Food is emotional
Food is emotional. Food is a celebration, the fuel for life, the nourishment our bodies need to keep us going. Food is the hot cocoa after playing in the snow, the warm chili on a rainy day, the wedding cake you save a piece of to remember. Food brings people together and can be a wonderful avenue to healing if you allow it to be.
Our culture sends us so many rules and ideas about what foods are good and bad without giving us the tools to actually listen in to what our bodies are telling us.
Food is emotional because we are emotional beings and every time we eat the dopamine circuit lights up in our brains to tell us good job, you're doing your best to keep me alive.
Before I started my own journey to healing, I would take one look at the food in this picture and do 1 of 2 things.
#1 I would find the “healthiest” options on this spread and eat them without a thought towards if I was feeling satisfied by my choices or finding pleasure. I’d then, with a lot of angst and turmoil, end up eating any sugar I could find within sight and eat it until I was far past uncomfortable fullness, vowing to restrict the next morning.
#2 I’d eat a variety of said foods but then freak out that I couldn’t quantify what I was eating, so would feel fear, shame, and guilt and therefore turn towards sugar to eat until uncomfortable fullness ensued.
There is another option out there. One that brings freedom, peace, connection, and trust. It’s a kind of eating that allows you to slow down, listen in, and find TRUE satisfaction and pleasure from not just the food, but from the whole experience of being in the present moment.
Intuitive eating isn’t just about food, it’s about getting to show up in your life with more joy and satisfaction because it allows you to be present without needing to get wrapped up in the obsession and compulsion of eating.
Food is ALLOWED to be emotional, and fun, and pleasurable. It’s SUPPOSED to light up your dopamine circuits just like hugging a dear friend does!
Fearing food doesn’t have to be in your vocabulary. You deserve to eat food that is nourishing to your body, heart, AND taste buds. What foods bring a smile to YOUR face?!