The entire process of eating needs to be given your full attention to get the maximum benefits. Be conscious of the hunger you feel before you eat, and also how the food looks and smells as you prepare it, serve it and eat it. Then make sure to top if off with saying grace before you start your meal or snack. This simple, enriching practice will help you eat more slowly and enjoy the meal.

Whether for food or something else, the difficulty in resisting sensory desire comes from the force of conditioning. Every time we are negatively conditioned, we lose a little of our freedom to choose. For example, if you eat unhealthy donuts or French fries, you strengthen your desire to eat them tomorrow. In other words, what you eat today, you crave tomorrow. Choose wisely!

Your mind may have some negative programming about your new, healthy eating habits that will trip you up. The mind will always choose immediate gratification over long-term satisfaction.

Choose to eat foods the way nature made them, replete with vitamins, minerals, amino acids, antioxidants, fibers and water and don't overeat. Chronic overeating may promote obesity and insulin resistance, two major risk factors for metabolic syndrome —  a cluster of conditions that increase your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and brain dysfunction.

Who we are consists of the sum of our choices: what we think and imagine, how we react, what we eat, what we say, how we feel and what we expect. Inside each of us is power to create what we want. And I believe it starts with being enthusiastic about your goals and life. It was Ralph Waldo Emerson who wrote this sage thought: "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."

This Victor Frankl quote is spot on. “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Making choices that heal and integrate the body, mind and spirit is what thriving is all about — experiencing more joy and less stress. It's our choice each day to find something or someone to celebrate. As my mom used to tell me growing up: Be good; be honest; be always kind. These are the things to keep in mind.

Vibrant health and peace of mind (the opposite of stress) go hand in hand—you can’t reach your potential for physical health without being mentally fit as well. Doing some deep breathing each day will help. When you breathe in air, blood cells receive oxygen. Improper breathing can upset the oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange and contribute to anxiety, fatigue and stress.

Do you ever wonder why some people appear to thrive on stress, while others suffer ill health? New studies suggest that it may not be the stress that lowers immunity, but whether you feel a sense of control over it. Sleep, water hydration, exercise, time outside in nature and meditation can all quell stress. So can these following practices that you may have not considered before.

If you are always “under the gun”—which could mean a continual struggle to make financial ends meet or traveling all the time because you're at the peak of your success in your career—you can be stressed out. So here's something you can do anywhere, anytime to instantly assuage your stress and relax and it only takes seconds.