All About Food and Feelings

The connection between my belly and my mindset is now irrefutable. Food is an important relationship in my life that it took me to this point to realize how I've been neglecting it. Food and feelings depend on each other in a more nuanced way than just hunger signals. It ties into self worth and self preservation. Sometimes, food is easier than dealing with what the world is throwing at us.

I wholeheartedly believe that food plays a direction role in how we feel about ourselves or the day we've had. Food has a direct relationship with what we feel about our bodies. Everyday, what I eat has connected to how I feel in my own skin. Food goes deeper than our bodies, it defines the standard of how we treat ourselves.

Food as Fuel

The fuel you give your body matters. Quality meals will never let you down. Let's not confuse quality and expensive, girlies! A good variety of protein, veg, and starch is more than enough. It's a myth that things that good for you don't taste good. Food tastes as good as you make it. Trying different recipes is a great way to figure out which healthy foods you agree with is the key. Some healthy foods only taste "bad" because haven't figured out how to cook or season them correctly. I believe that healthy food in some ways requires a lot of patience. Waiting for the fruit to ripen or washing your vegetables properly.

The benefits of healthy food

The payoff is beautiful, in its own right. Noticing your body feeling almost rejuvenated, or the sudden energy boost. Part of inner beauty is making sure the inside is beautiful too. Of course the mind, but the body too. Our internal processes running at a more steady pace is peaceful. It lets the mind focus on prettier things like creativity and daydreaming.

Food for the Soul

Nothing really hits the same as comfort food. This is a really important food group that shouldn't be neglected all together. I find that with comfort food the rule of 80/20 is a good guide. 20% of your effort should go towards making sure you eat things that are good for your soul not just your body! You don't need to demonize junk food because it's not nutritionally dense. An important part of food is the fun! I feel like junk food is indulgent and plays a huge part in a given experience. Too often we're told to take an all or nothing approach. Awareness balances out the value of the experience versus averse indulgence.

The junk food myth

I'm still unlearning and unraveling all the stinging accusations I push on myself for indulging in junk food. Junk food is made out to be an enemy of self control. The evidence follows that self control can also be applied to being overly concerned towards only being militant on what's considered healthy foods. Self control with food stems from a personal understanding to what balance feels best to your body with time.

Learning Food Balance

We need to build a practice of presence when it comes to prioritizing listening to our bodies! Intuitive eating isn't something you're meant to pick up on the first try. Slow down and really indulge in and processing your experience with your meals. Your body doesn't need perfection, it needs your presence. Take it in with small moments, it's a really exhausting experience at first. I struggle with emotional eating and knowing why I'm eating. Sometimes I eat because I'm hungry and others, I realize, I eat because I want to feel snug on my couch with snacks. The gag is, there is nothing wrong with emotional eating. While never in excess, knowing why you're eating and how it makes you feel? That's the start, from there you find understanding.

Your body and mind are connected. The greatest relationship is the one with yourself. When you consider balance overall, food is the most internally unbalanced. Once you're honest with where your relationship with food stands. It's a smaller step to connecting all the dots. The deeper the connection between you and food, the less it could be swayed.

The Difference Between Good and Bad Foods

Anyone who tells you that they know the difference between good and bad foods is lying to you. Give yourself credit by rooting into the belief that there is no such thing as good or bad foods. All food is fuel through calories, it has no morality.

Check, please

In a society of consumerism, our relationship with food has taken an absolute nosedive. Food is so communal and it's meant to nurture and bring comfort. There's nothing wrong with trying new cuisine or ways of life (vegan, vegetarian, etc). The problem sprouts when we're convinced that our relationship with food ties to our morality.

How we eat doesn't make us good or bad people. It reflects the balance of situations that are both in and out of our control. It stands to be somewhere in growing into an ideal version of ourselves that we misunderstand. The point isn't to optimized what goes in our bodies. It's more important to understand what our body needs. Our relationship with food shapes our relationship with our bodies. It's so important to be kind to ourselves while figuring this all out. Our bodies are still going to wake us up in the morning. Our bodies are still going take us to the bathroom. It's high time to romanticize our relationship to food and in turn, our bodies.

We tend to overthink how simple it is to commit to your own self care. There is so much joy to be had in watering your own garden, I promise.

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