Gratitude

It is said that “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others” Cicero. According to Dr. Amen of ‘Change Your Brain Change Your Mind’, gratitude is among twelve things which you can do to keep your brain healthy. And that’s great because helping our brain always translates to helping our bodies.

One suggestion is to begin by writing five things that you are grateful for at the end of every day. That can be harder than it sounds though, so a helpful hint is to express gratitude for everything which you encounter that is assisting you in some way (from your cup of tea or coffee in the morning, to the train, to your computer, to your socks, to sunlight). Looking at it this way makes it easy to see the things without which we really would not be able to function well, and whose presence in our lives we need to give thanks for.

And that kind of gratitude can probably shift anybody’s focus towards a more positive outlook. So it would make sense that we can achieve that kind of shift with any negative feelings we may have in the area of food as well, the kind of negative feelings associated with guilt around eating. Gratitude can certainly be powerful, although its value is not always appreciated. So this holiday season gratitude may be a great gift to give yourself, something which can put you in a better mood in general. And feeling good certainly can help promote a wonderfully healthy Non-Dieter state of mind.