Feed Your Soul Instead of Your Stomach
The most unexpected lessons I have learned about food.
As important as food is on a functional level, it is absurdly insignificant to the happiness of our lives. It has become so culturally acceptable to correlate food and emotions that I believe most people are highly unaware that it happens because it is perceived as being so ‘normal’. You succeed, treat yourself; you fail, eat your feelings; realistically one has absolutely nothing to do with the other.
For as long as I can remember, what I put and chose not to put into my body consumed a majority of my thoughts and brain power. Naturally, when I decided to use food as medicine, I was consciously aware that this would only exacerbate the situation, but that was a risk I was willing to take.
Ironically, the result of using food as medicine created contrary consequences to my expectations.
Of course when I began the Whole30 it took a lot of conscious decision making around food, a ton of time and energy to plan and meal prep and double check everything, but by the time that I made it to day 30, it had become such second nature to know what was compliant to eat. When I was uncertain, I knew the exact questions to ask, or the right things to Google. So when my Endocrinologist suggested that I stay on the Whole30 in hopes of reaching my goals faster, it was no big deal. I was also obviously excited because my thyroid numbers had improved so drastically within the first thirty days that I knew I was on the path to balancing my hormones and taking strides in my physical health. What I had not anticipated were the benefits that I was about to experience in regard to my mental wellbeing.
Food does not matter. It literally does not at all. Let me explain - once you figure out what works and does not work for your body, your lifestyle and your goals, then the whole scary concept about certain foods being right or wrong, good or bad, just vanishes. Birthday parties are no longer about the cake, Valentine’s Day is no longer about the box of chocolates, brunch is no longer about the boujee stack of pancakes with strawberry drizzle and mimosas. It may sound like a boring life at first, but it is completely the opposite. Birthdays become about the celebration of life, Valentine’s Day becomes about the acknowledgement of love, and brunch becomes about the people you get to spend that meal with. When your focus shifts away from the food on your plate, the importance of the people around you and your atmosphere and the energy brought to the table is magnified exponentially.
My sister is vegan, and the two of us just completed a road trip from Los Angeles to New York, with a whole bunch of zig zags in between (which I will absolutely be blogging about soon!). So many people had voiced an alarming concern about us not being able to eat… of course we were able to eat. Everywhere you go has fruits and vegetables and nuts (basically the only things we both overlap on - haha)! We found adorable restaurants who were incredibly welcoming to our adjustments of their menu, and probably stopped at every Whole Foods along the way! We were prepared with a giant cooler, and I promise we did not starve by any means.
That being said, for two women who are normally very active, we did not feel gross after spending two weeks sitting in a car and we were proud of that. Our memories consist of the quality time spent together, the belly laughs and the spectacular views we got to see.
We remember Napa for the weather and the sunsets, not the wine (although we did have some of that!).
We remember our 10-hour drive days by the songs we belted out until we lost our voices, not for the car snacks.
We remember the south for the live music and the awesome people we got to enjoy it with, not for the fried chicken slathered in god knows what!
All of this being said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying a decadent meal, just make sure that your favorite part of the meal was not the food. Your memories should be the people, places and things that feed your life, not just the temporary food that feeds your body.
Coming from someone who remembers putting herself on her first “diet” in 4th grade, conquered many phases of eating disorders and counted calories for at least half of her 27 years on this planet, the most unexpected gift I have ever received to my mental health was when I became so clear in my intention of why I’m putting food into my body. I love food. I workout for a living and that requires a strategic fueling process, but something magical happened when I began to live my life with food as the unpaid extra instead of the Academy Award winning lead.
Moral of the story…
Fill your plate up with passion.
Indulge in the sweet moments of your life.
Most importantly, focus on feeding your soul instead of your stomach.