Free What Are You Hungry For? by Deepak Chopra

kind—based on your power to write the story you want for yourself.If you win two or three victories like this every day, your story will be moving in the right direction, and so will your body.
Action Step:
Make It Pure.
    The next time you are choosing what to eat, run your choice through a mental filter, using the best information available to you (from labels, the Internet, etc.).
    •  How fatty is it?
    •  Is there hidden sugar?
    •  Are there additives and adulterants?
    •  Is there good antioxidant potential?
    •  How fresh are the ingredients?
    •  How processed are the ingredients?
    This kind of rundown becomes quite easy and quick once you’re used to it. Now challenge yourself to find the most delicious food that passes your mental quiz.
    When you get into the spirit of it, this action step turns into an enjoyable challenge. You know that
you are eating the food that fits the story you want to live.
Don’t choose something you don’t really want—disappointment and deprivation aren’t allowed. The whole point is to add to your fulfillment, not subtract from it. As a bonus to your emotional satisfaction, your body will almost always feel better an hour after you have had pure food than if you ate fatty or processed food.
    If you want your life to be pure and free of the opposite theme,
toxicity,
all of these changes will give you a new story and a new body at the same time.

Energy
    Energy begins with food
    that is nourishing and natural.
    The five senses add to the vibrancy
    of food, which is an added source of energy.
    The highest kind of energy comes
    from the joy of eating, which calls
    upon your mind and emotions.
    Your body needs fuel, so the theme of
energy
begins with extracting calories as food gets digested. But much more is implied in this theme. The food you eat should add to the vibrancy, excitement, and joy in your life—these are the kinds of energy that bring true fulfillment, far beyond blood sugar levels. What you don’t want is to promote the opposite theme,
inertia,
which is flat and dull. When you look at food in terms of the bigger theme, here are some guidelines:
    Do:
    •  Eat to feel energized. Eat less when you are inactive.
    •  Choose the freshest ingredients you can find.
    •  Stop eating when you are nicely satisfied and go no further.
    •  Choose lighter, more easily digested food.
    •  Avoid heavy animal-based fats and refined sugar.
    •  Make your food colorful and pleasing to the eye.
    •  Satisfy as many of the senses as possible, including taste, smell, and texture.
    Don’t:
    •  Eat until you are stuffed.
    •  Go for quick-fix energy boosts, such as highly caffeinated energydrinks and sugar-loaded bars. (Tea and coffee are the best energy boosts, being natural and noncaloric.)
    •  Make yourself foggy with too much sugar, fat, or alcohol.
    •  Shovel your food in without enjoying each bite.
    •  Choose the same foods every day, without variety.
    •  Neglect the visual aspect of an attractive plate of food.
    Energy is a perfect example of how intimately connected mind, body, and emotions are. You can walk away from the table feeling buoyant and joyful, the perfect outcome to feasting. Or with the same calorie intake, you can walk away feeling as if nothing has happened—the meal was just a mechanical routine. For this reason,
energy
is a holistic theme whose aim is not to extract nutrients as efficiently as possible but to make eating a joyful experience.
    I remember reading a memoir in which the author, who had fallen in love with a European, found herself on a brisk day in the Alps. It was May, and the scenery was stunning. She had every reason to feel uplifted, and she was. But what stuck in her mind centered on food. The little group of friends she was with were having a picnic that consisted of fresh-baked bread, tiny new peas just picked from the garden, and creamery butter. At that moment, in such a setting,