Food temptations? please help

[N30S1NGH]

Ok guys, i have a embarrassing but serious problem..i get food cravings nothing in specific just food..i go nuts when i see food..i think i was homeless person in my previous life who died of hunger or something.. temptation is soo bad when i m hungry i go nuts ..will go through medium size veggie pizza without burping..lol..i go to this veggie restaurant buffet place..i go crazy there too... buffet servers even know me by now..lol....ironically i m not fat or anything i weigh 184 pounds..i recently start cutting on rotiya eat 2 roti a day, eat sabji/dal with mini wheats/whole grain cereal but weekend same problem...strict diet on weekday is helping... one thing also helps is when i m sitting in smadhi/naam simran..no issue there..come out of samadhi/naam simran... same crap..i guess i have to remind myself all the time i m not body but soul and soul does not need food but naam simran...!!

please help..any tips?

[dalsingh101]

If you are maintaining a good weight (i.e. not over or underweight), and are generally active, there is no issue with eating well.

But, if it gets really weird, get your blood sugars checked out (HBA1C and a fasting glucose reading). My Uncle was slim and suddenly started eating 3 fold his normal diet without putting on weight, later it transpired he had diabetes, so get it checked out, although there is no need to panic right now.

If you eat a lot, train a lot - it helps.

[SheikhFareed]

184lbs is a very good weight. but depends on your height. make sure you are exercising.

[Bijla Singh]

I apologize if I make any false assumptions in advance. If you get temptations before or after simran then it seems to me like your surti/birti gets dispersed (in khindaah) and your mind runs towards what it longs for. If this is the case and there are no health related issues then I think you need to do some inner evaluation of jeevan and see what you can do to improve yourself. From my personal experience, sometimes I get cravings for a specific food and I want to eat it right away. It has gotten less frequent since I started keeping dietary bibek (though I am still dhilla). Now I get seldom cravings which I counter in different ways. If I am close to my home then I wait it out thinking that I will eat when I get home. So I just request my wife to make the same food. If I am away from home then I start reminding myself that the food is prepared by someone who is a meat eater, might be a smoker and may not have washed their hands after restroom break. There is also a great chance of cross contamination. Such food is also not prepared while reciting bani. Hence, this is not Guru Ka Langar. Since this food is not acceptable to Guru Sahib, I should not eat it either because my goal is to become one with Guru Sahib. If I am starving at that point and I cannot stop myself then I do a short quick ardaas to Guru Sahib to bless me with strength to stay strong and fulfill my hunger with Gurbani. After that I start reciting mool mantar. In a few minutes, my hunger and cravings go away. I take the same approach when I am attacked by five thieves. Baba Harnaam Singh has suggested this approach in his book and it works.

I also keep in mind that the anand and peacefulness that I experience from simran might get lost or impacted from eating out. Since I do not want to lose that indescribable feeling, I choose to stay hungry. Now with Guru Sahib’s kirpa I am at the point where the mere thought of eating out sends a strange yucky feeling down to my stomach that makes me feel like throwing up. I feel as if I will be throwing poison in the same body I put Amrit in the morning. I have also experienced that by keeping bibek I have to spend less time in getting my mind concentrated during simran. My suggestion would be to keep bibek for a short while (maybe 30 days or so) and see how that makes a difference. Also, increase your spiritual activities and stop all others like watching tv (if you do), internet etc. I am sure this would greatly help. The biggest boost would come if you keep yourself immersed in sangat of practicing gursikhs during this time. One common excuse I have heard against bibek is that it is an AKJ practice. While this is not true but what difference does it make if it helps you spiritually. Rehat prohibits Sikhs from having roti beti di saanjh with non-Sikhs. These are just suggestions. Rest is your choice. Guru Rakha

[KhalistaniGunMan]

eat more, train more, get big

[N30S1NGH]

Thanks Bijla Singh for your great advise..By maharaj kirpa, i don't feel temptations of food or anything for that matter while i m sitting in simran ( before i m about to sit in simran or after i m done simran), its only during running around doing social chores - you know gristhi jevan with kids..!!

[Bijla Singh]

I understand. That's what I meant. When you are not in samadhi, you feel this. I have gone through the same. Just two days ago I had a craving for pizza and I passed two pizza shops on my way to home. But Guru Sahib saved me from eating out. At home when I ate parshaday with daal, the anand was immense. The whole point of doing simran is to control your mind and stay in anand all the time. Amrit vela is just the starting point and if you are not feeling the same anand during the day then I suggest making some serious changes to help yourself so that your mind stays in your control all day long. Anything we consume affects our mind the same way it was prepared and with the same surti/birti it was prepared. The effect may be insignificant in the beginning if your naam simran is strong but over time it accumulates and becomes significant. Guru Sahib prohibited us from even touching tobacco. So would you touch tobacco and then prepare food? If no then why eat food from those who not only touch but consume it and engage in idle talks while preparing it. This body is of Guru Sahib and He has given us His roop then must we not consume the food that is acceptable to Him? Just a thought. Guru Rakha

[N30S1NGH]

In my local area there is khalsa pizza pizza and amritdhari restaurant -rasoe beside sacha sauda thats where i usually go but i do go at times non khalsa restaurant too...i think the main issue i m having is a desire to eat to quench my thrist as they say jeb da swad instead of just desire to eat for surival..bhai fauja singh 100 runner put it very nicely he said- some peope live to eat but i do eat to live only.

[Guest]

I'm the same as you n30singh.My addiction isn't food but sweet stuff.Not the Indian sweet stuff but dark chocolate and milk chocolate.Cookies also attack me.I once ate 22 cookies one day.I bought the super saver pack and that was the worst idea I had in my life.Im scared that I might get diabetese or stuff like that but my father and sisters love sweets as well so it's hard as hell.When I read my sehaj path all I think about is how will I conquer all my sins.When I'm finished the same sweet sin comes and attacks me.I do ardas every other day when I'm doing sukhasan and I beg guru Ji for help.Once I never ate sweets for two weeks.Now I can't even stop.

Please help me.Its much more worse than the five thieves.

I love sanji rasoi.I love the matter paneer .Khalsa pizza on Williams parkway?If its them then their pizza tastes awesome.

[dalsingh101]

In my local area there is khalsa pizza pizza and amritdhari restaurant -rasoe beside sacha sauda thats where i usually go<br />

You are SO lucky man!

I'm not Amritdhari (or even kesh dhari) but I don't eat halal, and that pretty much means I can't eat out at all where I live.....lol

On the plus side, it saves me money and makes me up my degh skills...