Balancing Health AND Pleasure

by Nicole Ohebshalom

Life is full of choices that seem to have only black and white solutions.  Should you take a risk or observe? Does your child need more freedom or control?  Stay quiet or fight back?  Help someone or create a boundary? We are faced with dilemmas throughout the day.  We believe that we must choose one over the other to create a balance in ourselves and in our life, but instead we create tensions that lead to breakdowns.

In ancient tradition teachings, the tensions in life are not only a natural part of life, they are life.  The dynamic opposition is what gives birth to and sustains the changing and evolving creative essentials of our world.  We clearly see this interaction by the T’ai Chi’s swirling black-and-white circle. It shows us that without one part of the pair, the other cannot exist.  Both sides of the picture complete the circle of wholeness.  Without the dynamic interplay between these powerful pairs, there is only stagnation and narrow thinking.   One great lesson I have learned in life is we cannot ignore or chase away the tension of opposites, because its how the universe operates.  Our job is to learn how to flow with life and listen to our inner-pleasure balance compass.

Many of my clients find that when they don’t listen to their body and embrace both sides of the situation they create breakdowns instead of breakthroughs.  When we become out of balance, we feel lopsided, especially in our body.  The body sends us messages to help us get back into balance.  Recently, I had a client craving late night cookie dough ice cream.   I’m sure many have been there — I have!  What was occurring for my client was pressure in receiving a promotion especially in this economy.  The ice cream felt like a big old bear hug, a way she had learned to receive love, relax, and smooth over her feelings.  Now, she takes a bubble bath with a good book, she has fun playful tools at work, and can listen more to what her body wants to eat. I’m so excited for her; she is rocking her new promotion!  And she still eats her ice cream now and then, but with so much more pleasure!

When you learn to honor yourself then you are respecting, appreciating, and giving birth to your best self so you can give creatively and abundantly in ways that honor others.  At its core, using a pleasure balance compass gives us the inner-guidance in receiving and giving during our life challenges.

Ready to gain more understanding of this balance system?  Many of us believe that our duty is to give, give, give, which prevents us from living joyfully and giving fully.  For example, the earth must receive enough nutrients, sunshine, and water before it can produce a beautiful harvest.  Your body and mind need their own nutrition and self-love to support one another, connect with your soul, and create a beautiful life for you.

Finding the balance in life begins with these few questions: Do you love yourself enough to honor your body’s needs? Do you give yourself the nourishment, rest, and activity you deserve?  If you can give all this to yourself, as well as getting out of your mind and into your body then your body will make sure you find your balance.  Your body always has your back! You see this when you trust and learn to receive from her.  If you want to get in touch with your inner potential, you must also care for your body and listen to her wisdom.  Rabbi Nachman said, “Strengthen your body before you strengthen your soul.”

From society we have learned to push ourselves beyond our limits, we are giving on an empty tank when we should be receiving.  Honoring yourselves and connecting to your pleasure balance compass is going to call for adding into your life more playful activities.  It’s about asking yourself what you need, right now, in order for you to regain balance.  A conscious effort is needed to come back into balance by learning more of yourself and asking yourself: What do I need at this moment to create happiness?  Your happiness is your responsibility.

I asked this question to myself early today.  I was writing on the computer and I felt my body slumping and becoming tight.  In response my thoughts became narrow and nothing flowed.  To balance myself out I put the music on, let go of my mind and got into my body and just danced. It was so awesome! I feel free!  After 5 minutes, I was so into my body and happy that I could connect more to myself, the writing slowed smoothly, and my body was relaxed.  For myself, I know moving my body is key and a method to honor myself.  This doesn’t sound difficult, but it takes practice.  The change begins with watching yourself, getting to know yourself, and then translating that knowledge into action that is distinct to your needs.

Ask yourself throughout the day: Do you sacrifice the needs of your body because you are giving so much of yourself?  Do you ignore the warning signs that are trying to get you back into balance?  Do you think of your body as something you love and completely surrender to?

