

Would You Like Fries With That?

“Would you like fries with that?”

This simple yet brilliant question helped McDonald’s make billions.

It eventually morphed into, “Would you like to super-size that?” which became a symbol of our culture’s nasty habit of overconsumption.

Indeed, we are conditioned to want more stuff. Bigger homes. Better appliances. Faster cars. Fancier vacations. I’m skeptical whether we are better off because of it.

But there’s one question we should ask ourselves more often. It has the benefit of not only leaving our waistlines intact and our homes less cluttered, but would decrease our overall stress levels as well:

“Would you like fun with that?”

I’ve never encountered a study alerting us to the negative effects of too much fun, and indeed, the world is aching for silliness. But Adultitis has us conditioned to believe that fun is merely a sliver of the overcrowded pie chart that is life balance. You work, you run errands, you do chores, you chauffeur your kids to soccer practice. If there’s enough time left at the end of the week, then maybe, just maybe, you are allowed to have a little bit of fun. And once in a while, the calendar gives you permission to do things like dress up in silly costumes or blow stuff up, but only if the date happens to be accompanied by fine print that says something like “Halloween” or “Independence Day.”

But wouldn’t work be better if it came with a side of fun? What about errands? Or chores? Or those everyday road trips with the family?

In case you’re scoring at home: yes, yes, yes, and um, yes.

What would your life look like if you always made it a habit to ask, “Would you like fun with that?”

It might inspire you to make some ugly cookies to share with your coworkers.

It might inspire you tell a funny joke to the checkout person at the grocery store.

It might inspire you to make crazy bets with your spouse to see who has to do laundry this week.

It might inspire you to instigate regular Chinese fire drills with your family.

When we take the time to ask this simple question, and when we take the little effort it requires to answer said question with a big, fat, unapologetic “Hells yeah!”, we end up creating what I like to call “scenes.” And even though we may spend most of our days fretting over serious things like the economy and health care and the war on terror, when you get to the end of your life, and have gathered your friends and family around your death bed to share your last days and moments, those big, serious things never seem to make the conversation. You know what does? The little things. The scenes we created with one another.

It’s the scenes that matter most in the end.

So do yourself a favor. Every time you’re faced with some seemingly mundane or otherwise unexciting use of your time, ask yourself this simple question:

“Would you like fun with that?”

And don’t forget to super-size it.

by Jason Kotecki

Filed Under: Fun/Recreation, Jungle Writers

November 10, 2011 By Stacey Curnow 8 Comments

How to Consume Less and Enjoy More this Holiday

Ah, the holidays are upon us. Is anyone else worried about consuming too much and gaining weight and debt? Or is it just me??

When you think about it, nothing shows what we truly value better than what we pay for or put in our mouths — i.e. what we consume. When it comes down to it, we consume in order to meet our needs. But needs are slippery things, aren’t they?

What do we really need?

I believe all we really need is shelter and food, and to feel loved, honored and valued for exactly who we are.

But there’s a problem with those simple needs: sometimes we make them complicated. For example, one of the things I hear most from my clients — mostly women — is that they often look outside themselves for validation. Are the kids doing well in school? Will the house ever be clean and organized? Is there money in our account to cover our bills this month? Do I look fat in this outfit?

If anything outside of themselves is not going well, they become stressed and unhappy. They feel they can’t be happy or feel worthy except under certain conditions. And being incredibly strong creatures, women often succeed at using their strengths and talents to force external conditions to meet their expectations (or, more often, others’ expectations).

However, while this strategy can work — at least in the short term-there’s an easier way: We can choose to feel happy, successful, and worthy of love no matter what the external conditions.

That’s hardly breaking news. But during the holidays it’s easy to get lost. A lot of women get fixated on buying things as a way to gain a fleeting sense of control and happiness.

But whether they realize it or not, many more women turn to eating — which could simply be a source of nourishment or pleasure — and they train their sights on controlling their appetites and weight in order to feel better about themselves.

Or they create large quantities of food in order to foster feelings of love and togetherness. It’s a no-win situation, and that’s why I want to talk about eating and the holidays.

Because I learned an important thing about lasting happiness when I confronted a 15-year struggle with my weight (that’s a picture of me above — 25 pounds heavier than I am now — and still happy).

