Advice

I am looking for advice on what diet has worked best for some Ashtangi's.
Raw food, vegan, vegetarian, macrobiotic, auryvedic, Pattabhi Jois said, etc etc.

I am looking for a diet that will help make me feel lighter and healthier in my practice and life. And I'm curious as to what has worked for others.

Re: Advice

Pattabhi has very specific ideas of what is to be followed dietetically listed out in his book Yoga Mala.  I personally have tried raw, macrobiotic and his specific rules, but I've found that its easiest to try it all and follow what feels right for you.  I usually eat a very macrobiotic breakfast with locally grown rice, but add adzuki beans to make it a complete protein (also he did recommend eating adzuki beans when I was with him in Boulder) which helps my blood sugar balance out really well.  I eat my biggest meal of the day for lunch and include as much raw as possible at this time, salads or such and then eat my crappiest meal for dinner, but also my smallest meal.  I teach until 8 and then its just easier to pick something up to eat rather than go home and cook, mostly because I go to bed fairly early usually and don't want to on a full stomache.  This is me mostly, so it may not work for you, but it works for me.  Of course, all things are subject to change depending on that days circumstances. 

Re: Advice

thanks!!!

Re: Advice

Hey!
i’m neither raw, nor veggie, nor macro, nor vegan!

What works best for me is :whole foods, mixture of cooked and raw. By (mostly) eliminating flour, sugar, yeast, alcohol, dairy (do goat cheese, however) and even soy, plus eliminating most processed things, i’ve become far healthier and stronger.

a typical day….breakfast, oatmeal with berries and nut butter
lunch…lentils, barley, sauteed veggies, maybe some goat cheese.
dinner: salad and or veggies, fish, sweet potato or brown rice…

as for snacks i usually do veggies/nuts/fruit/veggie based soups/sushi/meal leftovers/…
my two indulgences are dark chocolate and coffee.
I think a lot of it has to do with constitution, blood type, and Trusting Yourself…rather than someone else’s dogma or pre concieved set of rules.
(all of the above is actually really good for me, except the coffee, which, well, is a habit that i enjoy!)
Jess

Re: Advice

Hi all,
I totally agree Jess, I try not to create the mental construct of my “diet”.  That just creates another boundary and can also lead to guilt and unwholesome self criticism if things vary slightly for me.  I have enough samskaras that I am already dealing with :)

When asked, I usually just say I choose not to eat meat as this is something that remains consistent and leave it at that.

Living in Toronto, I really experience the changing of the seasons, that being the case my diet just like my yoga practice changes with them.  I just try to stay in tune with my body which is just one of the many reasons why we all practice here right?

Right now, I crave heavier starchier things and hot soups.  I use an organic food home delivery service so I have been eating lots of apples, carrots, dark greens and various root vegetables lately.   

My vices…wine and one coffee in the morning on a work day..admittedly not really good for me, but my body and consciousness at this stage of development is fine with that :)

namaste

sebastian