Sometimes I feel like I’m hitting my head against a wall.
It’s not about what you eat.
A healthy lifestyle of any kind is usually prescribed with oversimplified terms of “eat this, not that.” How many of us slipped into disordered eating because we worried that what we ate was wrong, or that we needed to eat a certain way in order to be ok in the world?
I personally know someone who spent thousands of dollars to track food so she could lose weight. I also know someone personally who spent thousands of dollars in rehab for anorexia/bulimia, where they shoved food in her face and forced her to gain weight.
You can’t cure an eating disorder by forcing someone to eat more, or less. It’s damaging and makes their relationship with food that much more conflicting.
We tout the benefits of a healthy relationship with food but have you ever considered how confusing that is? What does a “healthy relationship” even look or feel like? I’ll give you a hint: it has nothing to do with what you eat. But it has everything to do with how you eat.
Learning HOW to interact with food is vitally important. The very definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. Telling someone to be more mindful of what they eat without telling them how to do that is crazy-making, because chances are your mind is already full of what you’re eating!
Whether you currently suffer from disordered eating or you’re in the beginning stages of recovery, all you think about is food.
Have you ever considered the possibility of interacting with food in new ways so that you’re actually getting to know it and yourself better? Because after all, this is a relationship.
There are several books, articles, podcasts, workshops, etc. out there about dating your spouse, learning to care for your children or how to be a better boss. Heck, we even have labels telling us what our love language is! But what if we applied these same concepts to our interactions with food?
If you know you want something different than your current food relationship, you’re not alone. It’s time we let go of diet-culture’s moralistic judgement and shift that less vs. more eating paradigm, start reconnecting with our inner Truth, and welcome eating experiences in ways that connect your whole Self.
Because that’s what food is all about: connection. As human beings we’re wired for connection, which is why it’s so unfortunate that we use food to disconnect. Rather than numb out with food, tune in and reconnect with yourself, your family/community, and your Higher Power.
Our bodies are a gift, regardless their shape, size, color or gender. We fought a heavenly war to gain a body and now that we have one we seem to have forgotten its importance. Do you remember who you are, why you’re here and where you’re going?
Let me remind you that you’re a Child of God, and that will never change. No diet, or the lack thereof, will ever affect your worth.
We all come from the same Source. My food and I are one and the same, because we are a part of a Greater Whole. From our first breath until our last, we need food for our survival.
While our precious bodies house our valuable spirits during this lifetime, we have to eat. If we don’t eat, we die. It’s as plain and simple as that. Rather than allow the eating process to become cold and calculated, why not make it a meaningful experience?
The next time you eat, consider it a sacred act. Try smiling after every bite and see how your body responds to kindness. Practice eating with your non-dominant hand and notice how the endless shameful chatter inside your head subsides. Use a special bowl, plate or utensil that reminds you that you’re a Goddess and Priestess worth honoring.
How blessed we are with this need for food — an opportunity to pause and reflect, to praise the God who’s given us life! To celebrate this life we’re living. Wake up, be present. Restore your relationship with food and let your inner light shine bright. The world needs you, just as you are.
Namaste, fellow eater.
