What’s Love YOURSELF Lunch?

By Dietitian Jill Place AKA The Good Gut Queen

I’m beginning my crusade to inspire 1000 humans to eat a “Love YOURSELF Lunch” for 7 days on a magical day … February 29th. Why don’t you join us?

I work with an amazing woman, Kiri-Maree Moore, whose crusade it is to change humanity for the better 1% at a time.  She’s aligned with some very famous and powerful people all over the world to bring this about.

She’s also enlisted a bunch of us to do it too. Go to The Wall of Humanity to see what others are doing. I’m there too … with my Good Gut Queen crown. And “Love YOURSELF Lunch” is my contribution.

I began “Love YOURSELF Lunch” because I did a “Heal Your Gut 14-Day Challenge” a couple of months ago. And the feedback from participants was that changing a whole eating lifestyle was too difficult to do all at once.

So now I’m making it as easy as I can. And I’m inviting you to change what you eat just a little and only at lunch. I know you can do that!

I also now have rules. You don’t have to follow them if you don’t want to … I can’t force anyone to do anything.

But I wish you would embrace them as your goal. As [click_to_tweet tweet=”my mantra (and a Universal truth) is that ‘Small Steps Lead to BIG Wins’.” quote=”my mantra (and a Universal truth) is that ‘Small Steps Lead to BIG Wins’.” theme=”style2″] And I want that for you.

The Rules …

The rules for the challenge are very easy …

• Have a LYL for 7 Days. Commit to having a lunch that feeds and loves your body, mind, and spirit for 7 days. You choose what’s healthy for you.
• Share your LYL in this Group. For 7 days, share your LYL (pictures appreciated) and tell us how you felt about it.
• Share this Group with 3 Friends. I’m committed to having 1000 humans eat a LYL and change their health one meal at a time for 7 days. So PLEASE share this group with 3 friends. They don’t have to sign up … but merely have to check out the idea and consider it.

There’s also a couple of other rules about treating others in the group. All these rules are on the Facebook site … The Love YOURSELF Lunch Group. Please join us by clicking on the name and agreeing to the rules.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”The whole goal of ‘Love YOURSELF Lunch’ is to change your health one meal at a time.” quote=”The whole goal of ‘Love YOURSELF Lunch’ is to change your health one meal at a time.” theme=”style2″].

So What Actually IS a Love YOURSELF Lunch?

There a couple of parts to it. As lunch is not just lunch. Because it’s the surroundings, your state of mind, and how you eat too … that’s the “Love YOURSELF” part.

But right now let’s focus on the “Lunch” part … what you actually eat.

Whatever you eat should make you smile while you’re eating it. Or, at the very least, you should feel good about it.

So what foods make you (and your body) smile or feel good just thinking about them? Or come to mind when I say the word “HEALTHY”?

If nothing does, here are some general guidelines that most food experts agree upon …

• Pick more fruits and vegetables, organic if possible
• Eat organic meats, poultry, fish, and other protein foods
• Choose unprocessed fats (the trend is now toward traditional fats like butter, coconut oil, olive oil, and even lard)
• Have less grains (bread, cereal, pasta), sweets, and processed (i.e. fast) foods

It’s really that simple. Choose one of these things … or part of one … and have it for lunch.

Here’s the Figuring-Out-What-to-Eat Process …

… suggested by by my fabulous friend, financial guru Morgana Rae. Settle somewhere quiet where you won’t be disturbed, take a few deep breaths, and brainstorm.

Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle lengthwise. Write “Yes” on the left side and “No” on the right side.

Then write what you will eat for 7 days in the “Yes” column and what you won’t in the “No” column at lunch for 7 days..

For example, in the “Yes” column you might write “the Double-Double Protein Style at In-N-Out” and in the “No” column … “Ditch the Bun!”. Or … Yes … “Salad lunch for 7 days” and … No … “No other lunch food for 7 days”.

This way, you don’t have make a total change all at once … that’s why I gave you the In-N-Out example. Remember that Small Steps lead to BIG Wins. And this is your lunch party.

So take what you’re eating now. And tweak it to suit YOUR definition of “Healthy”. Perhaps just adding a salad or carrot and celery sticks to whatever you eat for lunch now might do the trick for you.

Or maybe you’ve had some diet idea (vegetarian, Paleo, Keto, Gluten Free …) or visualized what a good lunch might mean for you for awhile. Now’s the time to try it. So write it down too.

By doing this process, you’ll create your ideal eating plan. And no one else’s.

I’ll give you an actual menu of what I would eat if you can’t figure it out yourself. Based upon all the meals with the “Love YOURSELF Lunch” logo in the “Recipes” section of this website. As well as a blank menu next week for you to brainstorm further.

But, in reality, what you change can be as simple as the In-N-Out adjustment above. Or as elaborate as searching out the best salad ingredients at the Farmer’s Market to eat for your 7-day salad lunch.

Either way, it has to be what YOU think is “healthy” … a lunch that not only feeds your face but your mind and spirit.

About that “Mind-and-Spirit” Part …

First, I want to say that this part is totally optional. If all you can do is change your lunch menu a bit … that’s perfect! Anything you do in this challenge is perfect.

But I’ve seen too many people everywhere eating mindlessly … quickly … standing up  … out of take-out containers. And wondered if they … or their stomachs … were happy about that.

So … without a lot of fuss …I’ve thought of a way for you to get the most out of whatever you’re eating … whatever it is.

But you gotta DO it!  So do either-or … one day food-and-smile … one day this. Or (horrors!) do BOTH!

What is it you ask?

It’s Mindfulness …

I did a whole series of videos a while back called Micro-Mindfuls. They’re sequential snippets of mindfulness from 1 to 5 minutes. With the whole idea that they could be strung together in whatever way you choose to use them.

You can access the whole series by clicking on the name above. But … before you start … you might want to know what it is.

The dictionary defines mindfulness as “a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations”.

It’s the hottest idea in weight loss today … with many of the world’s top nutrition gurus singing its praises. I just call it breathing. Oh … and noticing …

Why mindfulness (nutrition gurus aside)? Well, it’s a fact that we spend most of our time today in stress-fight-or-flight mode. It’s not supposed to be that way!

We rush … rush … rush. And … if you’ve experienced any sort of trauma in your life (and who hasn’t!) you may be PERMANENTLY fight-or-flight stuck! Current research has even proven it!

Mindfulness Instantly Pulls Us Into Rest-and-Relax

What goes first when you’re in fight-or-flight mode? Your digestion. Because the body wisely pulls energy away from other parts toward your muscles to get ready to flee.

It doesn’t understand that trauma when you were two just won’t let you calm down. Or that stress from work, arguing with your kids, or traffic (I was caught in it for two hours Friday) can stop your stomach from working.

There’s no woolly mammoth or sabre-tooth tiger around. But your body doesn’t know that; it’s simply doing its job protecting you from … ?

Mindfulness can end all this instantly. You’re just a few deep, slow breaths away from “AHHHH”!

So … I invite you to experience full-digestion (and relaxation) mode by simply breathing and noticing what you’re eating. To that end, there will be a Micro-Mindful audio every day on our challenge too.

All you have to do is plug in your earphones and do one (or a bunch) while you’re eating your lunch. I’d really encourage you to do both the food and the mindfulness to get the full benefit of this challenge. And the LOVE!

So … what about it? Will I see you on the 29th (actually, I’m starting a few days before with ideas and ways to pack stuff)? Just click here and you’re there!

Reading this at another time? This group will always be open to those who want to change their health … one meal at a time.