Creating the Buddha’s body.

When I was a kid, my uncle struggled with alcohol, was overweight, and had dangerously high cholesterol.  By doctors orders, he began to change his diet.  Now since I was young, and not living with him, I don’t know what happened during this time, but I can only imagine the struggle to change eating habits.  Over the years, I watched him become excited about health foods.  He would buy fresh foods, fruits, veggies, nuts, and everything from the ordinary to the exotic.  He even began growing fresh vegetables in a garden.  I could see his attitude towards food change and his sincere excitement about healthy food.  I also watched the change it made in his appearance, he lost a lot of weight and lowered his cholesterol.  It made an impact on me as a kid, and the foods he introduced me to taught me the joy of fresh, unprocessed food.

Now, there are still certain foods I don’t like, foods I have slight allergic reactions to, but the amazing variety in nature far surpasses the wildest imaginations of the worlds top chefs and most successful restaurants.  There are some people who eat takeout and store bought foods, complaining that "health food" has no flavor or that they "don’t like spinach."  It’s amazing how small a percentage of the available food on this planet that people have even tried.  Eating healthy doesn’t have to be a punishment, it should be a joy, and sometimes it’s worth the effort to go out and try something new.
Some say you are what you eat, but there’s more to health than what goes into the body.  Ignoring my weekly workout routine, which I may describe in a later post, I’m going to post what I eat on an average day.

Now, keep in mind, this is supplemented by whatever fruits and veggies I can find that are in season, or foods I "haven’t had in a while" that I see in my local grocery store.  I also eat out, but usually only once a week and I still don’t eat pork or beef.  I’ve also found a good multivitamin that I take, but usually only 3 days a week (the morning after my workout days).  And lastly, I only listed the juices I drink, but I am constantly drinking water.  I don’t keep track of it, but I would guess 4-5 glasses a day, 2 or 3 more if my body didn’t need everything in the multivitamin I took that morning.  And as for pop (or soda, if you prefer that word), I have one or two cokes a year and have been doing this for the last 4 or 5 years.
My eating schedule has a lot to do with where I work and when I have time to take a break, but roughly, I try to eat 5 meals a day, starting as soon as I wake up, and ending a few hours before I go to sleep.

7am - 3 waffles, syrup, large glass of orange juice

10am - granola/cereal/oatmeal, mixed nuts, dried fruit/fresh fruit
12:30pm - sandwich (whole grain/wheat, turkey/chicken, some kind of cheese, lettuce (usually a spring mix or spinnach), mustard), fruit (apple/banana), veggies (cucumber, green pepper, karrot), large glass of grape/cranberry juice

4pm -  granola/cereal/oatmeal, mixed nuts, dried fruit/fresh fruit
7pm - baked fish, baked potato, fresh veggies (or as an alternative dinner) steamed rice, steamed mixed veggies (usually a mix that includes broccoli and beans)

I’ll admit, some of those don’t sound like "meals" but more like "snacks," but I think that depends on how much is eaten, not the types of food.  When it comes to the amount of food, it’s usually the same amount for each of the 6 meals.  I follow a little mantra that I came up with while experimenting with different types of food and meals per day.  Eat whenever you have appetite, do not let it become hunger, stop eating whenever you are satisfied, do not make yourself full.  Obviously, some could debate the semantics of those words "appetite," "hunger," "satisfied," and "full."

Here is how I make the distinction.  When you start thinking about food, and you cannot feel food in your stomach, it is appetite.  If you start craving food, and feel your stomach ache, it is hunger.  It takes some careful attention to the body to understand the subtle difference, but I’ve gotten to the point where I know when my body starts using stored energy and burning fat or muscle tissue.  People usually express this by saying their stomach is eating itself.  I find it easier to distinguish between satisfied and full.  Satisfied is when the feeling of appetite or hunger goes away, full is when you feel the stomach wall stretch.

Now switching from a 2 or 3 meal a day diet to a 5 meal a day diet is hard.  During the transition, the stomach is very large and the feeling of appetite doesn’t go away until the stomach is filled and just about to stretch.  This can result in someone eating too large of a meal, so that by the time the next meal comes around, the person’s stomach is still full, and not ready for more food.  As the meals become smaller and more frequent, the stomach will naturally shrink.  This is nice, because it becomes easier to feel that satisfied feeling, and as long as you don’t overeat and stretch the stomach out again, it will remain small.  (this is what some people try to achieve by getting their stomach stappled, but it is much safer to do this naturally)

There are many people who don’t understand the limits of their body.  They either sit there, with untapped potential, or they try and try to change their body into a form it will never be able to mold into.

Understanding the limits and potential of our body takes practice and observation.   I’ve seen the best results for my body come from isometric exercise and proper eating habits.  It is my opinion, though untested, that this is true for everyone.  Now you may tell me of great success from lifting weights and taking supplements, but I would argue that we have different definitions of "success".  For me, health is far more important than the way the body looks.  One person may be 250 pounds of pure muscle, but have a failing liver from supplement abuse and deteriorating joints from muscles that can lift more than the joints can handle, while another person may weigh 115 pounds, but be healthy in every way possible.  At the same time, there may be some 250 pound people who are extremely healthy while a 115 pound person may be malnourished, it depends on the body type that you have.  I believe the way to achieve the healthy body for your body type is to use your own body’s weight as resistance when working out and eating natural, healthy foods.

As for the title of this blog, I do not mean to say that someone must be a Buddhist to follow this advice or gain a healthy body.  For my Christian friends, instead of saying "creating the Buddha’s body," you may wish to remember "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."