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LOVER OF THE LITTLE ONES DADA J. P. VASWANI
Shanti loved, specially, the little ones. “He who does not love the little ones, how can he love the Lord?” are the words of Sadhu Vaswani. Shanti was a great lover of the little ones. How they came to her, every day! She gave them toys and sweets of which she always kept a stock with herself. She gave them the blessings of her loving heart. And she told them little stories of the Great Ones who have blessed humanity, age after age. “Grow in the love and fear of God,” she said to the little ones who came to her. “Love the Saints of every faith. Speak the
truth and never yield to anger. Do at least one act of service every day. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, serve birds and cows and dogs, and give the love of your hearts to all. See that the world becomes a bit better because you are in it!” The little ones felt drawn to her, in a natural way. Was she not a little one herself— a little child of God? Without asking her, they would sit in Shanti’s lap, as though the place belonged to them as a matter of right. When Shanti sat in silence, they would sit by her side and, with wonder in their eyes, gaze and
*April 25 is Sister Shanti's 101st Birth Anniversary.
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gaze at her angelic face. When she opened her eyes, they would cling to her in love and affection. On several occasions, children refused to return with their mothers to their homes. “Our home is by Shanti’s side,” they would say. Shanti never scolded children; howsoever much they misbehaved or created noise. To school teachers and to mothers of children, she often said: “Never speak a harsh word to your children! Never entertain the thought of slapping them! Only give them the love of your hearts. Little ones easily respond to love for they are angels on earth!” One day, Shanti lay ill on her cot, in a corner of Sadhu Vaswani’s sacred room. She had acute pain in the chest. Her
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eyes were closed. A devotee from Bombay silently entered the sacred room; with him was his son, a little boy. Finding Shanti asleep, they sat quietly in a corner at the other end of the room. The little boy whispered to his father: “I am hungry!” Shanti overheard the words. Immediately, she got up and brought a plateful of sweets and dry and fresh fruits and, placing it before the child, said: “Eat, and bless me!” The father was astonished. “Why did you put yourself to this trouble?” he asked Shanti. “You have pain in the chest! You must take complete rest.” “This physical pain is nothing compared to the pain of seeing a little one in hunger!” was her quiet answer.
FIVE MANTRAS FOR DEFEATING NEGATIVE SELF- TALKS • I Love Myself: I am a beautiful, unique spirit. There is no one else quite like me. • I Am Worthy Of Good Things: It is ok to want the best for myself and to pursue the things that bring me joy and happiness. • I Am Strong: I have many strengths that I use to navigate the ups and downs of my life. I am tougher and braver than I look. • I Am Confident In My Decisions: I am the creator of my own destiny. I stand behind the things I do and say. • I Surround Myself With Loving People: I can choose the people I allow into my life. • I choose to surround myself with people who love and adore me.
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SADHU VASWANI: SOME GLIMPSES DADA J. P. VASWANI The Little Way Sadhu Vaswani taught by precept and example that greatness is a malady to be shunned. God asks not for great things, he said. Little things are precious to the Lord. Listen to his words of deep, penetrating beauty: “Kindle a little candle of kindness in your heart, and your life will shine! “Aspire to be a little stone in the temple of service, and your life will be blessed!
“See how little streaks of sunbeams brighten the chamber of the heart. “Meditate on the little child— Shyama or Jesus— and your eyes will shine as shines the morning star! “Chant to the Lord little hymns as chants the little bird its song of praise!” Day after day, Sadhu Vaswani showed to us— if we would but open our eyes and see— what it was to walk, pilgrim-like, the
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“little way”. Sadhu Vaswani had become a “little one,’’ pouring out his life as an offering to the “Lord of the poor and little ones.” In an age intoxicated with “ambition” and the mad rush for “bigness,” Sadhu Vaswani’s life rang with the message: “Pilgrims are ye all! Walk ye the little way!”