Nicole Ohebshalom is the owner of Radiant Living Wellness which offers programs to address weight and health concerns, increase energy levels, or simply to help clients eat better. A firm believer in the power of balance, Nicole is also a Kundalini Yoga Instructor. To learn more about Nicole and her services, visit Radiant Living Wellness.

Book Review: Intuitive Eating, A Revolutionary Program That Works

You eat when you’re bored. You eat when you’re stressed. You eat when you’re out having fun. You may eat for any number of reasons, none of which include hunger. In fact, maybe you don’t even know what hunger feels like.

This is what happens when we have ridden the roller coaster of diet mania. Dependent on the latest news of what we should and shouldn’t eat in the name of losing weight, so many of us no longer know how to listen to our bodies. Going back and forth between restricting and binging, it’s like our body’s signals have gone hay wire, and we need nothing short of a “re-booting” to set things straight again. The problem is, how do we re-boot? In other words, how do we regain that ability — one that most of us probably had at some point in our lives, maybe as long ago as when we were kids — to listen to our bodies and eat intuitively? It probably won’t surprise you when I say the answer is in a book.

Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works was written by two Registered Dietitians, Evelyn Tribole, and Elyse Resch, and is a highly accessible, well-written book outlining the process for getting in touch with your body and learning what we knew as children — how to eat intuitively. Most of us once had the ability to listen to our body’s signals, eating when we’re hungry, and stopping when we’ve had enough. We seem to lose that ability, whether its through the introduction of food as a coping mechanism, comforting us when we’re hurt, sad, bored, lonely, stressed, angry, etc., or through the the black and white view of food that we come to have through the pressures of society to be thin, or, most likely, both.

Intuitive Eating outlines a process for regaining the ability to listen to our bodies and comfortably trust ourselves with food, as well as learning move for the sake of feeling good — not burning off last night’s desert. Though you may have been riding the diet roller coaster for so long that you believe it is actually impossible for you to ever learn to intuitively eat, I would suggest that the principles proposed by Tribole and Resch go to the core of the dieter’s mentality, and bit by bit break down the reasons why diets inevitably don’t and won’t work.

After going through why your diets continue to fail you, the book describes different types of eaters and helps you determine which group you fall into. By understanding what kind of eater you are, you can begin to chip away at the barriers you have to listening to your body by following the ten principles of intuitive eating:

Princple 1: Reject the Diet Mentality
Princple 2: Honor Your Hunger
Princple 3: Make Peace with Food
Princple 4: Challenge the Food Police
Princple 5: Feel Your Fullness
Princple 6: Discover the Satisfaction Factor
Princple 7: Cope with Your Emotions Without Using Food
Princple 8: Respect Your Body
Princple 9: Exercise — Feel the Difference
Princple 10: Honor Your Health — Gentle Nutrition

By highlighting the principles here, I am in no way offering a substitute for the book. Each process is supported by examples and methods for internalizing the concept. Intuitive Eating is not a quick-fix, solve-all-your-food problems, self-help book. It offers a common sense approach to changing your relationship with food and your body, allowing you to live a life not dominated by thoughts of food and your body size, but instead filled with the pleasures food and your body can provide you.

If you are looking for yet another way to lose 10, 20, or 50 pounds before your next event, perhaps you are not ready for this book. But if you are ready to start living your life free from self deprivation and self loathing, then this book is for you.

Water, Water, Everywhere … But How Much Should We Drink?

Do you remember a time when you WEREN’T being told to drink more water? Eight 8-ounce glasses a day. It’s been the recommendation for as long as I can remember. And more, if you’re active. And no, coffee, soda, tea and other beverages don’t count (except herbal tea, which sometimes counts and sometimes doesn’t, depending on the source of the recommendation).

Some people struggle with this number, some people (like myself) exceed it, and some people, like my husband, completely ignore it. I have often had debates with my husband over the issue because he can easily get by on one glass of water a day, where I can drink a glass practically in one gulp. He has always maintained that if he needed more he would drink more, sure that he would in fact know if he needed more.

