A slow and steady path towards the yogi diet

I’m a strong believer of “you are what you eat”, since over half a year that I’ve been trying to be conscious of my food intake. As many of you I’m a big foodie and I truly enjoy spending a meal in company. 

Few tips that I can share here in order to make this transition smoother and much more enjoyable:

  • Plan small and gradual steps, don’t rush into results: After making my mind of cutting down meat and fish intake, I started with 1 full day vegetarian every 2 / 3 days. After a few months moved it to full weekdays only vegetarian meals and only during social gatherings I’d be also consuming meat products.
  • Give yourself some rewards: this is to encourage yourself and remind yourself that you are doing a great job. For instance I really enjoy carbs and dairies, so in order to give up fully on meat and fish I’d prize myself with a nice croissant in the morning or some nice cheese in my salad. However, again be mindful even with these products.  
  • Speak and share about it: I feel sharing your achievements and new recipes with the loved ones around you is extremely encouraging and you’d realize that there are many people around you that would like to take part as well. 
  • Sometimes when the motivation falls short, try to remember your whys? What motivated you in the first place to take on this transformation journey. Is it health related? Is it environmental related? or just a personal challenge? In my case, I watch documentaries about the mass food industry helps a lot to remind me the “why” I decided to take up this journey.

Following the yogic diet class in YTT, I decided to dig a little deeper into what are considered the Sattvic food and how to consume it.

 

Sattvic food:

  • wholemeal bread
  • fresh fruit and vegetables
  • pure fruit juices
  • Milk (I’m using plant based milk and yogurt as well)
  • butter and cheese
  • legumes
  • nuts
  • seeds
  • sprouted seeds
  • honey and herb teas

 

In general lines, there are some simple guidelines to the yogic diet:

  • Vegetarian diet, this should be enough to provide all the nutrients your body needs without harming animals.
  • Free from refined and chemical stimulants food: if possible choose to use organic products and avoid stimulants such as caffeine, tobacco and alcohol.
  • Regulate your meal intake to regular timings so your body gets used to these cycles and utilizes the energy in a more efficient way. Avoid food 2 hrs before exercise or sleep.
  • Slowly introducing the fasting habit into your regime. The purpose here is to cleanse your body completely. You can start with only intaking liquids (juices) for the whole day once a month. Slowly cutting down into nothing once a week. I would say this is the toughest part for me.