A Brother of the Poor and Lowly Intense was Sadhu Vaswani’s love for the poor. He beheld in them living, moving images of the Lord of Love. “What a pity,” Sadhu Vaswani exclaimed, “that there are so many who wander homeless and cry in hunger for a crust of bread! What a pity there are so many, today, who stand in the rains— forlorn, forsaken! In them the Lord looks at me!” With childlike wonder-filled eyes, he moved among them, serving them with singular devotion. In his dress and diet he was always simple and, as the noblest only are, he was in his simplicity, sublime. He ate very little: he slept very little: he spake very little: and he loved to wear coarse, hand-woven cloth. For years together, he had not known what it was to have his stomach full. He had subjected himself to the discipline of eating very little, because he knew that millions of his countrymen did not get even that little. It is enough he said if our clothes protect us from cold and our
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food gives us sufficient strength to be able to serve the distressed and the needy. Many are the incidents in his life that bear witness to his love for— and identification with— the poor and lowly. Space forbids me to mention them here. A beggar, whose body was bare, asked for his shirt: he parted with the shirt on the spot. The beggar demanded his cap: he gave away the cap, also. And on his face played a beautiful smile such as is visible in the faces of those who have realised the joy of selfgiving.
A Defender of the Defenceless Ones Sadhu Vaswani’s compassion extended far: it embraced not only human beings but all creatures— aye, even trees and flowers. He believed flowers had their families and they must not be plucked apart from each other. That is why he did not accept flower garlands. The quality of his soul was clearly revealed in his treatment of animals. He could not resign himself to the sufferings of animals at the cruel hand of the butcher. “For me not to love bird and beast would be not to love the Lord,” he said. “For His children are birds and beasts, no less than human beings.” Sadhu Vaswani fed each day hundreds of birds who gathered together on the roof of the
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building where he stayed. He intended building sanctuaries for them. He fed cows and goats and stray dogs that scourged the streets for a bite of loaf. His love went out to insects and ants. Honey bees built their hives near his room, and none dared disturb them. Some one who had been stung by them, more than once, said to him: “How can bees and men live together?” “Then let the men go!” was his quiet answer. Never was his joy greater than when he saved a dumb creature of God from being slain. He purchased from a butcher a cow about to be slaughtered. And though the butcher, taking advantage of the circumstances, asked for an exorbitant price, Sadhu Vaswani paid it on the spot. When I drew his attention to the high price he had paid, he said: “No price is too great to save a single life!” In the compound of St. Mira’s building, where he stayed, were goats and lambs and cocks whom he had saved from the threshold of the slaughter house.
One Family of Creation One of the noblest lessons he taught me and many others is that the animals are our younger brothers and sisters in the one Family of Creation. “Kill them not!” he said. “Believe me, meat-eating will one day be condemned as murder.”
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Every morning, as he sat in meditation, he prayed for the thousands of animals that are slaughtered every day. “A cry of sorrow mingles with my morning meditations,” he said; “O, the burden of the sin of daily slaughter in our cities!” * Sadhu Vaswani was well aware of the tragedy around him, of poverty and exploitation, of violence and wars, of impurity and hatred, of the cruelty of man to birds and animals. But he believed profoundly in God’s mercy and its power to make men new and rekindle in their hearts the extinguished lamp of compassion and love. Sadhu Vaswani offered no technological formulae to make the world new. The world, he said, would be built anew not by paper schemes and plans, but by new men. His emphasis was on life— not plans and programmes, not institutions and organisations— on life with its two-fold message: (1) adore the Eternal; and (2) dedicate your life to the service of the broken, bleeding children of the Earth. The secret of the true life, he summed up in these simple words: “Repeat the Name of God and give sympathy and love to all creation!”
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SRI KRISHNA’S TEACHING ON
Karma SADHU VASWANI There are, in Krishna’s teaching about karma, two points which are, to my mind, very significant: 1. That work is blessed in which I am in contact with the poor— with the peasant, the farmer, the labourer— and that, too, is blessed in which I am in communion with little children. Work of this kind purifies me. This type of service teaches me humility.
