Is enjoying food important?

[runner11]

I have tried several times to eat very simple foods, with limited spices and ingredients, and after only 1 to 2 weeks, it seems like my appetite goes way down and so does my energy. I have trouble sleeping, and I just always feel tired. I can force myself to eat more, but I'm not hungry, so I don't digest it well. I know in TCM that when you digest food, the spleen extracts the raw chi so your body can use it. Weak digestive fire means less food being eaten and less chi, resulting in much lower energy. This is my experience every time.

 

I'm not saying being gluttonous is good or that we should go out of our way to prepare extravagant meals, but I've come to realize that enjoyment on some level of the food I eat is crucial to optimum health. I guess its important to find the middle ground and not go to either extreme. Who would have thought.

 

What's your guys and gals take on this?

[Flolfolil]

...

Edited April 15, 2015 by Flolfolil

[三江源]

I'm not willing to eat bland for a while, to find out, at this stage of my life.

 

It'd be an interesting experiment to live on very simple bland food, and I feel I'd need a good load of tasty food around me in terms of nature, love, music, sex, and massage and saunas and a beach and a lake and some mountains and stuff like that, to make the 'regular' food less significant.

 

Enjoying things is vital. Not enjoying things is quite the inconvenience. Who wants to be inconvenienced? nobody, is who.

 

 

Wagner claimed that Jesus of Nazareth was actually born in a vegetarian commune founded by Pythagoras.

Edited April 22, 2013 by cat

[Tom Lin]

for me i find what you guys called "bland" foods to be very tasty and nourishing.

 

I became a vegetarian a little over year ago and i went raw vegan a few weeks back.

 

Our taste buds have grown to require salty, highly seasoned, sugary foods to feel satisfied.

 

For me ever since i went vegan and then raw vegan, vegetables, fruits and nuts and seeds are so delicious to me.

I also feel much more appreciative of these foods because i know there in their natural state and given to me

from the creator.

 

So i feel like much what you guys would call bland food is merely just the fact that you've become

intolerant of the foods that were created for your sustenance and pleasure, being conditioned

and habitualized to crave processed and refined food. Salt and sugar hits our dopamine centers

with a blast of pleasure.

 

 

So once i laid off any type of processed foods for some time, i don't crave them at all. Fruits and veggies

are the perfect balance for my body. And my body now intuitively tells me when i actually need food, not

whenever i have an unnecessary craving (emotional).

 

 

 

For the author of this topic, try drinking some tea that stimulates appetite, for example ginger or licorice root. Also make sure your getting enough zinc. Zinc is the base mineral that regulates mens testosterone levels which is crucial because it gets depleted quick through every day stress. Zinc is in beans, nuts/seeds, corn, and rice. (Nuts and seeds are the best bet)

Edited April 22, 2013 by Tom Lin

[Flolfolil]

...

Edited April 15, 2015 by Flolfolil

[Maddie]

I think enjoying food is important for two reasons. First of all why not enjoy life's small pleasures? Second to enjoy food means that your mindful of it, and what ever increases our mindfulness of whats going on is a pretty good thing. :-)

[ChiDragon]

To me, to live a simple life as Semi-Taoist, the significance of eating is to nourish the body. I do enjoy what I eat but enjoyment is only secondary. What is good for the body is good enough for me on a daily basis. Therefore, I will not go hunt for a steak in a fancy restaurant. I'll eat it, only, when it was presented in front of me. Without it, I am fine too but I will not depend for one.

At the present, my basic diet are veggies, chicken, fish, turkey, rice, fruit, and nuts. I do drink tea and coffee. In addition, I take advantage of the foods that I ate and convert them into energy for a healthier body by practicing Tai Chi and Chi Kung.

Edited April 22, 2013 by ChiDragon

[Samurai Mountain man]

Here's a thought:

 

A good meal Is one of life's finest pleasures. To sistematically deny pleasures is to deny our ability to sense them -to deny our nature- But just because we can enjoy a nice lamb doesn't mean we have to eat every lamb there is.

 

As with everything in life, balance is key, and balance is the pivotal point in which we may continue spinning, The hollow center of the wheel: Our Tao.

 

Now don't you just love that phrase? "The center of the wheel is hollow"

 

"the hollow at the center of the wheel"

[ChiDragon]

"the hollow at the center of the wheel"

 

Yes, the space of hollowness is significant which is what was made the wheel functional.

