- Many of us have big doubts about this. When we are confused about how much to eat, we consult a dietician for advice. The dietician gives us instructions such as, “Eat four Rotis and one cup of curd for breakfast. Eat 750 grams of rice and 350 grams of pulses (Dhal) for lunch. Eat two Rotis for dinner.”
- Now please tell me: when we eat, can we measure what we eat in milligrams and millilitres? Can we keep a weighing machine by our side whenever we eat? Do one thing. From now on, keep a weighing balance by your side when you eat lunch. Measure 750 milligrams of rice in the balance and put it in your plate. Is this practical?
- The doctor prescribed that you should eat four Rotis for breakfast. Did he ask you whether you are a lady who does all the works in your house by yourself or you are a lady having several maids for all the works and you sit idle and watch television? Before writing down a diet for you, did the dietician ask you whether you are a physical laborer or a computer engineer?
- The quantity of food needed by a person will change based on the quantity of work done by the person, the person’s body weight, the person’s age, mental stamina, behaviourial nature, the climate, the natural circumstances, the country, the locality, the town, etc.
- Think of the quantity of food that a construction laborer who does the job of lifting stones throughout the day has to eat. Now, how much food will the same person have to eat if he travels in his friend’s airconditioned car the next day? No one in this world does the same amount of work today compared to what he did yesterday.
- When it is so, is it possible to write down in advance how much a person should eat on a given day? However famous a scientist may be, however popular a doctor may be, however big a wise thinker may be, he cannot write down how much food he should eat for the next meal. T h u s , i f we ourselves cannot say how much we have to eat, how can the doctors say how much the patients should eat? Therefore, please understand that no one in this world can say how much you should eat. You yourself do not know that quantity.
- Doctors say, “Eat four Rotis for breakfast.” Did they ask you about the size of the Roti that is made in your house? Rotis made in some houses will be very big and thick. It will be enough even if you eat just one. In some other houses, Roti will be like Papad. Even if you eat ten of them, your stomach will not be full. When it is so, how can anyone say, “Eat four Rotis”?
- They say, “Eat one cup of curd.” Do they know the size of the cup in your house? Therefore, please do not eat according to what someone else prescribes. This will only increase your disease and it will not cure the disease.
- All right, then how to find out how much we should eat? There is an easy method for this. We should eat only when we feel hungry. When we eat, if we focus all our attention on the food, then we will not like to eat beyond a certain quantity. When the same food which was tasty when we put it in our mouth for the first time is not tasty anymore, it is a signal for us to stop eating.
- Let us say that you are a person who usually eats six Rotis for breakfast. Start eating by focusing your attention on the Roti and its taste. After eating four Rotis in this manner, when you see the fifth Roti you will not feel like eating it. Once you stop liking to eat it, it means that your quota is over.
- When we eat with our attention on the food, we will know the amount of food that we need. But, we are engaged in talking, watching TV or speaking over cell phone, etc. When we do so, we do not know how much we need to eat. Therefore, please observe by eating with your attention on the food and its taste. If we eat in this manner, we cannot eat beyond a limit.
- Thus, in our treatment, we do not need measurement units such as milligram, kilogram, etc. and scales such as balance to see how much we have to eat. We have to just eat when we feel hungry. We have to eat the food by fully enjoying its taste. When we get the thought in our mind that we have had enough of it, then we have to stop eating.
- So, henceforth please eat to your heart’s content. There is nothing wrong if you eat a little more. Your next hunger time will be slightly postponed. That is all. There is nothing wrong if you eat a little less. You will feel hungry again a little early. That is all.
- Therefore, please do not measure the food that you eat. Whatever amount is desired by you, eat it to your heart’s content. But please remember one important point. You should not eat anything again till you feel hungry again.
- Let us consider an example. Give a cup of rice to your pet dog. After eating it, the dog will stand there, wagging its tail, asking for more food. Give it another cup of food. The dog will eat it and wait for some more. Give it the third cup of food. The dog will eat half of the food in the third cup, leave the balance and start walking away. If you now call the dog back and cajole it to eat some more and pour several cups of food before it, it will not eat anything more. It is because the dog knows how much it needs to eat. We human beings do not know even this. It is because the dog tastes and enjoys the food that it eats. The man eats without hunger and without enjoying the taste of the food.
- So, please be clear that, in our treatment, we need to eat whenever we feel hungry and we need to eat by liking, tasting and enjoying the food to our heart’s content. All the senior citizens in your house who are more than 80 years old and are healthy would not have surely avoided any food and any taste saying that they did not like it. By eating foods of various tastes based on our liking we can be not only healthy but we will also never get any diseases. Therefore, please do not follow any guidelines given by some doctors who do not know much about foods and their taste values.
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