2. I often think that to walk the way to Krishna, I should aspire to have the very lowest place in work. And even if my swadharma (duty) calls me to a work which society regards as of a high order, I should act in a spirit of obedience and, discarding all thought of prominence or position, should breathe out the aspiration: “Master! I seek no more than to be the lowest of the low in thy service! So Krishna Himself took the place of the charioteer in Arjuna’s car. Krishna obeyed Arjuna and did humble duties. This, indeed, is the supreme lesson, to my mind, of Krishna’s teaching. In these four ways does Krishna teach us the supreme word of life:
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1. Many years did Krishna spend in silence: so did he teach us the first great lesson of life. 2. The next great lesson of his work is prayer and meditation. In these Krishna spent many years. 3. Manual work: Krishna respected the hand and the cow and all the animals whom he tended with care and love. 4. Service of the poor and lowly: Do I wish to follow Krishna? Then must I learn to live in communion with the poor and lowly. I must be a friend of the farmer, the worker and little children. Work, selfless work— work which is an offering, a yagna— gives us God. Krishna teaches that action, duty, work, must be done as an offering to the Lord of Love. The Gita asks us to rise to the perception that action must be actionless. Cut off all attachment and convert karma into dedication: this is Krishna’s call to his disciples. This is Gita’s mysticism of action. “Act in God!” says the Gita. Act as an obedient instrument of God. So being in God, you stand above both “good” and “evil.” You move in the world and yet live in God. So dying to the world, you do your daily duty as obedience to the Will Divine. You work in the world as one who is not of this world. So you mingle with the poor and you love them and serve them: you adore them as
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God’s images. When Krishna says, “Renounce thy cults and take refuge in Me,” he points to the Ideal in which work becomes communion with God— an offering, a sacrifice to the Highest. In this teaching of the Gita, I see the blend of the mysticism of the East with the mysticism of the West. I see Suso and Eckhart join their voices together in the wisdom of the Spirit. There are passages in the writings of the great mystics of the West which recall, to my mind, the substance of the thought and teaching of the Bhagavad Gita. One of the great words of this Teaching I caught, one day, in a moment of meditation when, going within myself, I dwelt on the beauty and inwardness of the words: “The heart of the sun and the heart of the bhakta are one!” These words are, to my mind, significant of the great truth which, I believe, is the central truth at once of the sun and the bhakta— lover of God. The true lover of God has his life rooted in yagna or sacrifice, even as the life of the sun is rooted in offering of heat to the Earth. The daily ritual of the sun is sacrifice, even as the daily life of the bhakta is yearning for the Eternal. So true it is that the heart of the sun and the heart of the bhakta are one!
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THOUGHTS AND ASPIRATIONS DADA J. P. VASWANI Misfortunes are blessings, if we handle them well. They are like knives, which hurt or help as we hold them by the blade or the handle. *** Blessed is the person who makes Truth his ideal, Beauty his aim, Wisdom his purpose, Service his religion and Love his fulfilment. *** I must never forget that every thought I think, every word I utter, every action I perform, every feeling and emotion that wakes up within me is recorded in the memory of Nature. I may be able to deceive those around me. I may even deceive myself. But I cannot deceive Nature. *** Man needs to master his feelings. His tongue and eyes, his ears and nose will then easily come under his control. *** Wake up within yourself the spirit of Truth. He will guide you in all conditions and circumstances of life. You will not need any other instructions. *** The first step on the spiritual path is to examine oneself, correct one’s faults and breathe out love, peace and joy to all. *** Prayer is not prayer, if it is inspired by fear. Prayer is linking the soul with the Over soul. Prayer is communion with the Eternal principle that is within everyone. Prayer is opening the door of the heart to let in the Light! ***
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STORIES THAT STIR IT OFTEN HURTS TO HELP This is the story of a Chinese farmer who made a heroic sacrifice during an earthquake. One day as he stood on his hill-top farm, he saw the ocean swiftly withdraw, and he knew that it would come back in the form of a tidal wave, causing death and destruction as it reached past. Below him, he saw his neighbours working in the lowlying fields, ignorant of the danger; and he realised that if they did not come to the top of the hill, they would be swept away in the rush of the tidal wave that was soon to follow. Swiftly, he walked up to his rice-ricks and set fire to his most valuable possessions. Then he rang the temple bell furiously, as if calling for help. His neighbours, thinking that his farm was on fire rushed to his aid. When they met him smiling at the gate they were surprised. Then he pointed below; and they watched with silent awe as the swirling waters swept over the lower fields they had just left. Only then did they realise the sacrifice that had been made by him to save their lives. Who is there among us who does not admire heroic deeds?
