I really enjoyed this post over at Chelsea’s blog, and I too, have also been thinking about my relationship with food recently.
I started this blog over a year ago because, simply, I love food and I love sharing my love for food. I’m sure that statement comes as approximately zero surprise to most of you reading this today. I certainly am not one of those people who eat to live - I live to eat! I love experiencing new places through food, I love learning about nutrition, I love learning about how we source and distribute food, I love to cook for others, I love the taste of food, I love the way food brings people together! But love is a strong emotion. And I’ve found that any love comes with some kind of struggle. Any great relationship takes work, right?
A lot of outstanding moments in my life that I remember have an element of food or body image tied to it. An amazing meal I had in Italy when I traveled there alone when I was 20. Looking at myself in a mirror when I was in elementary school wishing I looked “like Dara when she wore belly button shirts” (<- now called crop tops, haha). Long days at the beach with friends waiting for the popsicle man to come around with his cooler. Struggling when I studied abroad to find balance when all I wanted to do was eat all of the baguettes that ever existed in Paris! Enjoying Thanksgiving dinners to the fullest with no regrets. Starting my first job out of college and striving to maintain my health and weight with all of our team dinners out. Savoring every bite of my first experience with Tartine sourdough bread. See? Lots of love and lots of struggles too.
I’m 26 now, and I wish I could say that I’ve completed moved away from having any negative relationship with food whatsoever. But, alas, I have not. I definitely have come a long way from when I considered my slightly disordered eating to be at its worst, but I can’t say that I just eat care-free all of the time, blissfully not recognizing when my meal is and suddenly being like “oh wow, I’m hungry! Guess I should eat!” Nope, I am often VERY AWARE of when my next meal is coming, what it will be, what I want it to be, what it may end up being, and how I want to feel afterwards. It can be exhausting, and it takes up too much mental space - even if the emotion associated with the meal is excitement and happiness. People who just “forget to eat?” Please explain to me.
I think what I’m trying to get at here is that I want my relationship with food to be less of a passionate, up and down emotions-running-high love affair, but more of a balanced, normal, long-term, pajama-wearing, no-make-up-on kind of relationship. I’m striving for that. I feel like I’m getting better at it.
At the end of the day, food is not just food. But food is also…just food. Does that make sense? Probably not. People always talk about how food shouldn’t have “power” over us, but we absolutely have to eat to survive. So it does have a certain stronghold over human life. So, for those who are approach eating every day with some sort of apprehension, I want us all to recognize that our relationship with our bodies is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s not a juice cleanse, it’s consistent wellness. When we allow ourselves to enjoy and give our bodies what they want and what it needs every day - not just on “cheat day” - all of that energy spent planning and worrying and any sort of heightened emotions will just mellow out. We’ll probably recognize that you will choose healthyish options 90% of the time anyways. And that other 10% will be enjoying whatever else you want.
A life-long, sustainable love affair with food. I’ll say “I do” to that :).
Thanks for stopping by! 
Dani I loveeee this! Well said. I can definitely relate to having that same struggle. I love food and nutrition and it’s healing powers. But then of course the struggle of balancing it all with what’s good for you, vs. what you want to eat and not feeling guilty. Thanks for sharing, this was really great <3
Ashley @ Fit Mitten Kitchen recently posted…Homemade Healthy Salted Caramel Popcorn
100% agree with everything!
Thank you for the inspiration!
“Any great relationship takes work, right?” -> an excellent statement. Love does merit strong emotions and sometimes those emotions aren’t great. I believe I have a rather carefree attitude about food, but sometimes when I find myself super bloated it’s hard not to be frustrated with myself. Luckily I can brush it off most the time. Thank you for sharing a little bit of your journey!
Also, “People who just “forget to eat?” -> baffles me too!
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I agree! It’s hard to ignore the things that make us feel good and the things that don’t!
Such a cute post Dani, and one that I can totally relate to! I totally know what you mean by food being more than just food, but at the same time, just being food. There’s so much emotion tied to food. I love the quote, “How we do anything is how we do everything. How we eat is how we live” and would like to think that because I eat consciously, passionately, and happily, that those characteristics also spill into how I do everything NOT related to food. It’s all a balancing act though right? Sometimes that balance can get a little out of whack, but if you have the ability to rein it back in and feel good about the way you’re eating and how its affecting you and your body, then our relationships with food can overall be a beautiful thing full of healthy love 🙂
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Hi Dani! Yes! I am with you in that I am always thinking about my next meal. I’ve never FORGOTTEN to eat — that’s for sure. But I do agree, food shouldn’t totally control us. It seems like you, much like me, tend to enjoy lots of healthy foods anyways, so that’s a good thing. Happy eating, lady!
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P.S. You should log into the plugin that you use to for social share buttons at the end of your post and add your Twitter handle, because it’s not currently in there. You could be missing out when people share your post if they don’t go manually find it! 🙂
Ashley @ A Lady Goes West recently posted…What should you do in the gym?
Love. Fully support this, as you know. And I think even just being aware of wanting this shift to take place is the hardest/biggest step… you got dis girl. <3
Great post-I’m 100% obsessed, always have been.
Thanks for sharing!
This makes complete sense. On one side we want food to be “just food,” so it doesnt ever cause us any extra anxiety . But at the same time we want to be able to love food and look forward to it and celebrate it. It can be a super hard balance to find. One which I’m trying to figure out for myself. Thanks for sharing your experience!
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“At the end of the day, food is not just food. But food is also…just food. ”
YES THIS MAKES SENSE AND DESCRIBES EVERYTHING
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