“Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.”
“To lose balance sometimes for love is part of living a balanced life.”
“We search for happiness everywhere, but we are like Tolstoy’s fabled beggar who spent his life sitting on a pot of gold, under him the whole time. Your treasure–your perfection–is within you already. But to claim it, you must leave the buy commotion of the mind and abandon the desires of the ego and enter into the silence of the heart.”
“There is so much about my fate that I cannot control, but other things do fall under the jurisdiction. I can decide how I spend my time, whom I interact with, whom I share my body and life and money and energy with. I can select what I can read and eat and study. I can choose how I’m going to regard unfortunate circumstances in my life-whether I will see them as curses or opportunities. I can choose my words and the tone of voice in which I speak to others. And most of all, I can choose my thoughts.”

EAT PRAY LOVE… LOVED THE BOOK, LOVED THE MOVIE. Ladies, this resonated well with me, as I am 2 weeks away from a trip to Italy!! September 15th, Michael and I take off for Italy. Watching this movie just got us more excited for our travels! Watching the movie, really had me thinking about the lessons it offers and similar content we chat about here at ginaaliotti.com. It is so common, while being so consumed with what you are eating and what you aren’t eating that you lose site of eating for pleasure. Pleasure gets taken out of eating when you are all consumed and restrictions are everywhere. Even though this is a Diaita (way of life), that “way of life” is all consuming and becomes all encompassing. So often, people cannot eat mindfully or enjoy the small pleasures of life! When was the last time you sat down and ate a meal, without thinking in terms of calories, fat, proteins, carbs, weight, etc., etc. When we talk about living a balanced lifestyle, we talk about Being able to Enjoy the small things in life such as Food, Spirituality, Love and all that life has to offer. It is a part of a healthy balanced eating that addresses different aspects of why we eat but there are times that we need to put aside our brains and just live….

It may not be that we are purposely “not enjoying” our food but we are always on the go and time to enjoy is slim to none…. Hopefully with all our healthy recipes, you are able to enjoy some meals but eating mindfully is often forgotten! When was the last time you ate and were in the moment. Not thinking about what you were eating or why you were eating it but simply to just enjoy the flavor, texture and hard work of the food preparation and not to mention the history behind the food?? Honestly, I would have to really think hard to recall that time, myself. We get so wrapped up in nutrients, our plans, etc. that it is easy to forget that food, still healthy but wholesome food, is one of the marvels and pleasures of life! While we may not eat regular pasta or regular pizza daily, weekly or even monthly, when it comes to being in Naples, where pizza originated, that is when you just have to throw in the towel and go for it. How are you going to go to Naples and ask for “whole wheat dough”. You may be able to make modifications here at California Pizza Kitchen, but no Italian is going to go with modifying their precious pizza!!!
Traveling Internationally takes us out of our element and forces us to often expand our horizons. Now, traveling to Italy, wow, that is taking us away from our “complex carbs” and into the love of breads, pastas and vino…. “La Vita è Bella!” Traveling makes you savor the moment, and should be special! Each experience and each meal should count and be one to remember! Digging deep into a different culture and not eating just because “you can” or it is “an excuse to eat bread or pasta but eating because it is a fine thing in life. Eating because of how the traditional Italians serve their food and the hard work and history that went into preparing the homemade meal!
It is about being in tune with your body, eating slowly, pausing during meals, you will get appropriate and accurate measures of when to stop. Being mindful will allow you to enjoy the pleasures of life yet allow you to decide how much you need of yummy food without overdoing it! That is how enjoying the moment, we can dig into our food, enjoy it thoroughly, and still walk away healthy. In fact, enjoyment and happiness even promote good digestion and utilization of the nutrients in food.
“Eat, Pray, Love” is about a woman (Julia Roberts) who travels to Italy, after hardship, to discover herself, find balance and search for “everything”. In her journey of self-discovery, she deals with the face to face issues of American women’s attitudes about eating, dieting and the guilt often associated with enjoying indulgent foods.


The message throughout the book and movie is about finding balance in life, love, work, thoughts and deeds. Balance is certainly something we are all striving for, seeking that perfect balance of all the finest things in life from healthy eating, love, and the well being of our body and mind.
One of the messages and things reminded throughout the movie is how to tune into cravings and mindfulness, listening to body signals and responding to what your body is telling you it wants, sometimes more, sometimes less. Sometimes more because it just looks so good and tastes so good, but then there are other times when our body tells us that we have had enough. Julia reminds viewers of the sheer enjoyment of eating without the worry of what others are thinking or what may happen to our body!
It can often be a catch 22 when you are so in tune with your body because it can limit your ability to just Eat and Not think….
One of the positive life messages in Eat, Pray, Love is to realize that food is a wonderful part of life and to enjoy it as part of a full life, especially when once in a lifetime opportunities present themselves. Another lesson is to stay in touch with ourselves and live life fully, enjoying what is there to be enjoyed, examining the challenges life presents, and making choices and decisions about how to live the lives we want.
Honestly, I cannot remember the last time I didn’t modify something, why.. because I would always opt for the healthier option because it is what I know, what I like and tastes just as good if not better. In Italy, this is not happening, modifications get thrown out the window but that is what it takes to be able to mindfully eat and be in the moment, striving for a wholesome balanced life full of eating, praying and loving… Loving life for all it has to offer and the quality you can gain from being in the moment and taking things in for their traditional importance and part they play in our world!
In Italy, once again, my mantra of Less is more and quality over quantity is what will allow me to indulge La Cucina Italiana without having to pick up a new pair of jeans….

I WANT YOU ALL TO JOIN ME IN THIS QUEST FOR EATING, PRAYING AND LOVING… CONTEST DETAILS TOMORROW…
HERE IS TO A LIFE FULL OF EATING, PRAYING AND LOVING…
XO