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

listen to your stomach. eat with your belly, not your tongue. this is the way to love your food.

Take care to hand-cultivate your food personally if possible by planting it, growing it, maintaining it, and harvesting it yourself, or taking care of the livestock as they were your own children or siblings. Butcher them yourself with the love and care you would apply if it were your own parent's wish that you consume their flesh.


Love your food as it were your self, and your food will love you back.

[C T]

 

Yes, the space of hollowness is significant which is what was made the wheel functional.

Hey!!! Semi-Taoist using Buddhist speak? Thats not allowed!!!

[ChiDragon]

Hey!!! Semi-Taoist using Buddhist speak? Thats not allowed!!!

 

May I know which part is Buddhist speak...??? I am curious to know from your view of point....

[C T]

I think enjoying food is important for two reasons. First of all why not enjoy life's small pleasures? Second to enjoy food means that your mindful of it, and what ever increases our mindfulness of whats going on is a pretty good thing. :-)

Pavarotti once said, "One of the nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating."

 

[suninmyeyes]

I guess its important to find the middle ground and not go to either extreme.

I disagree , sometimes it is good to go to the extreme . It really depends on the person and where s/he is at in life .

Personal harmony is not always achieved by general approach , actualy very rarley .

 

Middle ground is not achieved the same for everyone , it may take different pathways . Sometimes middle ground is not middle ground .

That is why expirimenting and learning our own individual language is the best .

Emphasises on learning and understanding our own individual mind /body language as oppose to thinking that we learning it .

 

Anyway , yes food should be enjoyed either for flavour or for its healing properties .

 

Hope it does not sound to complictaed or something ...

Edited April 22, 2013 by suninmyeyes

[C T]

For dinner today, i had:

 

1 small bowl of rice porridge, sprinkled with seaweed.

 

1 egg, scrambled, fried with grated ginger and sesame oil. (a little sprinkle of salt when done)

 

Steamed Bok Choi with black beans.

 

A half teaspoon of preserved and salted mackerel, shallow-fried with bird-eye chillies.

 

 

Yummy yummy rub my tummy

 

 

oh, and finished with a freshly brewed cup of quality coffee...

 

life is gooood.

[Tom Lin]

but tom lin, even with your raw diet, imagine eating some vegetable you don't like vs. one you do - that is the difference. Anything can bring pleasure, not just things that are bad for the health.

 

This has some truth to it, but at the end of the day its all a matter of degree. I get pleasure from raw veggies, but its natural and so therefore its going to keep me balanced. The cooked meats with salt doused on it, is unnatural so i may get "enjoyment" while consuming it, but its going to make me feel lethargic and physiologically dense soon thereafter.

 

Also the logic behind your last line doesn't really make sense. If anything is able to bring pleasure then that mean anything can be bad for your health as well. So that statement negates itself, which i understand is just that taoist point of view where there basically there is no such as duality. Good and bad, pleasure and pain are merely illusions.

 

My post is merely trying to bring the scope of the American diet and overall lifestyle into perspective. An addiction would mean that you can't control yourself from doing something that you know is not putting you into balance. For example, if your indulging in foods thats processed and high in refined sugar then yes your going to feel like shit afterwards. And because of the tolerance that you have built for that particular food over a set period of time, your less likely to listen to your body when its telling you to stop during your binge.

 

But in my experience, when i got my body set back to eating the foods that the creator put for us on this earth in its unrefined, primordial state, i enjoy it, am grateful for it, my body knows when to tell me when it actually needs it (all of the nutrients to sustain me are in the raw foods) and i also feel energized to engage in my daily duties.

 

Feeling whole is great.

Edited April 22, 2013 by Tom Lin

[mYTHmAKER]

Pavarotti once said, "One of the nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating."

 

yeah and see what he looks like.

a wise being once said " all the time you thought you were enjoying your pleasures they were enjoying you"

[C T]

yeah and see what he looks like.

a wise being once said " all the time you thought you were enjoying your pleasures they were enjoying you"

Its quite fun to see how mental formulas arise, shaping thoughts and images, based on people's outer perceptions.

 

I think you are discriminating people with larger builds and implying something negative as a direct result of their eating habits.

