On Consumption: You Are What You Eat
Fueling Your Body is the Gateway to Fueling Your Mind
“To keep the body in good health is a duty, otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.”
-Buddha
Some of you may have seen my Instagram Story about how I select upcoming blog topics. For those who didn’t: I give my angels (your guides, God, the Universe) full permission to take the writer’s wheel and lead me to the next topic. This means I sit with a piece of paper after I meditate, write down all of the themes that have surfaced for me, cut them out individually and then pick one blindly from a bowl signifying the one I am meant to write about next.
Well, it just so happened that out of the twelve topics I’ve had in mind, the one selected was a last minute add. I remember opening the piece of paper, shrugging and thinking to myself, I’ve known about this correlation for a number of years, but have not yet mastered it myself.
So, when I picked it, I sat in a bit of shock and looked up and said “alright, well, here we go, then…”.
Until now, I have written about topics that I have already learned and to a degree, all things I have mastered. This one however, is an ongoing push and pull. But I know exactly why my angels guided me to write about it, because it is the one topic that most of you will really be able to relate to.
& one that I have to be honest about with myself.
So, without further ado, this post is all about:
Fueling your body is the gateway to fueling your mind & spirit.
In more digestible terms (pun intended):
“You are, what you eat (& drink!).”
Ugh.
Let’s rewind the consumption clock a bit -
I was the pickiest eater growing up.
I was a high-energy tomboy, who loved to run amok and create chaos for my beloved parents (God bless y’all!). I was also a string bean who refused to eat anything green and lived on mac n’ cheese, chicken tenders, milkshakes, Pop Tarts, Mini Muffins, just so I could gain weight… (oh, if I could only relive those glory days now).
This slowly evolved to fast food chains in college. My friends reading this are laughing and shaking their heads “Yup!” They could always rely on me for a joyride to grab a Frosty and five pack of nuggets from Wendy’s.
Although I always lived an active lifestyle, I was also the very lucky one who was blessed with a high metabolism, so my unhealthy habits and intake never affected me much.
Then came my move to New York City when a dear friend of mine opened my eyes (and mouth) to the incredible culinary delights that the city had to offer. My taste pallet expanded, and I am proud to share with you that I have evolved past mac n’ cheese and fast food to appreciate delicious dishes ever since (with the exception of a quick stop at Bojangles or Chick-Fil-A every blue moon).
Along with the expansion of my taste pallet, came the expansion of my beltline. My metabolism has slowed down, as most do, and as a result, in my mid-twenties, I learned to adopt a healthier consumption lifestyle. I did so mostly to stay in shape with a slight understanding that what I consumed tied back to how I felt, but again mostly to look good.
Maybe some of you can relate, but I took my healthy intake to an entirely different level when it came to our wedding. I wanted to look damn good on my wedding day, show Conor “what forever looked like” - if you will, and stuck to a meal plan called Whole 30 where you essentially cut out the crap (dairy, sugar, alcohol, etc.) for 30 days and see results, fast. We also had a trainer who helped Conor and I reach our ideal weights and kept us honest (there is an ARMY that gets our bodies into shape, let’s be real).
While getting into shape for our wedding, I also realized that I was only working out and “dieting” to look good externally. But what about how I felt on the inside? What about my personal well-being and mindset? That was second fiddle*.
Or so I thought.
In sticking to the tedious meal plan, what first started off as anger: “Why the HELL did we sign up for this?! Where is my after-dinner delight?! My cheese?! I need a glass of wine to accompany my whining after the work week!”, evolved to tolerance and then tolerance to bad-assery and lastly to “Wow, yes, I look good, I lost weight, but I also FEEL really good too.”
I came out of this food experience genuinely feeling empowered, unstoppable and energized every day. I was excited to work out because I knew my body was strong enough to handle the challenge. I felt confident because I knew I was accomplishing something that meant a lot to me. I had WAY more energy than I ever had and was able to cut down on my coffee intake and sleep soundly at night. And most importantly, my optimism rippled throughout each facet of my life. I was genuinely in fantastic spirits, able to be present and happy. It was a complete domino effect without consuming Domino’s.
It was a pivotal consumption moment for me. This made me a sincere believer that I am in fact, what I consume on a daily basis. That I held the key to unlocking SO many doors to success simply by what I consumed. And most importantly, feeling great was the dominate end goal winner with an added bonus of being in good physical shape.
