Food is something we consume to give us energy and survive. Most times we all consume more than we should. I remember hearing the phrase your eyes are bigger than your stomach from my mom as I would fix my dinner plate. And sure enough I could not even eat all the portions which were on my plate. I have always heard that sometimes food is used as a comfort food. Well, I did not really understand this while I was younger because after my grandfather had past I could not eat anything. I remember thinking to myself 'if food is supposed to comfort me then why can't I eat.' As I got older I realized what comfort food was. I started eating because I was sad, eating because I was happy, and eating because someone else was eating - which I am ashamed to say. We all should take note of why we are eating so that we will not get into habitual eating. A good way to stop habitual eating is by fasting-especially from something that you know you should not be eating because it is not good for your health. For example, if you like brownies which I am a big fan of choose one day out of the week where you will not eat any brownies. Another way you can stop habitual eating is by taking up a hobby/routine such as Yoga. So this way if you are eating due to stress Yoga can help relieve the stress and help you lose weight as well.

Yoga is often at times thought of to be relaxing. It is also thought of as a complete mind, body, and spirit connection routine. After taking a beginners Yoga Class I quickly found out that it can be a complete work out for the body. It helped me build and tone muscles in my arms and legs and abdomen. Yoga consists of many poses that a person must hold at different times which contribute to the strengthening of muscle. When you first start yoga you should take a class or either have an instructor teach you to make sure that you do not hurt yourselves. Doing yoga three times a week can help you stay fit. It also helps you to become more flexible. Yoga also teaches proper breathing techniques that can enhance the capacity of your lungs. If you have ever seen a baby sleeping-their chest rising and falling, rising, then falling again-this is how we as adults should breathe too. Over time if we continually take in shorter breaths the capacity of our lungs will reduce in size. Do not worry though-breathing properly will cause the capacity in your lungs to increase again. Yoga can be a stress relieving activity also. While doing the different yoga poses and breathing you should focus on the things that make you happy. During the cool down session of my Yoga Class the instructor had us to inhale and tighten up parts of our body while thinking of something that is causing stress in our lives. As we exhaled and released the tension in our muscles, the instructor advised us to think about all of the stressful things leaving our body to never return to us. So yoga is definitely beneficial to the mind, body, and spirit.

The food you eat and the way you live your life affects your natural healing process. When I was younger I ate more fruits, vegetables, and healthy foods thanks to my parents and I rarely became sick. As I got older I started eating more cookies, cakes, and candy and less fruits and I noticed that I started getting colds more-even in the summer I would have a cold. So I started thinking 'could this be related'-well, it has to be. The phrase 'you are what you eat' is true because whenever I started putting more fruits back into my diet and eating less snack foods the colds went away. Also, if you are living a life where you are partying until the sun comes up (which I have done a few times) and not getting enough of rest your body cannot heal itself as quick. Plenty of rest is the key to waking up on the right side of the bed among other things. Also, things such as smoking and heavy drinking can hinder your body from healing completely so it would be best to cut some of those things out of your lifestyle.

So, in the mean time live your life to the fullest, get plenty of rest, try out yoga, and always eat to live and not live to eat!