4 Steps to having a more Healthy Relationship with Food Step #1

You Eat What You Are

Jennifer Adler M.S., C.N.

We have all heard the phrase “you are what you eat.” Meaning, that if you consume copious quantities of junk food then supposedly you’ll end up with Snicker-bar arms and a potato chip bag for a belly. On the flip side, if you eat a diet full of wholesome foods then a healthy carrot like complexion with muscles as taunt as melons will be created.

This belief that healthy eating promotes a healthy body is very much based on the science that analyzes our bodies and also food. This notion dates back to 1826 with Anthelme Brillat-Savarin who wrote, in Physiologie du Gout, ou Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendante Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are. However, there might be more to the complexity of food and our bodies than meets the chemistry lab and our mouths. Another way of looking at this equation is: are we what we eat or do we eat what we are? For example, if someone has anemia, do they have that condition because they feel lethargic and therefore gravitate towards foods low in iron or is it the other way around? Did the foods that they choose cause the anemia? If we have an imbalance happening in our life does that translate into our food choices? Or, do our food choices potentially cause the imbalance?
Step #1 Include Sweetness in Your Life

If we are burning our candle at both ends and are lacking “sweetness” (happiness, joy, bliss) in our lives, could this create cravings to indulge in sweets in our diet to compensate? This adds a new spin to the numerous people in our culture beating themselves up for cravings, proclaiming that they have no willpower and are therefore horrible people. Are our bodies just doing the best they can to compensate for our emotional and mental imbalances? I have had numerous clients feeling absolutely overwhelmed with little time for their own needs and happiness that reward themselves after a long day with a pint of ice cream proclaiming that they deserve it. This ice cream may be a short term moment of pleasure to compensate for the pleasure that is lacking from the rest of their lives. Once their lives get more in balance the ice cream may lose its importance.

Stay tuned in future blogs for steps 2-4.

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