Chapter 6 - Nutrition and hunger
Hunger is the motivation for movement in nature. If hunger didn't exist, there would be almost no movement from mammals or insects. All living organisms need nutrition. Plants draw inorganic substances through their roots, transforming them into organic substances consumed by insects and mammals.
Understanding nature's rhythm
Then, each enters a cycle of life and death, killing to feed or dying to become food, giving energy back to the earth to be reborn and play this game all over again, in an infinite cycle. Humans, with the help of reason, have the advantage of being able to detach themselves from this chain and then look at what is happening, achieving an out-of-body experience.
The stillness of observing carefully
Let's follow the rules of a rational person and ask questions. The primary question is: why should I eat? Answer: because it is necessary for survival. Without food, in 20-30 days, the organism gives out and dies, consuming itself. I've understood the message, so I respond with another question: if it's necessary to eat, then how much should I eat?
Seeking the path to balance
We consult a nutrition guide and see that, for a human organism of a certain weight and height, we need a specific amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fats, along with vitamins and minerals. We pick out a few superfoods rich in everything required, covering what the nutrition guide lists as necessary, and we notice that only a small pile of food remains on the plate.
The patience to accept change
The first thought that will pop into your mind will be: "Okay, so where is the food?" Because half a plate isn't going to fill a stomach. If you then realize that the next meal will be the following day, you start doubting everything. So, you go back to the nutrition guide and read it one more time.
Learn to listen to yourself with kindness
You check again and notice a detail—so much protein, carbohydrates, and fat based on the activity you do—and the guide's calculation is for an average activity level. You stop, wondering what "average activity" means, but you quickly move past it by listing 2-3 actions in your mind. You arrive at the same problem again—the plate is more empty than full. That's all there is to it, and the calculation is correct. Maybe so, but let's stop this nonsense and order a pizza. We'll think about these dilemmas next week. Sound familiar?
Rational choices
My friends, food is the body's fuel. The higher the quality, the better it runs. The more you exceed the quantity, the worse it will run, because the body is forced to store what it doesn't use. And storage means extra pounds. There are several important aspects to nutrition. The first is the body's preparation. If you think about food, your body is already making preparations to receive it. The more time you spend thinking about food, the more you will develop a larger and unnecessary intake.
Listen to your body's signals
The less time you spend thinking about food, the more you will develop an intake that is too small. So, neither too little nor too much is good. An important regulator here is physical activity, which modern man avoids. In fact, if you eat, you should be physically active. How it works: following physical activity, your body will demand food. This way, regulation shifts from a mental level to a physical necessity requested by the organism. The second aspect is related to rational choice and the exception-rule rule we've discussed before.
The power to change the rhythm
Applying the exception-rule rule involves creating exceptions so frequently that you eventually turn those exceptions into a new rule. Over time, you will erode the new rule with exceptions until you create yet another new rule from them. In our case, it is best to maintain the exception for unhealthy food, while healthy eating remains the rule. This means eating healthy 8 out of 10 days—with plenty of vegetables and fruits—and only allowing yourself excesses for two days. You likely have the opposite ratio right now because you keep putting off doing something about it.
The reality
You must also choose what to eat and how much to eat in a rational way. Very likely, you haven't monitored your dietary details, and it is highly probable that layers upon layers of fat have been deposited in certain areas of your body. This happens over time, over years, and it represents erosion, slowing down, and ultimately, illness. If your organism is sick, you will focus on healing it. Your evolution as an organism will fall into darkness until the problem is solved.
The path to true health
And you will try to resolve illnesses with a few pills. Of course, medical protocols have their emergency purpose. The downside is that the current healthcare model has turned into a massive industry, where the focus has shifted toward profit and lifelong clients, rather than cured people. Imagine going to the doctor and asking: "How do I cure this illness permanently so I no longer need prescriptions?". Obviously, the system is not designed to give you a quick answer that leaves it without revenue. Instead, standardized protocols will operate automatically: they will order complete sets of tests and an initial set of pills to be adjusted later based on the results, turning a lifestyle issue into a chronic dependency on medication.
Trust in your power of regeneration
You must not limit yourself to this. It is not a treatment or a pill that heals you, but a change in lifestyle and nutrition, and the elimination of the causes that actually prompted your visit to the doctor. You might not know this, but every pill does both good and harm to the body. Their approval is based on the concept: "this pill does more good than harm." The truth is that you enter a cycle of breaking and repairing...
Effort and reward
What to eat, how much to eat, why to eat—I won't even mention when to eat, as the internet is full of advice. A rational person will observe themselves. They will write down on a piece of paper how often they think about food, and they will analyze what they eat and how much. They will establish rules, such as three meals a day with no snacks in between, and will set a menu that doesn't weigh them down unnecessarily but gives them strength. After establishing all this, the rational person will realize that food addiction is actually linked to a hunger for energy.
Discover your sources of vitality
One does not think about the food itself, but about its taste, which provides energy, satisfaction, and soothing substances. I cannot deny that eating is an energy-generating activity. However, it is a limited generation. Human energy is replenished through many channels, and this is a rather restricted one. The energy generated is also correlated with expectation and the effort made toward obtaining the nutritional benefit.
