The Spartan soup II-Selecting food                        

Why is it so difficult for the majority of people to eat correctly, and therefore, be in the correct weight, shape and health? Among many reasons, the one that is most difficult to control, is because we usually eat approximately three times per day! If you think how many times this is, by multiplying it per year or per decade, you will come to understand that controlling our food habits can “break” even the most disciplined person…
This is why the great majority of people, sooner or later gives up any effort, and just eats whatever comes their way.

Correct nutrition is about knowledge, and knowledge is not “one easy to understand answer” it never was…
It takes study, practice, experimentation, and also the will, to take again control of your own kitchen… 
The first “great defense” in order to change your nutrition habits, begins within the walls of your own house. Let nothing come in that should not be in. Always shop your food with a well prepared list, and make sure you prepare yourself your own food.

I don’t know if you understand this correctly so far, but if you would invite me to your house in order to “inspect” it, on a correct nutrition basis, I would probably appear with a large garbage bag and literally through away, from your kitchen and your fridge, anything that should not be there! 
 
The circle
Human beings are an omnivorous species.
We are designed, by nature, to be able to practically eat anything!!! 
With very few, well known exceptions, we can eat all kind of animals, all kind of birds, all fish, all seafood. We can eat all kind of vegetables, rise, beans, grains, fruits, nuts, seaweed. We can eat all kind of insects (they do in Southeast Asia) even worms and snakes… 
Please don’t be shocked, but if someone would cook you a human being (without you knowing it) you would not be able to know the difference from regular meat! That is untold truth, and that is one reason we were able to survive as species on this planet. 

We can eat absolutely everything from the circle of life… 

This fact, answers one question: Since we are originally designed by nature to eat everything within the circle of life, how many nutrition methods and diets can you create? And why are there so many different opinions on nutrition?
Right! You can practically create infinite methods and diets, and all of them can claim that “they” are right… 
What have we learned here? 
Nothing is “forbidden” for us to eat. So, we should not worry all the time!
But on the other hand, because we can eat everything, does it mean that we should eat everything? Clearly not…
Choosing what to eat, gives us the best quality of life, it keeps us healthy and as well it prologues the life span itself!

The pyramid
-Water
Water is not considered as “food” but let us forget this for a moment…
Water is so important that it should be at the top of the pyramid! 
We should start our day, before eating or drinking anything else, by drinking at least one full glass of water…
On the contrary, it is a mistake to drink too much water “by force” during the day just because it is said that you “have to” drink 3-4 liters per day… How much, should depend on what we have eaten, if it is summer of winter, if we practice etc. But in the morning, we should!!!
 
-Brown Rise, Lentils, Beans (All kind of beans)
Still to this day, there are many regions in nations (for example in India, China, Japan etc.) where people practically live exclusively eating only Rise and Beans dressed with a poor salad… One could practically live with only that, and live the longest possible life as well!

-Vegetables
Spinach, Carrots, Cabbage (both red and white) Tomatoes, Cucumber, Celery, Parsley, Dill, Olives, Olive Oil, Soya Sauce… Lemons are very important as well.
Any kind of meal should always be accompanied with a kind of salad, even if it is a small portion.
Soup with vegetables is always an excellent idea… 

-Oats, grains, seeds, nuts, bread 
One can eat them separately or in combination. Muesli (which contains all of the above) with soya milk and bee honey is one of the best breakfasts possible…
Note: Walnuts is the King of nuts, and Almonds is the Emperor!

-Fish and Seafood 
Fish is excellent food! 
Salmon, Tuna...
Surprisingly, more important are small and usually cheep to buy, fish that live near the coastline.
Seafood is nutritious but it should be consumed in small portions. 

-Fruits
There is practically little need for fruits… 
Most people wrongly think that vegetarians eat a lot of fruit, but it is not so.
Some fruits of course are amazing, like Blackberries, Blueberries, Bananas…
Note: The apple is the King of all fruits... 

-Dark Chocolate, Tea, Coffee, Honey, Wine (with measure and caution) 
Even in the most strict nutrition program, we must not forget to enjoy and feel pleasure with what we eat and drink...

Note: Until this point we were at the top and higher levels of our pyramid...
 
