Italians eat well to live well. Or as we say: mangia bene vivere bene.

One day as I was editing and revising the second recovery guidebook that I aim to publish the idea of filling and getting sustenance from what I call The Personal Plate hit me in an instant.

In my life I’ve found that choosing from the four “Food Groups” each day helps me live life well. Every day would ideally contain a “serving” of these foods on each of our plates.

The Food Groups are the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual balanced on each day’s Personal Plate to choose from. The mental is the helping of thoughts that you serve yourself so that you can attend to the task for that given day. The emotional part of the plate is checking in with yourself through the day to contact how you’re feeling.

The physical portion is comprised of the food and fitness you get in while going about the hours from morning to evening. The spiritual is taking time for gratitude and reflection on what’s sacred for you, I say engage in a spiritual micro-habit every day.

The four food groups would optimally work in harmony with each other. On the days when it’s hard to achieve balance it’s okay for one portion to get attention over the other.

Plating our lives with delicious and healthy meals this way can make all the difference in how we feel and think about ourselves.

Cooking is soul care. As an Italian woman, I’ve taken up using recipes that I find in cookbooks, magazines, and online blogs.

I’ll end here with a recipe that my health coach recommended that I call a Protein Shake It Up!

12-oz almond milk

1 Tbsp almond butter

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

Mix in blender until smooth and creamy.