The joy of success built through effort
Example: you buy a bag of chips and eat it, or you think about a bag of chips for a few hours, go to a store an hour away to buy it, then return and try to savor it by eating slowly. The realization of a plan, of an objective, the effort made and crowned with success, and, of course, savoring the victory. This is the difference between cooking your food or ordering it. Between having it arrive ready-made or putting in the effort to create it.
The art of conscious effort: How to rebuild your vitality and thinking
I chose this topic because a rational mind can only develop as a healthy mind in a healthy body. If you don't take care of your body, your mind will also be affected. Let's return to nutrition. Your training in asking questions will force you to seek information about what each product contains, what it does in your body, and how it helps you. I encourage you to learn, gather information, compare data, and compare information sources. There is plenty of room for improvement; you can learn from anywhere and anyone as long as you verify the information and ensure it is correct.
Keep your mind open and curious
Another small trick for mind control is to avoid reaching final conclusions. This mistake is very widespread. In itself, it is not wrong, but it becomes wrong over time. It is not wrong if that is the conclusion based on the data received at a specific moment. It becomes wrong after a period of time when you fail to re-evaluate as new data is added. However, if you have definitively established that "this is how it is," you will reject new data and eventually find yourself with an erroneous conclusion that will negatively influence your decision-making. Problems arise when you apply "this is how it is" to everything, leaving your mind full of partially or completely flawed reasoning.
The patience to truly know yourself
I leave it to you to analyze your actions and the justifications behind them, because it requires patience; there are questions to be found, and negative and positive evaluations to be made. We return to nutrition and hunger. Nutrition is, in fact, the primary cause of diseases, especially after a certain period of time—which translates to: after a certain age. I am not trying to scare you, but I don't want to diminish the impact either. You may be over 40 and already phrasing it like: "Well, didn't I have a different kind of strength in my youth?" Then it is only your fault.
Reclaim your inner strength and balance
You have managed to lose the strength and power of your youth. On the contrary, instead of being mature, with years of experience generating greater force and overflowing energy, you cannot even say you still have what you had in your youth. A huge part of the blame lies with years of poor nutrition. You weren't interested in what you eat, only that it be tasty. And you are still doing the same thing. You continue to offer yourself food-related indulgence and rewards without doing anything to deserve them. If you had put effort into creating them, you could say you deserved them.
Confidence in your power of transformation
The good news is that you have a fabulous organism and you can still correct your mistakes. Learn about nutrition, fill the information gap. Then apply it. Little by little, stage by stage, so you don't cause adaptation shocks. Give your body time to change. Understand that you modified it over many years, so don't expect to transform for the better overnight. Time, patience, perseverance, information—this is the mixture you must apply, and the results will appear. You, on the other hand, will have a goal, you will push hard, and you will endure the struggle to fulfill it.
You are the light that shapes the future
But that struggle will give you greater confidence in yourself and in what you can do. In time, you will understand that "impossible" means it hasn't been solved yet. Yet. That "untreatable" means the cure hasn't been found yet. Yet. You will understand that you are light and energy, you control matter, and you can grow—you can become stronger both physically and mentally.
A small systematization of the most important questions:
How much I eat
– we are talking about quantity and, regardless of what you eat, quantity matters. The first step is a calculation in grams. Total grams of food per meal. A rough calculation of grams and a gradual reduction of the portion to achieve the quantitative objective.
When I eat – maintain the weight calculation and organize your meals as early as possible in the morning, followed by lunch around 12:00–1:00 PM, and dinner no later than 7:00 PM. This gives your body time for digestion. It is mandatory in this stage to eliminate any snacking between meals.
Your body's natural rhythm
A normal digestion takes 6–8 hours, so you have no reason to worry about what happens if you don't nibble on anything (excluding people with certain medical conditions that require constant eating).
What I eat – here you must study what each food contains, start avoiding fats and carbohydrates, look for products that suit you, emphasize vegetables, and avoid cooking by frying. Let exceptions be so rare that they do not become the rule. This step is very important for its informational value, because you will learn—and you must learn—about your own nutrition.
The joy of feeding the body and soul
Why I eat – perhaps this should be called the "higher step," where you analyze whether you eat for the pleasure of eating or for the energy it will provide you. This is a positive thing, even if incomplete. Positive because you will understand the role of nutrition. Incomplete because you shouldn't give up the pleasure of food, which becomes a source of energy. As an example, think of a log cabin in the forest, covered in snowdrifts, with a wood fire burning in the stove inside.
The peace of a welcoming home
You are sitting in front of the fireplace with your feet toward the fire to feel the warmth and a mug of a fragrant drink beside you. To this idyllic image, add the smell of a baked pie being prepared in the cabin's kitchen. Does the image improve? It helps a lot in creating a system of positive memories if you develop the memory of smell and taste. To actually have memories of scents and flavors. Don't forget that the development of the sense of smell is a sense processed at a rational level in the central lobe. The only sense processed there.
The content of this website is for informational and educational purposes only. The information presented is not a substitute for professional medical diagnosis, advice, or treatment. Always consult a physician before making any changes to your treatment.