Why we are fat

A personification of our hungriness and greed

Written with Kittirat Yothangrong

Today, the process of eating has become almost an automatic routine. We don't think, we just eat. Eating passes time, helps us cope with boredom and anxiety, and temporarily helps to make us feel good about ourselves, with the dire consequences we all know about - over weight and the tired and lethargic feelings that often come from this.

Eating is not just something that should be habitual, it also involves mindfulness, or attention and focus.

Eating is often a personification of our hungriness and greed. We crave and we succumb, showing our weakness and lack of self discipline. The desire for food is often not a hunger, but rather a craving for instant gratification which does so much damage to us.

Just think about it. Eating can bring obesity, which leads to lower self esteem. Then ailments like high blood pressure, cholesterol, and even diabetes.  That's a high price to pay so some short term gratification.

Self control requires us to think about the big picture. We must pay attention to urges for self gratification. eat according to need rather than want. We must also pay attention to what is good for us. Eat balanced food intakes, keeping foods as natural and unprocessed as possible.

Why unprocessed? Because that's how our body was designed and all these complex processed foods with chemicals do complex things to our metabolisms that even today scientists still don't fully understand.

We must try to keep it simple, and stress will decrease within our bodies.

Taking time out to prepare our own sandwiches has something soothing and therapeutic about it. Its comes from our own hands and time, and gives you that 5-10 minutes to relax and take the current day in some perspective.  Preparing our own food is an art and form of meditation that helps bring mindfulness into our day. Sometimes helping us to see things much more clearly, according to what the cognitive researchers are saying.

Wisdom and creativity doesn't come from being busy, it comes from the things we perform as art during the day. And why can't the simple preparation of a sandwich be a form of art.

So next time, it's time to eat. Think about preparing your own food as a form of 'time out' during the day.

Secondly, think about what you need to eat, rather than what you want to eat. Remember food is the first form of temptation that brings dire consequences to us as a person.

Self control, self discipline and even mindfulness can come from the simple practice of preparing your own food and eating it.

Put more thought into your eating desires and practices and you will find much better long term self contentment within you. Changing your eating practices will make you even more creative as it will give you time to take in what's going on during the day.

Finally thinking about what and how we eat can help us not only undergo a physical transformation in shedding those kilos, but a mindful one as well, granting you increased wisdom about your everyday life.

You have the choice, mindlessly eat and you know the consequences, or put mindfulness into your food and discover the increased quality of life.

Originally published in Ovi Magazine 30th September 2014

KITTIRAT YOTNANGRONG or Akoi as she is known, is one of the very few people who have been a Buddhist nun and a runner-up in the Miss Southern Thailand Beauty Quest as a “mature” contestant. She is a ‘practical’ vegetarian who believes in herbs, healthy living, and meditation. An avid yoga fanatic, Kittirat is also an organic farmer. She regularly speaks to community groups in Malaysia and Thailand on empowerment, health through herbs, and spirituality.

Click on subscribe so articles can be directly emailed to your inbox: