That every time a warrior in the Mahabharat shot an arrow fromhis bow, it was not to kill. Rather, it was a metaphorical act - totrigger off a quiverful of new ideas and let them cleave through theair thick with outdated notions. It was to allow clean, invigoratingthoughts to shaft through the excess 'fat' and generate fresh, positiveenergy into the field of life. To restore, to rejuvenate, to bring backa balance, a rationality, to make new patterns of peace with a surgingvibrancy into an almost-forgotten art called living.

So, when wewrite about how carbohydrates give you energy, proteins build yourmuscle tissue, about why fats are stored for life-survival situations,it is not to drive you into an eating laboratory where you measure outin test tubes the required quantities to be swallowed like medicine. Itis to allow the arrows of health-filled facts to sink into your mind,to give you new perceptions, to show you how your body treats the foodyou eat and how it extracts the maximum nourishment for itself. To tuneyou into your inner receptors and awaken your mind and spirit, so thatwith this awareness you gather all these strands of information andinsights and shape them to suit your individuality and taste.

Sothat you are entranced enough to bring little changes into your eatinghabits. Little changes that neither annoy nor disrupt your daily life.Little changes that make big differences. Little changes thatultimately reap immeasurable benefits over a lifetime.

You can doit by appealing to the smart cells in your body. For, these smart cellsgenerate a continuous cycle of complex actions and reactions. They actas a think tank in your body and bless it with a natural ability tocrave for food that maxi mises its efficiency and reject that whichminimizes its capabilities. These smart cells are the genius that keepyou alive.

These cells are not difficult to please. They do notexpect you to peer at labels and calculate the mgs or mls that are goodfor you.

All they expect you to do is to eat a wide variety ofnatural, wholesome food. And to simultaneously synchronize it with thetaste that is mapped on your tongue.

You can start your greatexploration into, the wonderland of food by forgetting such terms as'carbohydrates, proteins, etc. They are only alphabets of a languagecalled Nutrition. You don't need to recite your alphabets daily to reada book. Besides, in this life-sustaining book of nutrition, there areonly a few words that are easy to understand, to remember and inculcateinto your daily vocabulary of living.

They are:

Fresh vegetables Cereals Pulses Fresh fruits

They are the sinews of your fitness philosophy.

Theyactivate and nurture your body's smart cells. They are found in greatabundance in the supermarket of Nature and all you have to do is toselect a wide range and store them in your larder and refrigerator. Youdon't need butter or ghee or sugar - they only retard your smart cellsby smothering them. Thus limiting or arresting your growth potential.Instead, if you eat nourishing foods and exercise, you can reachheights ­physically, mentally spiritually - that you had never dreamtwere possible earlier. Not only because you increase your efficiency,but because, this way, you maintain it. And as you develop a greaterunder- standing, you will find a shift in your thoughtscape. For, youwill want to eat to live, to derive the best from life. You willrealise that all along, you were living to eat and erecting barriers toyour growth.