“80% Rule
“Hara hachi bu” – the Okinawan, 2500-year old Confucian mantra said before meals reminds them to stop eating when their stomachs are 80 percent full. The 20% gap between not being hungry and feeling full could be the difference between losing weight or gaining it. People in the blue zones eat their smallest meal in the late afternoon or early evening and then they don’t eat any more the rest of the day.
Plant Slant
Beans, including fava, black, soy and lentils, are the cornerstone of most centenarian diets. Meat—mostly pork—is eaten on average only five times per month. Serving sizes are 3-4 oz., about the size of a deck of cards.
Wine @ 5
People in all blue zones (except Adventists) drink alcohol moderately and regularly. Moderate drinkers outlive non-drinkers. The trick is to drink 1-2 glasses per day (preferably Sardinian Cannonau wine), with friends and/or with food. And no, you can’t save up all week and have 14 drinks on Saturday.” - Bluezones.com
Moai means "meeting for a common purpose" and kaizen is the approach to continuous, incremental improvement.
Today’s habit will be covering a “kaizen” approach to eating, in which the people studied (who lived over 100 years young) mostly shared.
I have pulled them into one habit under “mindful meals”.
First off, they would drink wine, and I know that many in my area would not like that so much. I’ll start off with the intention, the intention of a glass of wine once a day is not to get hammered and forget the troubles of the day, but to have preventative affects on the body and mind:
10 Health Benefits of Red Wine
- Rich in antioxidants.
- Lowers bad cholesterol.
- Keeps heart healthy.
- Regulates blood sugar.
- Reduces the risk of cancer.
- Helps treat common cold.
- Keeps memory sharp.
- Keeps you slim.
- Reduces risk of depression
- Has positive effects on the digestive system
Also from medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265635#benefits,
Red wine also helps with:
- cardiovascular disease
- atherosclerosis
- hypertension
- certain types of cancer
- type 2 diabetes
- neurological disorders
- metabolic syndrome
Next would be the habit of an increase in plants in meals, and a decrease in so much proteins from animals. I listened to a talk from Dr. Sebi where he talked about the damage we cause our bodies due to eating “dead food”, where we cook out all nutrients and are left with “not food”, and raw and living food, where as if you did not eat it, it would grow. (Fruits and Veggies)
And the last part would be “Hara Hachi bu”, eating until about 80% full. An easy way to do this when you eat out is to order your meal, when it comes cut it in half, box that and save it for later. It’s harder to eat till you hurt that way.