I have been thinking a lot lately about the power of love. The power of love as in force, which is capable of transforming various situations, factors and problematic perceptions in our lives. I will be looking into the power of love and loving ourselves in general in the upcoming blogs.
Today, lets take food! Emotional eating and fast carbs people consume to calm themselves or to numb the feelings of anxiety, fear etc. There is a lot of emphasis nowadays on what is healthy and what is definitely unhealthy to eat. Many foods are put in the ‘no no’ category, which no self-loving person should ever consume.
So many of us are caught in this situation where we feel guilty or bad for eating (or even wanting) a cup of tea with a lovely fluffy blueberry pie. And I am here today to reclaim our right to have and indulge ourselves in good old tea and biscuits.
In my own experience, the most right approach to food and eating is the philosophy of moderation. Not depriving myself of everything that is conventionally considered to be unhealthy and terrible, but really moderating my consumption of food as such. And believe me, this approach was more difficult to implement and maintain than pure deprivation, as it required me to be aware of why am I eating something. Most importantly, over the time, I have come to realize that the harmony and balance between what we consume and us can only be possible when there is respect and love. Respect and love the food you eat, respect and love yourself as you eat – and all of my weight, food and emotional eating patterns would inevitably dissolve.
Putting it differently, what I mean is the following: food has to be respected as something good, positive, something that nourishes me on a very basic physiological level. If you actively choose to see food that way, and see eating as an act of loving and nourishing yourself, you will inevitably find the right balance and relationship to food. There are few rules to follow on practical level:
1. When you put food in front of yourself, or most importantly, when you ‘crave’ something, ask yourself WHY, really why you want to eat this/now? The answers that are positive and appropriate for me are hunger, as well as sheer joy of having this scrumptious something (in the latter case, be fully aware that you are not hungry, but you are choosing to enjoy and letting yourself enjoy this wonderful piece of whatever it is)
2. Promise yourself that when you feel down, upset, tired, and when you are clearly experiencing some uncomfortable emotions, you will find ways to calm yourself and resolve those issues without (a) alcohol or (b) fast carbs (or food in general, if it is obvious that you are not hungry but only craving food to numb yourself to something…)
3. Choose love as a power to transform your relationship with food, and see how its impact and presence in your life as an important constant factor will transform. What I mean is, in everyday choices (from what you put in your trolley in supermarket to what ends up in your stomach at the end of the day) CHOOSE to see and to use food as something that loves you. As something that has to be good for you. Choose to respect and love food so that you don’t make it your drug, your enemy, your punishment and a problem. Love and respect yourself by insisting (under any circumstances) that you deserve to be heard, understood, helped, supported and forgiven in variety of ways that are meaningful to you, other than suppressing and punishing yourself with (otherwise such a wonderful thing as) FOOD J