Cultivating Awareness

Having coached thousands of people on what and how to eat I have come to the realization that in regards to long term, sustained change, diets do not work, and telling people what to do does not either :).
That last part needs a qualifier: Telling people what to do, who are coming from the perspective of "give me the quick fix and I'll do it" does not work. We are indeed a quick fix society and we are conditioned to haphazardly focus our awareness on superficial, external distractions.

What should I eat, just tell me what to to eat. What pill or supplement is going to help me have more energy or lose weight? How many grams of protein do I need?
I can answer these questions for people, but if they are implemented without any serious personal implication.. personal responsibility then they have no where to take root and inevitably people revert back to known and comfortable ways of eating and living.

As I have evolved and my spiritual practice has become more mature, I have completely flipped the way I work with people in regards to food. Now we start with cultivating awareness.
"Awareness" is a nebulous word, so I will define what I mean.

If we start with paying attention and taking responsibility, then a genuine awareness is what begins to develop. It is the ability to be engaged with what is actually happening. When you take ownership of what is happening, you are in position to make change.

The first place to start is to ask what it is that we want in regards to our relationship with food. Ask yourself this question. And then acknowledge where you actually are. For example: "I want to desire the foods that are really good for me, and I want to eat in a way that keeps me looking and feeling good." "But what I actually do is eat on the run and eat the first thing that I crave." OK, so now we know where we are and where we want to be... there is only one way to bridge the gap and it is through clear intentions and commitment.

Next post we'll get into what it means to get "clear on our intentions" in regards to Eating For Evolution.