Women, Food and Love

Geneen Roth’s book Women, Food and God was a recent best-seller and after reading it, I wrote a blog post about my own struggle with food and weight. Later I encouraged one of my clients (who was also reading Roth’s book) to read my post. She couldn’t believe that I once weighed 25 pounds more than I do today.

As I told her, it’s funny — I don’t think of myself as a person with food or weight struggles anymore and I have to be reminded that I once was after reading something like Roth’s book — where the raw feelings someone else is able to articulate call up memories from almost 20 years ago.

Eating is a Metaphor

By the time I got to college I had been watching and burning calories since I was 10 years old, and I was exhausted. Luckily I went to a very progressive college, one which had set up an “ExCo”-short for “Experimental College”-where students got to teach their own classes on a diverse range of topics. You could take courses on everything from “Sex 101” to “Advanced Klingon.” As a freshman I immediately signed up for the course Women and Body Image. I took it for a semester-and I taught it for my remaining years in college.

The class reading list included books by Kim Chernin (The Obsession: Reflections on the Tyranny of Slenderness and The Hungry Self: Women, Eating and Identity), Susan Kano (Making Peace with Food), and, of course, more from Geneen Roth (When Food is Love and Feeding the Hungry Heart), and I devoured them.

They are still on my bookshelf now over 20 years later. I’ve tossed out hundreds of books over the years, but they will always have a treasured spot on my shelves, honored like friends who helped shine a light on my path and who helped me to heal.

A Destructive Form of Control

They taught me that when all personal motives for losing weight are stripped away — the desire to be attractive, to be loved, to be successful-what unites the women who seek to reduce their weight is the fact that they’re looking for an answer to life’s problems in the control of their bodies and appetites.

In other words, these women, having discovered that they couldn’t control the world around them, chose to exert a destructive control over themselves. When I made that connection, that was it for me. I decided I was no longer going to allow this specious, almost superstitious reasoning to determine how I felt about myself.

Again, with the help of those books and the women in my class, I decided I would trust myself to eat when I was hungry and stop when I no longer received pleasure from the food. I still didn’t trust myself to exercise just for the joy of moving my body (and I didn’t appreciate the mood-elevating benefits of exercise yet), so for years I only took meditative walks. And I gained and maintained 25 “extra” pounds.

A Super-Sized Achievement

As a result I learned to love myself in spite of my weight, and I consider that one of the greatest achievements of my twenties. And then I met the love of my life-now my husband-and when he loved me back, even though I wasn’t exactly supermodel-size, I knew he was a keeper.

Shortly after my husband and I married we acquired a puppy, a very high-spirited Golden Retriever, and I learned that if she was going to be happy she would need to run at least once day. So I started to run with her. I don’t know what made running take the way it did then-maybe it was just my dog’s enthusiasm, or maybe I discovered that I, like my retriever (and Bruce Springsteen) was born to run-but I loved hitting that trail from the first time we set out. And while I had exercised-sometimes to excess-throughout my teens, and always with the aim to lose weight, this time I never thought of running as a means to burn calories. I just loved it, and I kept doing it.

I’ve never been sure if it was the running or the fact that I loved myself and my life so much that I no longer turned to food to fill feelings of emptiness or “not-enough-ness.” But it was then, in my early thirties, that I lost those 25 extra pounds. I’ve never gained them back.

Be Happy Anyway

Now in my early forties, I no longer run long distances, but I still try to do 20 minutes of heart-rate-raising cardio every day. Once again, I do this because I feel so much better when I do. In much the same way, these days I eat when I’m hungry and with pleasure.

I believe eating is a metaphor for the way we live. Obsessing over our food and focusing on our weight — or anything outside of ourselves — keeps us from finding the joy that is available to us right here and now.

On the other hand, though, the same behaviors that help us to release stressful thoughts and bad feelings-those essential skills of staying present, valuing ourselves, tuning in to our bodies and emotions, asking for what we need, and keeping ourselves open to receiving what we need-enable us to live full and happy lives. And when we’re full, we’re not hungry for empty calories.

So, my holiday wish for you is that you not worry about the consumption of presents and pumpkin pie as much as you focus on creating more meaning and joy — focusing on the meaning and joy that you can find in abundance around you, if you look.

by Stacey Curnow

Filed Under: Jungle Writers, Personal Growth and Spirituality

November 7, 2011 By John Spence 12 Comments

I Vote For Overconsumption

My post this month will likely be different than the other authors here at Jungle of Life, because I am going to be a champion for massive overconsumption!! That’s right, I am going to encourage you to be a glutton, a pig, an absolute and total overconsumption freak for… learning.

