Rethinking eating
Anyone who has been to the average hospital knows — nourishing food is typically not on the menu. There are some amazing, notable exceptions, but in many cases, your average hospital meal includes a bagel, jello, and a “nutrition drink” that is horrifically high in sugar. Why does this matter? Because it is reflective of how disconnected the conventional medical world is from the reality that what you eat deeply affects how you feel and how you heal.
Most physicians don’t have the time or the training to go into nutrition in an in-depth way. There is more to eating than knowing the difference between carbs, protein, and fat. And eating plays a sensory and even emotional role in our lives as well. Think of how central food is to celebration, and you’ll understand why we don’t want to reduce it to calories or grams of fat. It is something greater than the sum of its parts, and when we lose sight of this, we become disconnected from our eating.
One powerful way to reconnect with nourishment is mindful eating. Although many use this to reduce how much they eat, this is not how I approach mindful eating. From my point of view, it is a powerful way to reconnect with the beauty and pleasure of food. We often talk about eating “mindlessly.” In front of the TV or computer, quickly before a meeting or while we are doing something else, like driving. (To be clear — we ALL do this! I caught myself noshing on something as I was proofreading this post! Presence is a practice for ALL of us) But when we reconnect with the practice and joy of eating, it becomes a different experience entirely. Not only do you enjoy your food more, you also appreciate it more. You are able to be aware of things which you typically don’t take note of — like how lucky you are to have food in the first place.
Enjoying food has almost become taboo in certain circles. Enjoying an abundance of it, even more so. But if you are listening to the needs of your body, not eating more than your body wants or needs and certainly not less than it wants or needs, you begin to find that wonderful balance. This is not a value judgment, which is why I intentionally do not use words like “indulging” or “clean eating” (a deeply damaging phrase that implies eating another kind of way is dirty). And certainly not the kind of “I was good today” language we use as a consequence of having internalized a culture that prizes both thinness and restrictive eating.
So what does it mean to eat in a balanced way? The specifics look different for everyone, since every body is different, but ultimately it is feeding your body what it needs to feel its best, what you need to feel your best (yes, your emotional health counts!) from a place of love, care, and connection. It involves listening to your body and knowing how different foods impact you. Sugar might help a painful moment but create a crash later (or not!). You may find your indigestion is better when you include a lot of leafy greens. You can even experiment with food response diaries. Meaning you write down what you ate and how much (a bite, a little, a lot, no need to get more specific than that, we are actively NOT counting calories here), and then the arguably more important part — how did you feel? Right after, 15 minutes later, and later still. You’ll find that oatmeal affects you differently than eggs with cheese and bacon. And that eggs with cheese and bacon feel different than eggs with spinach and tomatoes. Maybe your body doesn’t love tomatoes, or nuts — or maybe it loves both. The point is to get to know the intricacies of YOUR BODY’S wants and needs.
You will begin to connect the dots between what you eat and how you feel. And if you incorporate mindful eating (slowing down your eating, focusing fully on your food and experiencing it with no other distractions), you will reconnect with the sensory experience of eating. The taste, the feel, the inner shift when your body says, “That’s enough now.” Or the signal that says, “I need some more.” It’s basically a different version of watching your breath, the subtle turn from in-breath to stillness to out-breath and then the reverse. The waiting for the body to take another breath. Only we are listening to our internal cues around nourishment.
The reality is that most of us live in a state where we are almost always disconnected from our present moment. And this absolutely applies to our relationship with food. So, when we return to the present moment of eating, we also tune into the present moment of our bodies and learn about ourselves in ways that helps us make the right choices for ourselves. Without judgment — just with listening and care and loving intention. Which, by the way, you are deserving of ALL THE TIME.
May your next meal be full of nourishment and joy!
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio