I love to eat. The energy and vitality food gives to life is amazing. The various taste sensations, textures, colors, presentations make eating fun. It’s when I consume too much of something or eat when I am not hungry that I trip myself up. Here is one question that might give you a bit of insight into your eating experience.
QUESTION:
Why do I eat? Funny question? Hardly. We eat for any number of reasons. Which answers do you resonate with?’
ANSWERS:
It was there/ I felt tired / I needed a boost/ I was frustrated / It sounded good/ I was craving it/ It was easy/ I enjoy eating/ I was hungry…
So you see that we eat for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with actually being hungry. And what we don’t realize is that this can overload our systems and creates a lot more work for our digestive tract especially if we are feeding our bodies things that are not considered fuel. It’s not unlike the gas tank in our cars- our tank was designed to only hold so many gallons of gas and we wouldn’t dream of putting anything other than gas in our tank because we know that is what the car needs to run efficiently.
Eating healthy is a life style change and to be effective happens over time. It begins with our belief system. Beginning to see FOOD as FUEL is an important step to embracing a more life giving relationship with food. Then begin to notice when and why you go for food when you are not hungry. This will enhance your ability to make other choices like a glass of water or cup of tea instead.
The definition of EATING is: to consume, devour, ingest, partake of; gobble (up/down), wolf (down); swallow, chew, munch, chomp; nosh, put away, pig out on, scarf (down)
The definition of FEEDING is: to strengthen, fortify, support, bolster, reinforce, boost, fuel, give food to, to provide what is necessary for its operation.
So are you EATING or FEEDING your body? This question is simply to raise your awareness around your relationship with food. It is NOT intended as a means of self criticism or judgement. To embrace life style changes it is helpful to understand why we make the choices that we make and learn from them.
Here’s to expanding our experience with FOOD AS FUEL.