Finally, an article in Nutrition Action magazine (which I highly recommend) has ended the debate — and shut me up. The June 08 issue features a Q & A with a doctor and expert on kidney function to find out what is behind the age old recommendation of 8×8.

Dr. Heinz Valtin was asked by the American Journal of Physiology to look into the recommendation of 8 glasses of water per day. After 10 months of research, he couldn’t find a single paper that offered scientific support for the recommendation.

He then went on to address many of the myths associated with water intake. I think one of the most common myths is that if you feel thirsty, you may already be dehydrated. Yes, it is a sign that you probably should drink some water, but it’s still a long way before you are in danger of real dehydration. He also says that colored urine is not a sign of dehydration either. Yes, if it’s very dark, you probably need to drink a little more, but you are still not in danger, according to Valtin.

We often hear that caffeinated drinks are diuretics and therefore should not count towards water consumption. Valtin indicates that it is only in large doses that caffeine has this effect, and in the amounts that most people consume, caffeinated beverages can indeed be counted towards water intake. Of course, in my opinion, the more water and less soda, coffee, etc. that you drink, the healthier you are likelier to be overall.

Although there is more detailed information in the article, it can easily be summed up by drinking what you feel your body needs which often means drinking at meal time and any time in between when you are thirsty. Pretty simple eh? Sounds good to me.

Do You Get Enough Protein?

My husband and I recently got in a debate about how much protein he should be eating — a particular challenge since neither of us eat meat, poultry or pork. He insisted that his research indicated he needs about 50 grams of protein per day. But every thing I have seen points to a much higher number.

I did a search on google (of course) and while there is some debate as to how much protein we need, more often than not, my research supports my theory that he needs at least 20 grams more protein daily than what he was aiming for. I’ve often heard that a basic rule of thumb is that you should divide your body weight in half and eat that amount of protein in grams. Tom generally weighs around 150 or 155 so at the very least he should be getting 75 grams a day. But if you account for his height, frame and activity level (as this calculator at HealthCentral.com does) then it should be even higher.

If you’re not sure how much protein you need, the calculator already mentioned is a good resource and seems to be inline with more general guidelines I have seen. So once you know how much protein to aim for, exactly how do you hit that number?

Well, personally, I find it a huge challenge. Even before I gave up meat, it was daunting to eat enough protein without consuming more calories overall than I wanted. The key is to find foods that give you a lot of bang for your buck and add to that foods that sneak protein in where you would least expect it.

There are the obvious choices — meat, poultry, pork and seafood. Since we don’t eat the first three, we eat a lot more seafood. Tonight we had a dinner of canned wild salmon with cream cheese on crackers and some cheese, along with some asparagus. Salmon is an excellent source of protein because it comes without all the unhealthy stuff that a big slab of steak would. Plus, it’s loaded with fatty Omega 3 acids which is good for the heart.

We also eat a lot of eggs, beans, and meat substitutes mostly made from soy, in addition to the occasional smoothie with some protein powder. I have found a lot of delicious ways to prepare tofu and have even converted a few tofu haters! I make a fabulous Tofu Parmesan that my husband favored over any other Parmesan dish even before we gave up meat.

Greek yogurt is another food high in protein. Of course, all dairy has a decent amount but there is something (though I’m not sure what) about Greek yogurt that makes it especially high in protein. It’s also very rich and creamy and makes a good, flavorful substitute for sour cream. I prefer Fage Greek yogurt in 2%. It’s delicious mixed with low sugar apricot preserves.

You can also find higher amounts of protein in certain breads and pasta. I usually look for bread that has 5 grams of protein per slice or more. Barilla has a line of pasta that is made from flour derived from beans like lentils and garbanzos, and has 10 grams of protein per serving! And I think it tastes much better than whole wheat pasta, which is touted for its higher fiber content.

The important thing is to diversify your sources of protein to maximize the nutrients you are getting and to create healthy muscle mass.