Which leads us to the hard facts that have been staring me down for the last several years:
1. I can work out, have a balanced diet and live a healthy lifestyle all I want, but the external appearance does not mean a thing if my internal, mental health is not in sync.
2. I can focus on self-actualization all that I want, but if I don’t consume food that will enrich my body, I won’t be able to purely enrich my soul. Ultimately, I won’t feel my best.
Point one, I am good with. I get. I took this on several years back when I realized that yes, a Soul Cycle class gave me endorphins and strength, but that even when I was at my “goal weight”, I felt like there was a piece of me missing which led me on my personal development journey.
But, the later to me, is a hard one.
I just love food.
There are a number of personal reasons I’ve been challenged with eating consistently clean that I could share with you, but the bottom line is, I like wine because it curbs the edge of a long day and I REALLY like desserts because I was born with a sweet tooth and they are damn good (you could say I was born with a silver spoon of cookie dough in my mouth). I essentially have found that I aim to eat healthy during the day and then nighttime comes, the distractions die down, and my two best friends join me to party: a few Reese’s Cups every night and a few drinks on the weekend.
I’ve honestly gotten to a point where I’ve done all of the right things to set me up for success each day and that have helped me greatly, but I cannot shake the feeling that I could feel unstoppable if I practiced discipline limiting the number of visits to Candyland (no Halloween visitors = the golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, I KNOW some of you purchased bags of your favorite candy in hopes of having some leftover, too).
The cycle of poor consumption looks like this for me:
2+ Cups of Coffee = a high followed by a low, increase in anxiety and frantic energy (now I avoid coffee for this reason and embrace Matcha or tea)
Overindulge in Dessert = energy fatigue, self-sabotaging thoughts and overall feeling crappy
1+ Drinks of Wine = disruptive night’s sleep, exhaustion the next day, increase in anxiety, and self-sabotaging thoughts
In KNOWING the direct correlation between over-consumption and negative side effects, why is it so damn hard to quit altogether?
This becomes personal on so many levels, but the overarching fact for so many is that food and beverages provide short term comfort and fixes. They provide temporary bandaids to tough days. And this year, my friends, has not been easy!
No, I did not continue Whole 30 and did not make it “Whole 100 Years”, but I have adopted clean eating, for the most part, and mostly, moderation.
Food is an ongoing journey for me, mostly because I appreciate it & I really enjoy it, but also, because I don’t personally believe in depriving oneself of their delights completely. I do however know there is a balance that can be achieved and am currently onto my next experience with habits: curbing both alcohol and desserts. Two enjoyable consumptions of mine that I decided to take inventory on and am experimenting with limiting to in fact, enhance my quality of life. I jumpstarted my habit breaking / formation process by reading and taking part in the exercises that The Kindness Method, by Shahroo Izadi a Behavioral Change Specialist who helps you to change your habits using self-compassion, understanding and mapping out experience scenarios. It has been eye-opening, exciting experience I am sharing in an upcoming Good Reads blog post.
Although 2020 has not been a breeze, there is however, one thing that comes to our benefit right now. A silver lining, and that is that with quarantine comes the limited number of distractions that can off your game. For me personally, I would find myself typically able to achieve sound harmony with limiting my vices in-between big events such as: weekend trips, weddings, birthday parties, etc. Now that these are few and far between, it almost becomes the perfect time to restock your pantry with food that will make you feel good and create new habits that will make you unstoppable.
In short:
The less distractions
=
The greater success and the greater success
=
A mental impression of how it feels when you accomplish something of importance to you.
I remember how incredible I felt when I chose to cut the crap, embrace moderation and clean eating. This long-lasting remembrance far outweighs the several minutes (or seconds in my case) of comfort I get in eating copious amounts of sugar.
As I wrap up this entry (and pleasantly proud that I have NOT unwrapped another piece of candy), I have grasped the understanding that my angels have guided me to write this not only for you, but also for me. This is my personal next step to feeling my best each day and in order to do so, I have to be honest with each part of my life. So, if you are feeling called to take stock of your F&B inventory, join me on this journey.
I cannot promise it will be easy, but I know it will be worth it.
We are so close; I can taste it. ;)
*Playing second fiddle means to be a second violinist. According to Dictionary.com “In an orchestra, the position of second violinist (fiddle) is not as glamorous as that of first violinist. [It means] To play a supporting or minor role in relation to someone else.”
**Part II about my current consumption exploration on the The Kindness Method, by Shahroo Izadi to follow.
“Moderation. Small helpings. Sample a little bit of everything. These are the secrets of happiness and good health.”