Who is there among us who does not dream of doing them? But heroism does not come easy; it demands a heavy price. Helping others makes us happy; but it often hurts to help. Being good is often a lonesome job! And doing good is often a thankless task. For every single benefactor of humanity who has been praised, a dozen others have been abused and even persecuted. Do good for its own sake, and you will not be bothered by ingratitude or by the envy and criticism of others. If you expect or receive a reward in this world for your good deeds, you will get so much less for them in heaven!
POINT OF VIEW An old fable relates how two water buckets got into conversation. They were connected to each other by a rope which passed over a pulley, so that when one bucket went down into the well the other came up. One of the buckets said to the other: “I feel very sad, because although I come up full, I always go down empty.” Replied the other cheerfully, “I have noticed that although I go down empty I always come up full!” That reminds me of the popular salesman in a
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confectionery shop. When asked why every child preferred to buy from him instead of from the other salesmen, he remarked: “The others pour the coffee into the weighing pan, and when it is more than a pound, they remove the extra pieces. The child imagines he is getting less than his due. While I always pour less into the pan and then go on adding more. This makes the child believe that he is getting his money’s worth and more.’’ Whenever you are inclined to complain because you think everything is going wrong, imitate the bucket which took a cheerful view of life. Also remember that there is a right way and a wrong way to do anything. Learn to act in the best way, like the popular salesman did.
CHEATING THE CHEAT A certain baker used to buy flour from a grocer in the same village. He found that for some time he was getting less than he ordered, and so, he complained to the grocer that he was giving him less flour than he paid for. But the grocer denied it and took no heed of his complaint. After some time, the baker complained about it to the police and the grocer was taken before a magistrate. After hearing the case, the magistrate said to the grocer, “Bring me your weights.” “I have none,” answered the grocer.
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“Then how do you weigh your flour?” asked the magistrate, surprised. “That is very simple,” came the answer “When the baker asks for five pounds of flour. I take five of his one-pound loaves and use them to weigh the flour. In this way I find that I give him as much per pound as he gives me.” The baker understood what the grocer meant, and withdrew the case.
YOU REAP AS YOU SOW We have all heard the sayings, “Courtesy Begets Courtesy” and “Smile! And the world Smiles at You.” Yet so many young boys and girls and even grown-ups do not follow this sound advice. They go about growling and grumpy and then complain that life is difficult and people are nasty. They would find people pleasant and helpful if they acted in a pleasant way themselves. Here is an old folk tale which explains, in a very imaginative way how this happens. Many years ago there lived in a cottage a wise and kind old woman whose grandchildren, a brother and sister, lived with her. Now these children were very different from each other. The girl was bright and cheerful with a kind word and ready smile for all; but her brother was rude and unkind. So he wasn’t popular or liked by anyone.
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This grieved the good old woman. One day she said to him: “Alas, my child! I fear if you go through life in this kind of way, you will not be very happy; for unless you show kindness and consideration to others you cannot expect them to treat you kindly or considerately. Do try, now, and alter your ways.” But the boy only laughed at her and went to bed. When he fell asleep, he had a dream. He seemed to be standing with his sister at the cottage door, and his grandmother, pointing to a path across the fields, said: “Yonder is the path of life. Go along it both of you until you reach halfway, and then come back; and as you conduct yourselves in the outward journey, so shall the path be on your return journey. Now off you go.” So the brother and sister set off. For everyone who passed them the girl had a cheering smile and pleasant word: and as she walked, the path broke into flowers, behind her. But the boy only scowled or snarled. This man wouldn’t let him knock mangoes from his tree— frown! That one corrected him for spitting on the road— scowl! And so it went on; and as he walked, the path behind him broke into great jagged stones and thorny shrubs. When the time came for them to turn, the sister’s path was soft with green grasses and beautiful
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with flowers; but the brother’s was painful because of the thorns and pointed stones. Footsore and unhappy he reached his grandmother’s door. Then he woke up. How happy he was that it was only a dream. From that time he was a different boy, for he never forgot his dream.
