It is very important to know that food is your friend. It is NOT the enemy. Food itself is literally just food. It holds no power in and of itself. It nourishes us. It grows us. Supports us. It even entertains us. It does not judge us. It allows us to move and think and create through the production of energy. Food does not judge or punish us. We do.  

I used to fantasize that if we could just condense a meal into a capsule, I could have one in the morning, one at lunch time and one at dinner and then I wouldn’t have to think about it. Then I would get skinny! I wouldn’t have to think about it and I wouldn’t get triggered by food that way. Often when we stop eating certain things for a time, like refined sugar, then have a bite or a piece, it sends us spinning. All bets are off and I can’t get a spoon (shovel) big enough to keep up with my needs. That black and white thinking needed to change. I needed to let go of the DIE-T mentality.

Part of that DIE-T mentality includes attaching negative emotions to a particular food. If we do that, the food will not serve us. Another person could eat the same thing and feel no shame or guilt and their body is able synthesize that food just fine. Notice what you are saying in your head about the food. A cookie is just a cookie unless we turn it into a demon. I make a gluten free protein cake (see recipe below) and I LOVE it.  I get to have cake AND have a healthy body, mind and spirit.

Sometimes, using food as a crutch develops as an emotional response to environmental or emotional events. We may subconsciously add weight to insulate or protect ourselves from what scared us or hurt us before. If this is you, you may consider going deeper to ferret out the hidden blocks to success. What happens over time when we have a distorted relationship with food and body, is that we can forget how or why it all began. We also lose sight of the fact that it is not the food itself that is the issue but the thinking and behaviors behind it.

Incredibly important is the idea that FOOD can bring us pleasure again and it’s ok. The pleasure of preparing it, eating it, sharing it with loved ones, the rituals are all positive attributes. When you are treating your body with kindness, gentleness, and respect, we intuitively act well around food. In this way, food does not have power over us. I believe that one of the reasons we incarnate at all is to enjoy the sensations of having a human form. The sun on your face, the breeze off the ocean, making love, and EATING. Think about it from that perspective. The textures, the smells, the tastes, the shear delight of eating is a gift to us and we deserve to enjoy it lovingly.

Clearly, in order to stay current and clean in our relationship to food and self care, we need to stay as conscious as possible.