In My Mind’s Zen Garden

So, I visited Yahoo.com for the first time this year and right off the bat I see the top article:

Top 5 Habits To Increase Longevity

Okay, this is information I’ve read about before. Especially the part about eating several smaller meals a day, instead of 3, or even 1 meal a day like I used to do long ago.

In the Western culture, meals are taken three times a day, but it is much better to eat five smaller meals. When you eat smaller portions five times a day, you deliver a steady stream of nutrients, blood sugar, and energy to your body throughout the day.

Additionally, eating this way is less taxing on the digestive and metabolic systems and also reduces your risk of heart disease.

. . . .

The Home with New Shutters

. . . .

Eating 5 or 6 smaller meals a day is something I’ve been doing lately, so I’m already into that habit. I totally agree that it’s less taxing on the digestive system as a whole. Easier on the body in general. And I notice I have more energy throughout the day. If one feels like taking a nap or feeling sluggish after a meal, then that’s probably when you’ve eaten too much food at one time, obviously.

And I’ve also read before that a good habit doesn’t take hold until like the 19th day, so the following makes sense. After so many days a habit becomes automatic:

It takes 14 to 21 days of repetitive behavior to form a new pattern in your brain. Once the pattern is formed, it becomes an automatic behavioral response.

Okay. The Top 5 Habits….

1. Eat five small meals a day.

2. Climb the stairs instead of using elevators.

3. Laugh it up!

4. Drink 8 glasses of water every day.

5. Unwind with meditation.

Sure, these make perfect sense. And I pretty much already follow these with exception to drinking 8 glasses of water every day. Does anyone really do this? As a mostly raw vegan I eat plenty of fruits and veggies that contain mostly water. But, I’ve read recently that there is a difference between getting your water from food and drinking the water directly. But, I’d said I can drink about 4-5 glasses of water a day. I have plenty of juices and smoothies, but I wonder if it counts or not.

Resolutions

People usually say they don’t make New Year’s resolutions, or they make them around this time of year.

Sure, I’ve made them. But I think the world “resolution” has gotten a bad rep over the years.

I prefer the word “Goal” nowadays.

It’s important to make plans and set goals at the beginning of the year. I’m sort of bad at making all those detailed goals. But I’m good at setting some big goals, like traveling and acquiring something of importance.

Here are some of my random goals for 2008:

1. Improve on my (mostly raw) vegan diet even further.

2. Get a dehydrator (for making gourmet raw vegan dishes).

3. Travel to Asia in June.

4. Celebrate New Year’s Eve at Times Square in New York.

5. Finish the meditation garden in the backyard.

6. Perform more on piano (and practice more).

7. Improve on my yoga and meditation practices.

And I think that’s plenty to think about. I think it’s important not to set too many goals. Then one might compromise a few important goals and simply make it too hard to achieve them all.

But, I’ll definitely have to follow the above tips for longevity.