 

If you had been less fraught with weighty issues, you would have understood the quote in its wider context, and in its direct relation to the opening question, which is, "Is enjoying food important?"

 

Nothing wrong with the derivation of joy from performing natural activities, of which eating is a fundamental one.

[Taomeow]

yeah and see what he looks like.

Like an Italian opera singer?..

 

There's not many skinny opera stars. The richness of the art demands the richness of the senses -- and because it is executed via the mouth, it's the mouth that has to have a rich sensual life. So that, you know, it knows what it's talking about when expressing complex and substantial emotions.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPvAQxZsgpQ

Edited April 23, 2013 by Taomeow

[hydrogen]

So long we can eat at the same table and have fun talking with each other, I don't care whether you enjoy your food, or enjoy your will power of eating not-enjoyable food. I don't care what you eat either so long it's not overly disgusting thing like monkey brain or dog leg.

Edited April 23, 2013 by hydrogen

[Tom Lin]

I'm certainly not opposed to the enjoyment of food as that is part of our natural emotion pertaining to any sort of consumption...enchanting music, purchasing your dream car, the sights of a curvaceous female.

 

It is only when those mundane pleasures become ones sole source of fulfillment. Thats when it becomes a problem...because physical pleasures are never truly "fulfilling."

Edited April 23, 2013 by Tom Lin

[mYTHmAKER]

Its quite fun to see how mental formulas arise, shaping thoughts and images, based on people's outer perceptions.

 

I think you are discriminating people with larger builds and implying something negative as a direct result of their eating habits.

 

If you had been less fraught with weighty issues, you would have understood the quote in its wider context, and in its direct relation to the opening question, which is, "Is enjoying food important?"

 

Nothing wrong with the derivation of joy from performing natural activities, of which eating is a fundamental one.

Yes i am fraught and shallow. IMHO the title of this discussion is a no brainer and silly

Yes enjoying food is important. One enjoys food when one is hungry. Unfortunately addiction to food is a disease and creates physical diseases = early death and an unhappy sick life. People are getting larger thanks to junk food. of course there are some people who are genetically bigger.

http://anecdotage.com/articles/17918/

[mYTHmAKER]

Like an Italian opera singer?..

 

There's not many skinny opera stars. The richness of the art demands the richness of the senses -- and because it is executed via the mouth, it's the mouth that has to have a rich sensual life. So that, you know, it knows what it's talking about when expressing complex and substantial emotions.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPvAQxZsgpQ

http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-1508,00.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/justin-moss/bye-bye-fat-lady-make-way_b_1761490.html

[hydrogen]

I'm certainly not opposed to the enjoyment of food as that is part of our natural emotion pertaining to any sort of consumption...enchanting music, purchasing your dream car, the sights of a curvaceous female.

 

It is only when those mundane pleasures become ones sole source of fulfillment. Thats when it becomes a problem...because physical pleasures are never truly "fulfilling."

 

The physical pleasures ALONE are never truly "fulfilling".

The mental pleasures ALONE are never truly "fulfilling".

The spiritual pleasures ALONE are never truly "fulfilling".

 

Where is the balance, the center, the one point around it everything revolves? One has to find for himself only.

 

An interesting note, in Chinese the "middle point" is the same pronunciation as "destiny".

[Tom Lin]

The physical pleasures ALONE are never truly "fulfilling".

The mental pleasures ALONE are never truly "fulfilling".

The spiritual pleasures ALONE are never truly "fulfilling".

 

Where is the balance, the center, the one point around it everything revolves? One has to find for himself only.

 

An interesting note, in Chinese the "middle point" is the same pronunciation as "destiny".

 

It's less about the pleasures and more about what is substantial or has substance. For me it's when i am connected to spirit. When i am in true alignment with my purpose and carrying out what the universe destined for me to do (which can only be accessed by true love) then i feel truly fulfilled.

 

True fulfillment is when something occurs that resonates within' you for life. It is timeless, perpetual, permanent, eternal, everlasting...what have you. So it's not about seeking pleasure...its about appreciating life for what it is, a gift bestowed onto you from the creator in abundance, creativity, beauty, and harmony. Only when you shift your paradigm or perspective of life can you feel the essence of what it means to be a human being in this realm. Only when your heart is right, will your mind be right. You must heal your heart and understand yourself before consciousness reveals itself to you.