I for example I am in the process of stopping overeating because I know how much better I feel when I eat light.  So for a few days I tried to stop overeating and it didn’t work.  Then I decided that I would create a new habit of “Conscious eating” eating slow, taking breaks, chewing my food etc.  It is working, I am doing it.  By creating this new habit, the old habit just falls away.  “Conscious eating” and “Overeating” just can’t exist in the same space.

In building new habits that build your life energy and health there are two companions that are like gold.  Number 1 is a partner or friend to remind you of your new habit when you forget.  Number 2 is the Humility to accept the reminder.

My wife Rosarmy and I have been together for over 3 years now.  Rosarmy is a very disciplined person with very good eating habits and habits in general.  She is absolutely delightful to be married to.  For a while now she has been trying to help me eat consciously, reminding me to chew well and enjoy my food.  For a long time I resisted the advice.  I would say things like “Just coz I’m eating fast doesn’t mean I am not enjoying it” or “I have an excellent digestive system, it can take it!”.  At times I was even openly hostile and possibly even told her to “shut up and mind your own business”.

Then I started this blog to track my own path to bliss and indentified “Conscious Eating” as one of the habits I wanted to form.  I was humbled to realise that what I now REALLY wanted my wife was trying to help me with a looong time ago.

So now my wife says “Hey love, enjoy your food, chew well” and I say “Thanks for reminding me”.  There is no resistance any more so now I can build a habit of conscious eating.

I think sometimes we just have to listen to others more.  Especially those close to us.  Especially our wives, boys!! Women are powerful, sensible and intuitive and know whats good for us most of the time.  Especially if the relatioship is loving.

Humility is the key, If we can just see that most of the time (constructive) criticism is really a signpost leading us back to our path to bliss we can be grateful and say “Thankyou” rather than getting into resistance with the other person that just keeps us stuck.

I currently live in southern Brazil and my parents are over visiting from Australia to help my wife and I look after our baby twins for a while.  Today we were deciding what to do for lunch and the idea came up to go to one of the local “all-you-can-eat” places that are so common in Brazil.  I thought to myself “Danger!” I remembered my commitment to myself and to you, the readers of this blog to “practice what I preach” but decided to take it as a great opportunity to put my will power to the test.

So we went to the all you can eat place and I did pretty well.  I still ate a bit more than I needed but I didn’t stuff myself either.  It was a step in the right direction. They say it takes about 28 days to create a new habit, so on day one I made progress.  Tomorrow I will do even better.  That is the point, you don’t have to be perfect straight away, taking small steps towards your goal gives you a better chance of success in the long run.

Another things that really helps is when people close to you remind you of your goal.  I am lucky enough to have an amazing wife (who has very healthy eating habits and rarely overeats) who is always there to remind me to eat slow, chew my food and reconsider seconds.  In the past I was resistant to her comments, sometimes even openly hostile and once even accused my wife of “trying to control me”.  But now I just say thankyou, because I know that she loves me and is always just looking after my best interests.  Humility is an essential companion on your path to bliss.

So I guess in closing this blog entry I will reemphasize why I want to eat less.  When I eat light, I feel light.  I need less sleep and am more creative.  Eating light is a huge contributor to my bliss.