Eating Starts In Your Mind
Since before we were born, our lives have been shaped by the messages told to us about food.
It shaped your mother and what she ate during her pregnancy with you. Then once you were born it informed what she did or did not feed you.
Take a moment and think back to your childhood days. What were your favorite foods and why? Hindsight being 20/20 can you see influences that encouraged certain foods? Did your favorite tv character or sports star champion a food that you just had to have? I’m sure you can think of at least five commercials that marketed a certain food to you, the child, that you always wanted your parents to buy for you.
What about influences that told you certain messages about certain foods? That this food is a healthy food while this other one is a junk food and "so bad for you". I’m in the process of making my first batch of root beer from scratch. Root beer was my favorite soda growing up. Did you know that root beer started out as a medicinal drink?! (I nerd out on facts like this.)
Susan Verberg of the American Homebrewers Association shares that indigenous peoples in the Americas have long used sassafras (a plant native to southwestern United States) and sarsaparilla (a tropical woody vine that grows deep in the canopy of the rainforest. It is native to South America, the West Indies, Jamaica, the Caribbean, Honduras, and Mexico)—the central ingredients to root beer—for culinary and medicinal purposes, including infused beverages."
Other ingredients to root beer include dandelion root (anti-inflammatory, aids in stabilizing blood sugar and healthy digestion and is good for liver health), licorice root (anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and an antioxidant), birch bark (helpful in treating skin conditions, joint pain, and UTIs).
"The 19th century came around with pharmacists attempting to create a “cure-all” for whatever ails you, and medicinal root concoctions, which also tasted incredible, found a new image. While root beverages had been around for centuries, 19th-century pharmacist Charles Hines is credited as the inventor of Root Beer as we know it today as he came up with the first marketable recipe.”
Unfortunately the root beer recipe has changed quite a bit over the years from that initial list of natural and medicinal ingredients to now mainly artificial ones. The recipe I’m trying out is more in line with the original recipe with kombucha as the base. I’ll keep y’all posted on how the recipe fares and definitely will share it if it’s a winner!
If you didn’t know the backstory to root beer, and I had just told you I thought root beer is a health drink you’d probably assume I was making up the claim to “justify” drinking it. This is the first point I want to make about our mindset around food: I believe pretty much any food can be a “health” food…it all comes down to how it is prepared and with what ingredients.
I believe pizza, ice cream, french fries, and yes, even soda can work with our health goals and genuinely be adding nutrients to our bodies while also not causing harm to our bodies. If I haven’t lost you yet, thanks for being open and having a curious mind. I’ll be sharing recipes and more information on these specific examples in posts to come.
The second point I want to share is that we think just because we eat “healthy”, we will lose weight or be healthy. I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you but this is a false narrative. You can absolutely overeat healthy foods resulting in unwanted weight gain or other health problems. Let me give you an example.
I had a client who “ate healthy” but wasn’t getting the body composition results they were looking for. Once we started working together we were able to see they were eating a large amount of nuts each day. Nuts are great for us but they are also very calorically dense because they are primarily a fat. Fats have nine calories for every one gram. This client was also grossly under-eating the amount of protein they needed to be consuming every day. Their food choices were great but they weren’t in-line with the amount of calories and macronutrients (protein, carbs, and fats) they needed to consume each day to hit their goals. We didn’t eliminate the nuts but we did adjust the quantity and track this amount so they could enjoy this great food and hit their fitness goals.
Fats and carbs have gotten a bad reputation for being the cause of many of the health issues in our country. It’s not the fats and carbs that are the issues, it really comes down to quantity. You can eat “junk” food and still hit your fitness goals. In fact, I’d argue you will be more likely to sustain your fitness goals if you do allow yourself some “junk” foods here and there. This leads me to my next point: I’d like to propose we reframe our mindset and wording around “bad” or “junk” food.
When we use words like “bad” or “junk” when describing foods it puts a negative and shameful lens on the food and then when we go to eat that food, we judge ourselves (and others) for eating that food. I don’t think this mindset serves us well.
The reframing I’m proposing is one of learning and out of what we learn making food decisions rooted in caring for and loving our bodies and minds. I believe when we become informed about foods and what it does for/to our bodies, we make more confident and honoring choices. I know that was a big breakthrough moment for me.
I had started working with a personal trainer and it was the first time macros were introduced to me (even though I had played competitive sports up through college...that's a rant for another post). My big moment was a simple phrase: "My body is worth me taking care of it." I'm sure that can seem like a "duh" statement. But it flipped my perspective on my food selections. Before I was trying to hit my calories and macros while the majority of my meals weren't nutrient dense, they were ONLY enjoyment dense.