THE UNGRATEFUL BEGGAR Jim always ate his meals in a hurry. And as soon as he finished eating, he rushed out of the dining table without even saying a prayer of thanks. His mother had taught him this beautiful prayer to be recited before meals: “Bless us O Lord, and these Thy Gifts, which we are about to receive through Thy goodness.” Jim used to mumble the words, in a hurry to start eating, and always forgot to say this charming prayer of thanks after meals; “We give thee thanks Almighty God for all the benefits we have received from Thy bounty.” So one day the mother decided to teach her ten year-old son a lesson. She invited a poor man one day for lunch, and told him of her plan. After a sumptuous meal, the poorly dressed man wiped his mouth with the serviette, and without a word of thanks, got up from the table and left the house. Jim was astonished at this awful display of bad manners.
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He said to his mother: “What an ungrateful man he is. You gave him such a splendid lunch and he did not care to say even a word of thanks!” Then Jim got up and was about to leave the table to go to play. His mother held his hand and smiled as she said: “You called that man ungrateful because he did not thank me for one meal: yet every day you leave the table without saying a word of thanks to God for the wonderful meals He gives you day after day.”
THE MISER A miser, who never stopped worrying about the safety of his many possessions, sold all his property and converted it into a huge lump of gold. This he buried in a hole in the ground near his garden wall, and every morning he went to visit it and gloat over the size of it. The miser’s strange behaviour aroused the curiosity of the town thief. Spying upon the rich man from some bushes, the thief saw him place the lump of gold back in the hole and cover it up. As soon as the miser’s back was turned, the thief went to the spot, dug up the gold and took it away. The next morning when the miser came to gloat over his treasure he found nothing but an empty hole. He wept and tore his hair, and so loud was his lamentations that a neighbour
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came running to see what was the trouble. As soon as he had learned the cause of it, he said comfortingly: “You are foolish to distress yourself so over something that was buried in the earth. Take a stone and put it in the hole, and think that it is your lump of gold. You never meant to use it anyway. Therefore it will do you just as much good to fondle a lump of granite as a lump of gold.” Now the miser learnt lesson that the true value of money is not in its possession but in its use.
I ASK THE GREAT SURGEON TO BE WITH ME In a large metropolitan hospital there is a surgeon who insists upon having a moment alone before entering the operating room. Because of his great skill many of the younger doctors wondered if there might be a relation between his success and this unusual habit. When one of the doctors put the question to the surgeon, he answered, “Yes, there is a relationship, a very close one. Before each operation I ask the great surgeon to be with me, to guide my hands in their work. There have been times when I did not know what to do next, and then came a power to go on, a power which i know comes from God. I would not think of performing an operation without asking God’s help.”
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Laugh Your Way To Health Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out. *** Recession is when your neighbour loses his job; depression is when you lose yours *** My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income. *** Teacher: “Jai, if your father earned Rs. 20,000 a week and gave your mother half, what would she have?” Jai: “Heart failure.” *** On arriving home from school, six-year-old Sachin went into the backyard to see his pet rabbit. He grabbed the little animal by the ears, tapped him gently, and bellowed out, “Two and Two.” This ritual went on until his mother came out. She asked the reason for his peculiar behaviour. “Well,” the youngster replied, pushing the pet aside. “Teacher told us today that rabbits multiply rapidly, but this dumb bunny can’t even add!” *** A fond mother received the following letter from her sailor son: “Dear Mum— I joined the Navy because I liked the way ships
were kept so clean and tidy. But I never knew until this week who keeps them so clean and tidy. Love, Billy.” *** Romesh was about to leave for the office one morning when his wife asked, “Dear, does money talk? “Yes,” Romesh agreed, “that’s what they say.” “Well, I wish you would leave some here to talk to me during the day. I get so lonesome.” *** The university class in shortstory writing was told to write a story with an unexpected ending or “twist.” Highest grade was given to the following: “Will you marry me?” he asked. “No,” she replied.
