Have You Ever Experienced Something Like This...?

At a dinner party one summer night, after serving myself a second portion of my favorite dishes, a guy at my table narrowed his eyes at me and said with a slight smirk, “Wow, you must really be hungry.”

I wanted to smack him.

At one point in my life, his comment would have set off a major shame spiral.

I would have shrunk down in my seat, hung my head and clamped my mouth shut while my cheeks burned bright red.

Thoughts like these would have raced through my head:

  • I’m a pig.
  • I shouldn’t be eating so much.
  • Going back for seconds is bad.
  • I have no self-control.
  • I don’t deserve to eat what I want.
  • If I want more food, I need to hide while eating it.
  • There is something wrong with me.

Painful, Powerful Words
As I shared before with my brownie incident, careless comments like this can be really painful and very powerful.

They can have a huge impact that negatively shapes your core beliefs regarding who you are and what you deserve. For me, they contributed to years of disordered eating.

Thankfully, with the help of some very wise teachers, I was able to shed my destructive beliefs and behaviors.

I learned how to give myself unconditional permission to eat and enjoy food, and how to cultivate a more nourishing, trusting and peaceful relationship with food and my body.

Unconditional Permission
Each one of us has a right to eat whatever we want—whenever, wherever and however we want it.

You don’t have to earn the right to eat something.

You don’t have to justify your food choices, make excuses for them, hide them, or apologize for them.

And what’s on your plate is nobody’s business.

An Opportunity for Gratitude
After the initial flash of anger I felt when that guy made his comment, I caught myself starting to justify my actions to the entire table, something along the lines of “I’ve hardly eaten today” and "I had a light lunch." 

Realizing what I was doing, I stopped talking, picked up my fork and went back to enjoying my meal.

Later, while reflecting on the situation, I came to appreciate the opportunity it gave me to see just how far I’ve come. 

What to Eat When You're Feeling Scattered, Gloomy or Moody

My client Julie once arrived at her session feeling very unsettled and overwhelmed due to her recent apartment move. I sent her away with a seemingly unconventional prescription for sweet potatoes. She ate some that night and immediately felt more grounded.
 
More Than Fuel
Food is far more than just fuel. We tend to think of it in terms of nutrients, calories, good or bad. How often do you consider its energetic quality?
 
All food has unique energetic properties that affect your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. When, where and how it's grown, raised, produced or prepared determines its essential character and the energy it imparts.
 
By understanding food energetics, you can prepare balance-restoring meals based on the energy particular foods create in your body.
 
Let's take a look at vegetables.
 
Plant Prescriptions
The direction a vegetable grows can impart the same qualities in you when consuming it. Here are a few plant prescriptions for when you're feeling...
 
Scattered or Overstimulated
Root Vegetables: Because they grow in the ground, root vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips, parsnips and beets have a strong downward energy. Eating these hearty vegetables can help you feel more focused, anchored and grounded.
 
Gloomy or Tense
Dark Leafy Greens: Kale, Swiss chard, collard greens, beet greens and other dark leafy greens grow upward collecting energy from the sun. Eating these chlorophyll-rich foods infuses your blood with oxygen, ultimately boosting your mood and spirits.

Light and cleansing, they also supply your body with flexible energy and remove physical and emotional toxins literally helping you lighten up.
 
Moody or Erratic Energy
Squashes and Gourds: To maintain an even keel, eat veggies that grow at ground level like butternut squash, spaghetti squash, pumpkin and edible gourds. These can help steady your mood and energy level.
 
You Are What You Eat
A food's life force directly impacts your quality of life. By selecting foods based on their energetic qualities, you can better nourish not only your body but also your soul.

Do Your Meals Include This…?

During a recent family visit, we reminisced about how my mom would make a heart-shaped meatloaf and individual heart-shaped Jell-O desserts for our Valentine’s Day dinner when we were kids.

While the meal was tasty, what made it the most memorable was the best ingredient of all: love.

When food is prepared with love, it embodies an energetic quality that nourishes us on a much deeper level than food hastily prepared without much care or consideration for those consuming it.

Think about some of your most memorable meals. Were they infused with love?

Cooking for One
Some of my clients declare they don’t like to cook for themselves.

Why bother going to all the trouble? They either pop a frozen dinner into the microwave, order take-out, or dine on cheese and crackers.

When they start cooking for themselves to improve their physical health, they are surprised to discover how their homemade meals also elevate their mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.

They hadn’t anticipated how profoundly nourishing it is to slow down and devote time, energy and care toward thoughtfully planning, preparing and consuming their meals.

An Act of Self-Love
Cooking for yourself is an act of self-love. It shows you’re worth the effort.

I love the ritual of selecting ingredients at my local farmers’ market to prepare meals for myself.

While I enjoy cooking for others, I find the experience of crafting my own meals to be very meditative, grounding, therapeutic, pleasurable, empowering, rewarding, and nourishing on every level.

If you currently view cooking for yourself or others as a burden, I encourage you to start adding love into the mix. It truly is the most powerful ingredient you can infuse your food with.

P.S. "You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces — just good food from fresh ingredients." –Julia Child