ROMANCING YOUR FOOD
Your relationship to food is actually quite similar to your romantic relationships. I mean who hasn’t stared at a cheesecake for ten minutes, drooling and waiting for that first taste.
I recently met a man who has completely changed my view on relationships forever. I also recently started a nutrition program that has completely changed my view on food forever.
This man, whether he stays in my life or not, has set the bar to another level. He has introduced me to a way of being, and being treated that has never before existed in my life. Now that I know this reality exists, everything else will pale in comparison.
I found myself having a very similar experience with food. Since I started cooking again, eating primarily organic and trying to honor my food intolerances as much as possible (without being neurotic), my world has shifted. I look back at the way my body felt before and how I feel now and I cannot imagine going back to that place. I was introduced to a way of treating myself that I had never experienced before.
Same goes for those relationships. Once you’ve tasted something that makes you feel so good, you wonder why on earth you would ever go back? I’m not saying we never do. Hell, I totally sampled some french toast at brunch yesterday (side note: it was literally the best French toast of my life and totally worth the cheat.) My taste buds were dancing a jig and my serotonin levels probably surged a bunch… the same way it did during my last incredibly unhealthy relationship. And then three hours later, I was left exhausted and with a funny feeling in my stomach, quite similar to the feeling of that unhealthy relationship.
I knew it was the cheat and not my norm anymore.
I knew I would wake up the next day and crave a big fresh delicious organic superfood fruit smoothie to counteract the drying acidifying effects of gluten on my body. The occasional fling may be totally worth it, I encourage it… let loose…. But the next day you wake up and you walk away. Because you’ve set the bar higher for yourself. You’re not going to try and make that hot Johnny Depp look-alike your husband, the same way you don’t wake up and try to power your day with Aunt Jemima-soaked French toast anymore.
Your food, like your partner, needs to fuel you, motivate you, hold you up, inspire you, soothe you, heal you and love you. Your food should make you feel beautiful, appreciated, alive, deserving and make you feel like you can conquer the world.
For the moment, I found my healthy balance and I know my life will never be the same again. I’ve learned to give myself what I deserve for my physical and mental health – for my heart and my body, and ultimately my soul.
Take a moment this week to look at your relationships. Are you addicted to the wrong things? Do you try to fuel your whole day off meals that taste good in the moment? Who’s your smoothie and who’s your French toast?
And wish me luck, I plan to hold on to my new organic fruit smoothie for as long as possible