Now I was looking for foods that were macro and micro nutrient dense. Curiosity for foods that would not only help me hit my fitness goals but also help with overall health: heart health, proper organ function, enhance quality sleep, brain function, increase healthy hormone production, quality cell creation, daily detox, and so on became my driver. My body was worth me fueling it not just to fuel it but to fuel it to the best of my ability. To fuel it because it does so many amazing things for me on-demand, 24/7 without me even realizing or noticing. This exploration of foods that care for my body has continued to evolve and morph since that initial moment of clarity. Some evolutions may surprise you so stay tuned for the juicy deets.
Sharelle Grant (one of my favorite fitness accounts on Instagram) describes the two categories of food choices as “whole food” and “soul food”. (I also like calling it “fun” food).
Whole foods are those foods you eat for nourishment and are what the majority of your food choices are made up of. Soul food (fun food) being those foods that you eat out of enjoyment. These soul foods make up a small percentage of your food intake, say 20% or less. Sharelle notes that these soul foods are important for balance which I completely agree with. Like I said earlier, I think most people will maintain their goal weight/fitness goals when they give themselves the leniency to enjoy some fun food here and there. When there’s no place for the soul foods on our road to the goal weight, we’re more prone to overindulge and binge alllll the soul foods once we hit our target weight. -and that’s where the yo-yo dieting comes into play which doesn’t serve us well physically or mentally.
When we learn what calories, macronutrients (and their subtypes -more on this in another post), and micronutrients do for our bodies, we can confidently enjoy that cookie or meal out with friends knowing that it actually doesn’t ruin the whole day of eating, that you don’t have to starve yourself tomorrow or do extra cardio to work off the fun food you had.
Sometimes what is loving and a form of taking care of yourself is not only allowing yourself to have the fun food but also enjoying it! (Yes, that means no guilt in sight!) We eat when we’re celebrating and we eat when we spend time with others. Lots of memories have food at their core. It could be the ice cream shop your family always goes to when on vacation. The smells that welcomed you the moment you walked into grandma’s house for a holiday meal. Friday night pizza and family game night. The place you and your spouse had your first date. These are all beautiful, deeply valuable experiences. To tell yourself you cannot enjoy these experiences because you’re trying to eat healthy or you’re on a diet, I think more than not it robs you of living a life full of life and balance. Sure, there are definitely times to pass on fun foods offered and again the key points are how much and how often. But if we’re eating the whole, nourishing foods 80% of the time, we can enjoy the fun foods guilt free.
Eating starts in the mind. This post is meant to get your wheels turning. It's the appetizer to the conversation but definitely not the dessert (not even second breakfast). Our mindset and thoughts towards food is something we'll continue to touch on as it is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, impacts on what we eat, how much we eat, and the implicit moral value we can put on ourselves (and others) for the things we do or do not eat.
Post Reflections:
- Think back to the messages you were told about food growing up. How did that shape your relationship with food? Does that still have an impact on how you view food today?
- Now to the present tense, what would you say you believe about certain types of foods, calories, etc.? Are these beliefs rooted in shame or fear? Or are they rooted in fueling your body, honoring your body, caring for and loving your body and mind?
- If there is one belief rooted in shame or fear, how can you reframe your thoughts on this belief to better honor your body and mind?
- Have you ever thought about your relationship to food? What narrative (consciously or unconsciously) you tell yourself about the foods you eat?
I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
Recipe: Cinnamon Roll Coffee Creamer
This is our go-to creamer every morning for the last few years. Because we do drink it daily, I like to double the recipe to make more in one batch. Let me know if you try it out!
Stacey
Recommendations:
When picking ingredients for this creamer recipe, I recommend getting:
- Ceylon cinnamon sticks (fair trade if possible)
- Raw, organic brown sugar (or combining raw, organic cane sugar and molasses to make your own brown sugar; also look for fair trade on sugar bags if it was sourced abroad)
- Raw, organic half and half (recommend from a dairy farm near you)
- Grade A, organic maple syrup
Sharelle Grant https://www.instagram.com/sharellegrant/. I mentioned her in the post. On Instagram I share a lot of her stuff. She's very grounded and relatable for a "fitness influencer".
Coming Next Month!
Spring is ALMOST here! (And everyone said, Hallelujer, Thank You, Jesus!)
Y’all know I dabble in gardening. Next month we’ll be chatting about eating produce in season, locally, and organic vs. conventional - why these factors are worth being aware of (but not controlled by). Also, I'll be sharing some gardening tips for anyone looking to get their hands dirty.
Until next time, speak kindly to yourself and look for ways to take good care of yourself; because you're ridiculously worth it!
Blessings,
Kels
Duncan