Life: Foods for body, Foods for mind

What do you eat?

My usual diet is something like, cereals or bread, tea, juice, yogurt and fruits for breakfast and lunch, and Japanese/Asian-ish (rice and something else) or sort of Mediterranean (pasta, bread, meat etc with olive oil (or tomato)-based sauce) for dinner. Adding some American, Chinese, Indian, Thai or Vietnamese for dining out and for occasional cooking. My mother told me to eat a lot of vegetables, and I try to remind myself of that. I don’t feel like I am putting much restriction on my food. I eat meat. I drink some beer, wine and sake occasionally. I eat ice cream (Haagen Daz is my favorite brand) and sweets, too.

My general dietary rules are that the food to be balanced in terms of carbohydrate, protein, fat, and vegetable/fruits components, and I should not eat too much of one type of food over certain time. Also, there are many foods that are good for you. You can reduce the risk of cancer with your choice of food for example, and I try to eat good stuff. It is okay to enjoy ice cream and sweets occasionally. I have no guilt over eating yummy stuff in moderation.

Overall I am happy with what I eat. I believe my eating habit is helping to maintain my current shape and appearance, and I am happy with the result. My weight is stable. For 5’10 height with athletic build, about 185 pound is quite acceptable for me.

I also believe if I over-indulge in ice cream and burger diet, my shape and health will change for worse.

So far I wrote about food for my body. Now, what do you eat for your mind?

I consider any information intake (book, movie, gaming, music, TV, webpage, comic, talk etc) as food for my brain/mind/spirit/soul. And I want my brain/mind/spirit/soul to be in good shape and health, too. Too much of certain food can make you out-of-shape. Unbalanced diet can make you unhealthy. Likewise, too much gaming, manga and porn can make your brain/mind/spirit/soul out-of-shape and unhealthy. In moderation it is okay, I think.

So, for my brain/mind/spirit/soul, I apply the same rules; balance, good stuff and in moderation.

Some people argue that religions and ideas are like virus or parasites to your mind. In the movie “Inception” a Leonard DiCaprio character says that ideas are extremely resilient and difficult to eradicate, and that they can manifest if we let them. I agree. Certain ideas can be medicinal, others be poisonous.

Ideas can change your brain/mind/spirit/soul. Your brain/mind/spirit/soul determines your actions. Your actions will eventually come back with results, good or bad.

When it comes to diet for mind, the result may not be as easy to see as with diet for body. It may not be as easy to see my own shape and health in terms of brain/mind/spirit/soul. A lot of times we may have to wait until we see the results of our actions. But for now I am thrilled by the vast options for the diet to my brain/mind/spirit/soul. And I am also thrilled by the fact that I can choose my diet.