Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Dealing with stress: good food and Buddhism



I feel much better than yesterday. I am the type of person who occasionally reaches max capacity with stresses and other emotions and it all comes out over the course if a day or two.

Got to work on that - not the healthiest!!

The quote I posted above is something I heard Thich Nhat Hanh speak on when I went to see him. He advocates peace, calm and happiness. But he is not asking us to pretend we don't suffer or that things don't hurt/bother us. In fact, he asks that we be critically aware of this suffering in order to nurture it (it's an odd way of say it, but I understand it... Suffering us a part of life, but we don't have to let it make us ugly. We can learn from it, let it make us more compassionate.).

Today, I am breathing freer, and don't want to miss life because I'm sad sometimes.

Dealing with my dad's jeep (he looooooved that car) brought out a lot of unexpected grief that I hadn't felt in a while. But I cannot run from it.

Just like last year, during the grieving process, I must feel it. And live despite it and with it and because of it.

I did NOT turn to food yesterday for comfort (though I did eat some chocolate that was verrrrrry pleasureable!). My day:

Breakfast: yogurt and coffee
Lunch: sweet potato, ground turkey, peas
Snacks: leftover roasted chicken, chocolate bar, banana with sunflower seed butter
Dinner: eggs over spinach with salsa, bowl of chunky, organic tomato soup

Not bad, but I need more veggies. So much easier to obtain fresh, affordable veggies in the summer!! I've been changing strategies and buying frozen veg - the organic frozen veggies from my local co-op actually taste AMAZING!

Oh yes, I weighed in at 120.8!! Sickness bloat and weight gain came right off.

So, onward and upward from small meltdown.

Will do some calming yoga after breakfast, get some work done before walking the dog (it's 5 degrees right now.. The weather is insane!! Polar vortex?? What the hell!)


50 degrees on Saturday?? I just...

Oh well, I'm doing my part to save the environment and mitigate the global warming situation (composting, recycling, reducing, walking instead of driving, etc). But if it's well on its way, it's well on its way. Going to deal with the reality of what we have.

Peace to you all - enjoy today.

Namaste <3

4 comments:

  1. Burrrrrrr....
    Glad today is a better day for you. :)

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  2. It is harder to eat fresh veggies in the winter. I've had some good luck with frozen veggies.

    Glad you're feeling better. xox

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  3. "peace, calm and happiness" we must all keep striving towards that.

    I think frozen vegetables make a good standby

    All the best Jan

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  4. I use frozen veggies a lot too. Barely cook them. Or sometimes just let them thaw. I don't eat peas or corn very often, but actually like those frozen. Not rock hard frozen, but really cold. I also keep my raw tree nuts in freezer and love them frozen (walnuts, almonds, pecans).

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