Here’s a little food for thought:

Why is text messaging confined only to a hand-held devise?

When you come across something so beneficial, why can’t you just send it to as many friends you have found along your path, along your new journey? Force an alarm to go off at the other end, raising the alert level a few notches higher. That’ll get some notice. Get someone to at least glance at the text. 

Well, I guess I will just have to rely on this old-fashioned approach to providing info: putting it out on the ‘Net.

Hence, I am providing everyone — meat eaters and non-meat eaters — the following post that originally appeared in an article on western Buddhism. Enjoy it. Better yet, try the practice. Whether you follow a Zen approach or not, you could help yourself be a more enlightened self:

How I lost 20 lbs in a month through Buddhism! by dragonflydm

 

TIPS ON HOW TO EAT WITH BUDDHIST PRACTICE

• When you eat, always be aware of what you are eating.
• Continually remind yourself that food may be pleasurable, but it is fuel not entertainment or an emotional substitute.
• Never reward yourself with a food treat. If, every time you accomplished a goal, you rewarded yourself with a $1,000 shopping spree how long would it take before you stopped and just allowed the joy of accomplishment be enough?
• Never eat something until you had time to think about that choice. Do you need to eat it? After you have finished eating that pleasure food, will you regret it?
• At the start of daily (or weekly meditation) take a minute to reflect on your relationship with food. “Meditation develops your concentration,” says Megrette Fletcher, RD, cofounder of the Center for Mindful Eating in West Nottingham, New Hampshire.
• Keep a calorie journal. My journal was an application on iPhone, but you can just as easily buy a book that notates the calories of every food and recording everything.
• According to the Center for Mindful Eating, think of eating as scale with “starving” on one side and “stuffed” on the other. In Okinawa, there is a cultural tradition called “ class=”hiddenSpellError” pre=””>hara hachi bu” which means “eat until you are only 80% full.” Okinawa has the largest population of centenarians in the world.
• Chew your food! It can take 20 minutes for the body to register what you have eaten. Taking time, allows the mind to catch up to the mouth. In addition, chewing gum before a meal creates the mental sensation of starting the meal early and the mind—thinking it has been eating for a longer time—will lessen your appetite.
• Avoid ice cold drinks when eating! Cold drinks push food through the stomach, but hot drinks also loosen up the stomach muscles and give the sensation that you are fuller.
• Do not eat on autopilot. (“Don’t eat where you … !”) Eating while driving, working, watching TV are all very convenient. They are also distracting. I can eat an entire large pizza without noticing or enjoying the experience. Move your eating time to a separate location where eating is the primary mission.
• Food is only a reward when training puppies! Did you finally get your five mile run finished in 40 minutes? Fantastic! But don’t make that an excuse to open up the pint of ice cream. When you find yourself “treating” yourself to food, stop and investigate those feelings and cravings instead. Then put the spoon down!
• Don’t measure yourself to who you think you should be. Just as in meditation, we must be in the moment. Phrases like “only if I …” will demotivate and discourage progress. Buddhism teaches that there is the conceit of thinking we are better than others and also the conceit of thinking that others are better than us. Craving for a “self” concept and a permanent image of what our impermanent bodies should look like creates suffering.

Many thanks, and a bow of the head (as well as the heart) to my friend dragonflydm.

Look him up! His message hits home.