For the love of food!!!

I don't think there's a person out there who doesn't have a food memory...or some food that they associate with an event in their life.  What's Thanksgiving without turkey, right???  I grew up in a family that celebrated with food...loved with food...showed our grief and sympathy with food.  I hardly have a memory of a big event that didn't involve gathering around the table.  We had food traditions...certain things that must be part of certain days or celebrations.  Christmas just wouldn't have been Christmas, without spending Christmas Eve with my Grandma Mullin, eating potato soup and oyster stew (which I did not partake in)..followed by a fresh bun covered in butter!  I don't think I had many birthday celebrations that didn't include my mom's taco salad...always served in that big yellow Tupperware bowl!!  Wedding showers and baby showers must include my mom's raspberry punch...I really could go on and on!!!

I know I've written about this subject before, but today I got thinking (never a good thing) about our societies feelings about food...about my feelings about food.  I got thinking about the short conversations that I heard (and had) many times throughout my lives at different events..."Oh, geesh, I shouldn't be eating this, but...".  For some reason, at these large gatherings, society has made it okay for us to eat and enjoy our food....all the foods that are "off limits" for the remainder of the year is somehow "okay" on specific days.  Those mashed potatoes, made with cream and butter...that potato soup with fresh rolls I mentioned earlier...and I haven't even talked about pecan pie...cookies....all those "no-no's" are okay, just for that one day...for those few hours.  So, what do we do???  We gorge ourselves like we haven't eaten for years, and won't eat for a couple of more.  Why???  Well, if you think about it, it's sort of true...we spend most of the year restricting ourselves to what we think (and have been told) we are supposed to eat.  We have developed a love-hate relationship with food in our culture...we love food, who doesn't...but we are constantly told that eating is bad, food is bad...food is killing us.  So, we obsess...we deny ourselves...we crave and long for those things we love.  So when those occasions come around to eat those sacred foods...we eat until we can't fit one more tiny bite of pie in our stomachs...then we sit around for a couple of hours talking about how terrible we feel!!  The conversations following most Thanksgiving meals I've been at usually involve a lot of talk about how we will be regretting eating so much the next day and will be working extra hard the following week to burn off all that indulgence! 

This is obviously a cycle that isn't only limited to special occasions...how many people, after spending an entire day of eating carrots and salads at work, sit on their couch at night and eat a whole box of cookies or an entire bag of chips??  I've heard so many stories of people secretly eating their fast food hamburger and fries in their car...hiding it from their family, their coworkers, themselves.  There are others who eat like birds all day when people are around...only to order and eat entire pizzas themselves.  Obviously, what we are doing isn't working...the system that we have in place is serving no one, except the diet industry (which is booming, by the way!!!). 

So, let's think for a minute...what could we all do to change this??  I've read lots of books on the subject of nutrition and whole food...and I remember one of the authors had a very simple theory...have tea before every meal and dessert every night.  Why??  Because they made a decision to make every meal an event…..make every meal special.  This was very small way their family enjoyed food...something they thought made their meal special...making everyday a special occasion.  It made sense to me...now, I don't make dessert for every meal (I really dislike baking!!!)...but I do agree with enjoying every ounce of everything we put in our bodies.  Eating should be something we do not just to feed our body, but it should feed our mind and our soul.  Everything that I put into my body goes there because I love it....and because it tastes good!  Now, don't get me wrong...I do think that we should feed our bodies with the best we can find.  I believe in decreasing toxins and preservatives that enter my body...and getting the most out of what I do eat....but I do not think this should be a confusing process.  Eat when you are hungry, stop when you are full.  Enjoy your food and enjoy your life.  Feed yourself and your family the best that you can find.  Become knowledgeable about nutrition and decrease the toxins and processed foods that you put in your body...but if you really want those french fries...eat them!  If we enjoy our food everyday of our life...we would be much less likely to feel deprived, our cravings would decrease and so would our binging.  We'd feel better about ourselves, physically we'd feel better and again, our binging would decrease.  If we changed our internal voice and changed the way we think about food...I think we'd make huge steps towards improving our health.

I have been working on changing the little voice in my head that beats myself up when my family goes out to dinner and we order chips and salsa....I'm enjoying life...and loving my food!  I know that I'm not going to drop this extra weight overnight, I gained it over nine months (3 months on bed rest!!) while pregnant with my boys.  I'm not drastically decreasing calories and I do not have a workout routine...I spend most of my free time playing with my boys...enjoying them and watching them grow.  But, I'm happy right now with losing 1-2 pounds a month...and feeling complete, satisfied and happy in life.  It is definitely a process...it's hard to change something you've thought and felt for 25 years, but I'm working on it!  I'm really hoping that someday, I'll look back with disbelief about how I viewed myself and my food.  But most of all, I am hoping my boys don't carry the same burden on their shoulders.

So, for yourself and all the people in your life...start making some little changes...and make every day a celebration!!!!!