-Chicken, Turkey, “White meats” and eggs
White meat is considered meat that comes from animals with coldblooded organisms… To make this understood, coldblooded animals lay eggs and usually they don’t breastfeed their offspring with milk.

To eat eggs is a good idea… They have a bad reputation which is untrue…
I consider white meats as an alternative kind of food, since we live in a totally red-meat eating environment. 

-Animal Products
The only milk needed for a human being is the one that your mother gives you, and this, until your 9thmonth from birth or approximately until we have our first teeth, which is nature’s way to say “stop this”. After that it is not a good idea to drink milk from animals.
White cheese, like Greek feta and Katiki, could be consumed in small portions. 
On the other hand yellow cheeses are full of fat, one should consume very little of it…
Yogurt with some fruits and nuts can be considered as a light meal… 

-Red Meat
We call Red Meat any meat that is coming from animals that are very much like we humans are. They are warm-blooded as we are, they give birth to little ones as we do, they breastfeed in the same manner we do and they are usually of high intelligent…

Red meat is at the very bottom of this pyramid, if not outside of it...
The ignorance and wrong understanding, about meat-eating habits is so great here in the West, it would take a total re-training of a person, on all levels, in order to explain. 
So, just a few lines from my book...
 
“If you take some almonds in one hand and a piece of meat in the other, and you both put them under ground, the meat will turn itself into worms, while the almonds will become a… tree! The same thing happens inside your body, when you eat them.”                                                                 

In case you do eat meat, choose what animal you are going to eat. The worst part of eating an animal is its internal organs...
When you eat meat accompanied it with, as much as you can, fresh green salad...

Parallel lines
When adopting your own nutrition program, one of the most difficult aspects is the fact that you are going to be, somehow, alone! You will have to accept the fact that people around you will be constantly stepping on your program, either deliberately out of malice, or either without them wanting to, accidently. 
You must learn to resist, and to draw your parallel line for those who are close to you. You can neither impose your nutrition habits to others, but neither should others impose theirs on you!
This would be like living together, but in parallel lines…

Below are some very important basic principles…  
The first three are easy to remember: What to eat, How it is cooked, How much to eat.

-What to eat
We just saw earlier above the kind of food that we should eat. But it is equally important to eat the best possible quality of food...It is always best to eat a very small quantity but not sacrifice any quality.

-How it is cooked
All life is created by two things… Water and Sun. 
And there is one Chef who can cook better than anybody else. The Sun! We refer to raw food as raw. But it has been already been cooked by the Sun. The more you cook food, the more you destroy it.
Just think what traditional Japanese Sushi is! It is mostly raw food!

Steam your food…
Boil your food…
Bake your food… 
Anything beyond that and you destroy it.
Also, first cook and only after add whatever you wish to add, for extra flavor and spice.
If you have a quick-steam casserole, that puts your food under pressure simple through it away! Period… Do the same with your microwave. 
Learn to cook with a Wok and use pots made of clay.  

-How much
Now look at your hand and make a fist with it! 
Com’on, do it now, make a fist with your hand…

This fist is the size of your stomach. Everything you eat in one meal, should not be more than that size.
How to do this?
Put all your food (including salad, bread etc.) into one plate (the perfect thing is to use a bowl which is the actual size of your fist) from the beginning. Eat this, but nothing outside this. 
Stay as low as you possibly can on your weight.

We should eat three meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner… 
Eat one “rich” course, the other two should be lighter…
Eat your main course when most relaxed and calm…
Eat nothing between meals…
Avoid eating when you are sad, frustrated, angry etc. 
When we are ill it is better to eat nothing and fast until recovered, drinking only water!
If you can, take a day off once a week, and eat nothing, drink only water…
It is a good idea to eat in the company of good friends, who know how to laugh and enjoy a good dinner!

-Activity 
Nutrition is a part of life, but as with everything, it is interconnected with all the other parts of life, like sleeping, cleanliness, recreation, making love etc. 
Picking an activity is of the outmost importance!
So, pick up a training or practice, because it makes you happy to do so, and not because “you have to”. Instead do something that you essentially like and that will stick with you in the long term.

As a last supplement my recommendation is the practice of Classic Yoga…
Which, traditionally, is part of Aikido in the first place, known as Jubi Undo!

May 4, 2020