If you were to look at learning as “food” for the brain, the majority of people in business today would be dying of starvation. I recently saw statistic that said the average business person reads 1.5 business-related books per year!! Here is a startling fact: if you were to read just one business book every two months – six business books a year – you would be in the top one percent of self-learners and America. If you were to read one business book every month – 12 books a year – you would be in the top one percent of self-learners on the face of the earth.

So here’s my recommendation to you: become an obscene over-consumer of quality learning. Dedicate yourself to reading at least one business book every month, go and watch the videos on Ted.com and Big Think, listen to audio books, get all the free podcasts and audio downloads from iTunes, read a few industry magazines and check out a few blogs every month – month after month – without fail. If you will do this, I will absolutely guarantee that in five years you will built a base of knowledge, ideas and information that will dramatically increase your value in the marketplace.

How can I state with this with such certainty? Well, I have read a minimum of 100 to 120 business books a year, every year since 1989 and listened to an additional 30 to 50 each year as well. I also read nearly a dozen business related magazines every month and spend at least one hour a day reading blogs or watching videos from the top business websites on the web.

How did this work out for me?

In early 2011 I was recognized as one of the top 100 business thought leaders in America. Now I tell you this not to impress you, but to impress upon you this: I’m not really very smart, I’m just very, very focused. I understood a long time ago that employers/clients pay for ideas, strategies, and information that will help them grow their business and generate more profits. The more high-quality ideas and information you have – the more valuable you are in the marketplace – it is just that simple.

So pick up a book, listen to an audio book, peruse a few dozen websites and begin a steady diet of massive over-consumption of the best information you can put in your brain.

by John Spence

Filed Under: Career, Jungle Writers

November 4, 2011 By Jen Slayden 36 Comments

You Are What You Consume

You are what you eat! mom would exclaim at random times when I was a child. I didn’t understand what she meant, really. I had visuals of becoming a huge head of broccoli and wondered if that was the reason my eyes sometimes had a tint of green flickering among the brown. I wasn’t allowed chocolate very often, but I did eat my fair share of carob chips. I can’t stand them to this day! To be honest with you, it scared me to death to think I could become what I ate: broccoli, or chicken, or worse yet, a PIG! Talk about playground mockery in the making!

But there is now something about that statement that makes sense to me as an adult, although I would modify it to reflect my life now:

You are what you consume!

So the question is, what do you consume? In a world full of negative media, unrealistic expectations, and never-ending violence, what do you choose to consume? That which is most accessible? Or the more hard-to find diamonds of positive gems hidden underneath the hard surface of the rocky times in which we live?

Picture your life being an all-you-can-eat buffet, where you have the ability to set before you a plate of positive and nourishing items, or the sometimes more accessible like the junk food at your fingertips.

In my own life I am presented daily with a smörgåsbord of choices starting the moment I get up. What am I going to feed my family for breakfast– cheery Cheerios, or madmom muffins? Seriously, some days I wonder why I was awarded the title Mom. It seems hard to get out of bed, especially because the sun isn’t cooperating as it hides behind clouds loaded heavy with rain and snow, so how can I be cheery, after all? Believe it or not, I can. So can you.

Choose mindfully.

Just like your body needs to detoxify from sugar if you indulge too much (research now supports the facts that too much sugar has a severe negative effect on your physical and emotional wellbeing), your mind can also overcome the effects of negative media and negative consumption. It takes practice and patience, just like making food choices, but the results will be gratifying and remarkable.

A new pyramid….

For years the United States Department of Agriculture used a food pyramid to guide consumers about what food choices they should make. As time evolved, so did the USDA, realizing that not one diet fits all. So they changed the pyramid, and most recently rolled out a brand new program called MY PLATE.

Photo Credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture

The image allows the consumer to think carefully about what they should be eating.

Do you see how the food plate now is shaped just like the wheel of life? In my mind, this is progress. For the balance of nutritious food fits so perfectly with the balance of a nutritious life.

I will relate the new MY PLATE image to the wheel of life focusing on friends and family.

FRUIT:

In diet, fruits are full of natural sugar and can help protect you from chronic disease.

In life, being around friends and family that are sweet can give you a huge boost in your mood. Research suggests being around positive people increases your emotional health and leads to a longer lifespan!

