Psychology of Eating
Happy New Year! If you're anything like me, you've had your fill of holiday fun and are ready to hit the reset button in the kitchen. But sometimes this good intention to reset comes from a sense of guilt and obligation, and we believe a diet is the only way to "fix" our body and recent indulgences. A reset isn't necessarily harmful, but.....
Recently I had a close friend say she aspires to eat healthy.
And then came the “but”.
“BUT”, she said, “I enjoy unhealthy food too much.”
It was my birthday middle of last week, so I made this tapioca pudding for an easy midweek celebration. The great thing about this pudding is that it's a breeze to whip up on a weeknight, but it feels elegant and special with the flavors of cardamom, honey, pistachio, and rose water (optional), making it just as worthy for a dinner party.
How do you define community? I think of it as the connection we have to the people, services, customs, and neighborhoods where we live, work, and play. But to be honest, we take our communities for granted. Or at least I took mine for granted for a long time. In the past 10 years my husband and I have moved four times, spanning thousands of miles....
The first half of this Comfort Food, Redefined series was about creating inner comfort around food; upgrading the way we most intimately interact with food on a daily basis - in our body and our mind. Achieving inner comfort has the power to transform our outer world by giving us the clarity, calmness, and energy to live well and thrive. Don’t believe me?
What’s your decision-making style, come meal or snack time? Are you impulsive, spontaneous, contemplative, indecisive, or obsessive? We all fall somewhere along this spectrum. In fact, it’s been proven that our emotions, not our knowledge about food and nutrition, have the greatest impact on our behavior and choices. But I think you’ll agree with me that allowing boredom or stress to guide our food choices doesn’t usually work in our favor.
Fed for comfort is eating well so we live with comfort in our bodies. And what’s more comforting than finding the foods we love and that love us back?
But what is best for our bodies? There’s an obesity epidemic in the Western world, so some may argue we clearly don’t know what to eat. But I argue we have a “seeking” epidemic just as rampant as obesity that misplaces our energy and focus.
The holidays are such a cozy, festive, and joyful time of the year. But for many us, December is also synonymous with hurried days and increased responsibilities to host, cook, decorate, attend, chauffer, volunteer, shop, and gift. This probably means we’re overextending ourselves and finding fewer moments for proper nourishment, exercise, and quiet time to recharge. And we feel guilty.
Healthy & Sane is a three-part video series I've developed in response to the numerous heartfelt conversations I've had with others struggling with their relationship to food and body.
It answers a question most of us have asked ourselves at some point:
"How can I have a healthier approach to food I feel good about and can stick to?"