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And they lived happily ever after. *** Mrs. Joshi was taken suddenly ill in the night, and the new doctor was called because he was the nearest available. After a look at the patient, the doctor stepped outside the sick-room to ask Mr. Joshi for a corkscrew. Given the tool, he disappeared, but several minutes later was back, demanding a pair of pliers. Again he disappeared into the room of the moaning patient, only to call out again, “A chisel and a mallet, quickly.” Joshi could stand it no longer: “What ails her, Doctor, for God’s sakes?” “Don’t know yet,” was the reply. “Can’t get my instrument bag open.” *** Teacher: Now, children, I want you to be so quiet that you can hear a pin drop. Student (after a few seconds of total quiet): Okay, teacher, let her drop. *** A young orphan boy who was having some difficult times wrote a letter addressed to God. “Dear God,” he said, “I would really appreciate it if you could send me one thousand rupees so that my sisters and I can have better food and some clothing.” He signed it and sent it to Mumbai. Several months later a letter postmarked Mumbai arrived with a hundred rupees note in it.
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The little boy sat down and wrote another letter. “Dear God. Thanks so much for hundred rupees. But if you don’t mind, next time please don’t send it through Mumbai— they deducted nine hundred for administrative costs.” ***
A very agitated mother took her son to a child guidance clinic; the child was noisy and aggressive. The psychiatrist, having observed that the boy was hyper active, made out a prescription for a sedative but forgot to specify who was to take it. The next appointment was a week later, “How has your little boy been behaving this week?” the doctor asked. The mother shrugged. “Who cares?” she drawled. *** “Have you seen an octopus?” the teacher asked. “I have seen a picture,” one girl said. “How many arms does the octopus have?” “I don’t know. It has eight limbs. Which of them are arms and which are legs, I don’t know. But I wish I could be an octopus.” “Why?” “Then I can hug Papa, Mamma, my brother and my doll, at the same time. And if I am caught doing something wrong, I can say that I don’t know which arm to blame.” ***
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Children’s Corner RIDDLE: SAY WHAT? 1. I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have nobody, but come alive with wind. What am I? 2. You measure my life in hours and I serve you by expiring. I’m quick when I’m thin and slow when I’m fat. The wind is my enemy. 3. I have cities but no houses. I have mountains but no trees. I have water but no dish. What am I? 4. What is seen in the middle of March and April that can’t be seen at the beginning or end of either month? 5. You see a boat filled with people. It has not sunk, but when you look again you don’t see a single person on the boat. Why? 6. What word in English language does the following: The first two letters signify a male, the first three letters signify a female, and the first four letters signify a great, while the entire word signifies a great woman. What is the word? 7. What English word has three consecutive double letters? 8. A woman shoots her husband, and then holds him underwater for five minutes. Next, she hangs him. Right after, they enjoy a lovely dinner. Explain. 9. I come from a mine and get surrounded by wood always. Everyone uses me. What am I? 10. What disappears as soon as you say its name? 11. How can the number four be half of five? 12. I have keys, but no locks and space, and no rooms. You can enter, but you can’t go outside. What am I? 13. A is the sister of B.B is the brother of C. C is the father of D. So how is D related to A? 14. What gets wet while drying? 15. How many letters are in the alphabet?
