In the spirit of Valentine’s day today, here are some thoughts on why you should love the food that you eat.
At Sleekgeek we are big on building positive relationships with food.
We want to help you love eating healthier (whether that’s super-strict Paleo or only healthy-ish-but-better-than-before) and find ways to make healthy food taste great!
Some people argue “Doesn’t teaching people to love food send the wrong message? If they love their food, won’t they end up eating too much? Many people love sugar, aren’t you teaching them to eat more junk?“
In response to that, here is something that I’ve learned from Dr. John Berardi at Precision Nutrition:
Let’s think about this.
Ideally, what do you do with things you truly love?
1) You’re mindful of them. You try to learn about every facet of them, every nook and cranny, every idiosyncrasy, nuance, and feature. You give them your full attention.
2) You spend quality time with them. You don’t rush through hanging out with them. You enjoy each moment as it unfolds.
3) You respect them. You don’t take advantage of them. You recognize their importance and don’t try to find shortcuts or cheap substitutes.
4) You’re flexible and open. You’re not rigid, restricting, or controlling. You allow yourself to move, grow, develop, and change along with the things you love.
5) You’re authentic and fully integrated with body, mind, and spirit. You express your values and ideals through those things you love. You come closer to what is deeply important and meaningful in life. And all your systems — physical, mental, and emotional — work together harmoniously when you’re with the things you truly love.
Huh.
That sounds like a pretty good way to eat, don’t you think?
Upon hearing that perspective, it immediately made me think of a short documentary I watched where a reporter from the Netherlands went to visit a cocoa bean plantation in the Ivory Coast.
While there, he realized that although the labourers worked all day long to farm cocoa beans, they had NEVER tasted chocolate. In fact, they didn’t even know what chocolate was or that their cocoa beans were used to make it.
The reporter then gives the labourers some chocolate. The wonder and true appreciation they showed for what they were tasting was the kind of heart-warming thing that sends shivers up your spine.
If that isn’t an exemplary positive relationship with food then I don’t know what is.
Here is the documentary below. Watch from the 3:50-minute mark.
Happy Valentine’s day everyone!
Don’t feel bad about spoiling your loved one (or yourself) with something delicious. Just make it is truly enjoyed and done in moderation.
