Monday, September 20, 2010

Step 1...

step 1: Eat Food
step 2: Eat Enough Food
step 3: Eat Good Food
step 4: Eat Better Food

It used to be that step 1 was a challenge for me; I would often forego eating as the best coping mechanism I had for the stress involved in adjusting to my new restrictive diet. Right now I'd say I'm somewhere between steps 2 and 3... realizing what it is to consume enough calories to support me taking a yoga class, spending 6 hours in lecture, or working an entire serving shift without feeling starving, faint, or nauseous. Believe it or not I had gotten so used to ignoring my hunger signals that I had forgotten what food's function was in my body: to nourish me! It feels empowering to plan a hearty, nutritious meal specifically because I want to be able to hold that back bend or hand-stand and not feel like my muscles are going to collapse. As much as our society focuses on everything we shouldn't eat, we often miss the point that food is what keeps our bodies alive...nearly every mineral, vitamin, protein, and fat molecule involved in the actions of our cells and organs HAVE to be consumed from the food we eat! That brings me to the difference between step 3 and step 4, since the quality of the food we eat can have monumental effects on how we feel. Not only do excess fat and refined, nutrient-empty foods slow us down, make us heavy (literally and figuratively), and cause a state of disease in our bodies, a diverse diet rich in all of the nutrients that we need is energizing, invigorating, and enlightening. With each nutritious meal I make for myself, as the stress of preparing them is diminishing, I feel my body connecting the dots inside and just working more effortlessly.

Viewing food in this progressive step-wise fashion, rather than in absolutes, reminds me that eating habits are on a continuum of "goodness" based on what the goal is to be achieved. A year ago the idea of jumping from step 1 to step 4 was debilitating...if others would advise me to eat very "healthy" meals I was overwhelmed rather than motivated. Similarly, expecting oneself to eat a PERFECT, nutritious diet, always!, is not constructive...it is in the small choices and steps that movement is achieved, and that the benefits of eating "good" food, or "better" food can be felt. And of course, we can't expect any of that if we don't eat "enough" food to give our body the energy to make these choices. 

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