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Answers: 1. An echo, 2. A candle, 3. A map, 4. The letter ‘R’, 5. All the people were married, 6. Heroine, 7. Bookkeeper, 8. She took a picture of him and developed it in her dark room, 9. Pencil lead, 10. Silence, 11. IV, the Roman numeral for four, which is “half” (two letters) of the word five, 12. A Keyboard, 13. ‘A’ is ‘D’s aunt, 14. A towel, 15. There are 11 letters in the words “The Alphabet”.
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SIMPLE RULES OF HEALTH HEALTH AND NUTRITION TIPS THAT ARE ACTUALLY EVIDENCE-BASED 1. Make sure to eat enough protein Eating enough protein is vital for optimal health. What’s more, this nutrient is particularly important for weight loss. High protein intake can boost metabolism significantly while making you feel full enough to automatically eat fewer calories. It can also reduce cravings and your desire to snack late at night. Sufficient protein intake has also been shown to lower blood sugar and blood pressure levels.
2. Do some cardio Doing aerobic exercise, also called cardio, is one of the best things you can do for your mental and physical health. It’s particularly effective at reducing belly fat, the harmful type of fat that builds up around your organs. Reduced belly fat should lead to major improvements in metabolic health.
3. Don’t smoke or do drugs, and only drink in moderation If you smoke or abuse drugs, tackle those problems first. Diet and exercise can wait. If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation and consider avoiding it completely if you tend to drink too much..
4. Use extra virgin olive oil Extra virgin olive oil is one of
the healthiest vegetable oils. It’s loaded with heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and powerful antioxidants that can fight inflammation. Extra virgin olive oil benefits heart health, as people who consume it have a much lower risk of dying from heart attacks and strokes.
5. Minimize your sugar intake Added sugar is one of the worst ingredients in the modern diet, as large amounts can harm your metabolic health. High sugar intake is linked to numerous ailments, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and many forms of cancer.
6. Don’t eat a lot of refined carbs Not all carbs are created equal. Refined carbs have been highly processed to remove their fiber. They’re relatively low in nutrients and can harm your health when eaten in excess. Studies show that refined carbs are linked to overeating and numerous metabolic diseases.
7. Don’t fear saturated fat Saturated fat has been controversial. While it’s true that saturated fat raises cholesterol levels, it also raises HDL (good) cholesterol and shrinks your LDL (bad) particles,
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which is linked to a lower risk of heart disease. New studies in hundreds of thousands of people have questioned the association between saturated fat intake and heart disease.
8. Lift heavy things Lifting weights is one of the best things you can do to strengthen your muscles and improve your body composition. It also leads to massive improvements in metabolic health, including improved insulin sensitivity. The best approach is to lift weights, but doing bodyweight exercises can be just as effective.
9. Avoid artificial trans fats Artificial trans fats are harmful, man-made fats that are strongly linked to inflammation and heart disease.
10. Use plenty of herbs and spices Many incredibly healthy herbs and spices exist. For example, ginger and turmeric both have potent antiinflammatory and antioxidant effects, leading to various health benefits. Due to their powerful benefits, you should try to include as many herbs and spices as possible in your diet.
11. Take care of your relationships Social relationships are incredibly important not only for your mental well-being but also your physical health. Studies show that people who have close friends and family are
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healthier and live much longer than those who do not.
12. Track your food intake every now and then The only way to know exactly how many calories you eat is to weigh your food and use a nutrition tracker. It’s also essential to make sure that you’re getting enough protein, fiber, and micronutrients. Studies reveal that people who track their food intake tend to be more successful at losing weight and sticking to a healthy diet.
13. If you have excess belly fat, get rid of it Belly fat is particularly harmful. It accumulates around your organs and is strongly linked to metabolic disease. For this reason, your waist size may be a much stronger marker of your health than your weight. Cutting carbs and eating more protein and fiber are all excellent ways to get rid of belly fat.
14. Don’t go on a diet Diets are notoriously ineffective and rarely work well in the long term. In fact, dieting is one of the strongest predictors for future weight gain. Instead of going on a diet, try adopting a healthier lifestyle. Focus on nourishing your body instead of depriving it. Weight loss should follow as you transition to whole, nutritious foods.