VEGETABLES:

In diet, veggies are typically more savory than sweet, and many different types should be consumed to get a good mix of nutrients that your body needs.

In life, it is important to be open to many different types of friendships. Some of the closest friends I have to this day were ones that would have surprised me years ago. By being open and receptive to diversity, my best friendships are an eclectic group that includes young and old, poor and rich, face-to-face or on-line, gay or straight, diploma or not, religious and agnostic, and married or single. I have been truly blessed by the richness and perspectives of these savvy (and savory) friendships.

PROTEIN:

In diet, protein can be found in meat, nuts, eggs and cheeses to name a few. Protein is vital for providing energy and nutrition.

In life, my family and friendships provide me with energy to continue to do what I love. When I feel low, or have a lack of energy, I know it is time to speak with one of my various friends who will feed me the motivation, energy and ideas to get back on track.

GRAINS:

In diet, grains are a good source of important vitamins and minerals and a major source of complex carbohydrates. They can be found in whole foods like whole-grain pasta, quinoa, and brown rice.

In life, my friendships and family members that have more complex personalities not only teach me to educate myself well, they also teach me patience and tolerance. Sometimes I see people in my family or social circles going “against the grain” but recognize that life demands that every so often we MUST go against the norm to grow into who we are to become.

DAIRY:

In diet, dairy is a great source of calcium. But what about people who are lactose intolerant? They are led to find other options of receiving the calcium and vitamins through other foods.

In life, I turn to my friends and family when I need to find a new solution. My family can clarify when I need to explore a new idea. My friends help me recognize so very often how there are other ways– other options.

You are what you consume.

So tell me, what is on YOUR plate? Are you consuming what you need to in your life and passing over the unhealthy choices? I know that I have the power and the choice to be mindful and although it is sometimes a struggle, I try to choose well. How about you?

by Jen Slayden

Filed Under: Family and Social Life, Jungle Writers

November 1, 2011 By Lance Ekum 39 Comments

The Pineapple Story

photo credit: filtran

“He who seeks more than he needs hinders himself from enjoying what he has.” ~ Hebrew Proverb

Information. Food. Attitudes. Drinks. Vibes. The media. Thoughts.

We consume a lot.

Let’s look a little closer at this. Consumption is something we do…EVERY day.

Starting from the time we get up – whether it’s watching the morning news or having breakfast or time in personal thought or whatever it is that begins our day…we consume.

And that continues throughout the hours of our day.The thing is…what we are choosing to consume…is it what truly nourishes us? Or, do we sometimes (oftentimes?) over-consume?

It’s easy, isn’t it? It’s easy to over-consume.

A Little Story About A Pineapple

I’d like to talk pineapples.

When I was in college (wow…and that was a while ago!), one particular evening was an all-nighter, getting a project done by the time it was due (why did we wait until the last minute, anyway???).

Somehow we finished the project we were working on, and were able to get it turned in on time. In a state of tired-ness, and fueled by coffee – my roommate and I decided to also fuel our bodies with a pineapple (sounds like a good thing, doesn’t it?).

A pineapple – a healthy fruit!

And we cut that thing up…and ate the whole thing.

Have you ever done that?

Well…almost immediately after finishing (or really – a little before we finished), my mouth began to burn. The acidity of too much pineapple had created a burning sensation in my mouth. Ouch!!

A fruit – something that is filled with nutrients…and I had over-consumed!

While it might not always be so obvious, I’ve continued to over-consume time and time again – of both “good” things and “bad” things.

And I venture to guess that you have, too.

Consumption

So…consumption…

What are you consuming?

And maybe even more important – are you consuming more than you really need?

My challenge to you, as you begin this month of November – and we approach a season that can very much be excess-filled (the Christmas season, here in the United States), is to really (and objectively) look at your own personal consumption habits.

What are you choosing to consume? Does this fit with the life you desire?

Don’t stop there, though – are you consuming more than you really need, and is this in any way limiting you from reaching toward the life goals you have for yourself.

Or maybe – is what you are choosing to consume – is that limiting you from identifying your own personal life goals?

Think about it. Think about it, and be mindful of what you choose to consume.

You CAN create the life you desire!

by Lance Ekum

Filed Under: Life

The Story of Stuff

Do We Really Need to Buy Each Other More Stuff?

What’s On Your Plate?