food essay

For myself, I know that there are foods that I should not eat. Gluten is one of them. I won't get into specifics, but I generally just feel bad when I eat it. I've never been tested for intolerance, but I don't need to be tested for something that has proved itself again and again is real-world testing.

Then there are foods that I still eat, and I pretty much know I should not consume, or rarely consume. But I love them! Or that's how I feel sometime, but they can be a slippery slope. Here it is, coffee and sweets. They go together like peas in a pod! I love the taste of coffee, but something in it, for sure the caffeine, but maybe something more, does not make me feel good. Caffeine, I know is no good for me. Being an athlete, my adrenal glands are pretty taxed as it is, caffeine on top of this is dangerous. Adrenal fatigue can wreak serious havoc on your mind and body. The list is long, but includes, depression, sensitivity to cold/chills, mental fog, decreased ability to handle stress, decreased ability to recover, muscular weakness, increased food allergy sensitivities, etc. Sweets can be a slippery slope too, the energy you get from them is so instant, you just want more and more (not to mention they freaking taste great). Do I really need to get into reasons why simple sugars are bad for you? Insulin roller-coast, weight gain, cancer feeder, trace-mineral thief, dental-nightmare-bringer, etc. Today, the average American eats about 175 pounds of sugar per year, compared to about 15 pounds per year in 1915.

Breakfast in New York City. Somewhere in Greenwich Village.

Now a short story. This one time, I went off sugar and coffee for 3 months. It was amazing. The first two weeks were almost hell. I had headaches (I was drinking lots of coffee leading into this). I craved sweet stuff ALOT (one must know that I was eating more then my fair share of the zucchini bread from the local coffee shop). But I stuck to my guns, and after that two week period, I didn't even look at the sweets anymore, and when I did, honestly they kinda grossed me out. I knew how they would make me feel. So life is good, it's summer in Bellingham, lots of bicycle riding and rock/mountain climbing that summer. I lost 10lbs, (for me that's huge, I'm already pretty fit and super active) and had all the energy of the world.

From the same New York breakfast.

Today is February 2nd. Let's cut to the chase... I'm giving up, no no, that sounds wrong, because what I'm "giving up" is really just going to make me feel better. I am no longer going to consume coffee and sugar until November 24th. Cause that day my Mom always rolls out a really amazing homemade espresso torte that I plan on enjoying a slice of. After that date, I won't be dogmatic about it anymore, but I believe that my relationship to sweet stuff and caffeine will have changed for the better. I probably wont blog about it after this. But feel free to ask questions in the comment field at any time. What I am doing is bringing about real change in my relationship to food. I know these things don't make me feel "good". Action now.

This is a photo Deanna took of an incredible paella that her and friend Thomas made while I was at work. I was speechless when I came in the door. Tom had harvested the clams down in Skagit even!

My challenge to you. During the coming week, I challenge you to feel/listen/be "in", your body for even a short time (start with 30 seconds) during every meal that you sit down to eat. I'll explain. Our society doesn't believe it's okay to have a "body". Sometimes, a lot of the time, our body knows best. Sometimes it wants to sneeze, fart, cry, scream, laugh, run, or just wiggle and make lots of weird movements. Think of how many places "in" our society that it's OK to do these things?! They are few. We're taught to ignore our body and not listen. I am challenging you to listen. At some point in every meal, just be with your food. Don't read, don't surf the internet, don't talk, don't think about other things that you have to do, just be "in" your body while you eat. Maybe the conversation is boring, or the food is really freaking good, or your eating alone, whatever. Look for subtle reactions your body makes, changes in breath, a tensing or relaxing of different parts of the body, tingling, sensations, etc. Just observe, try not to judge. Take delight in your food! You may find after practicing this for a few days, that you start to prefer less seasonings on your food, because you are actually tasting more of the food! You may find that some foods you thought you liked, really don't appeal to you, and others that you thought maybe were bland or boring, are completely incredible. Have fun with it and enjoy food!

Deanna is quite the cook sometimes. These she busted out, meal for one! Salmon, quinoa, on mustard greens, and a cabbage/carrot salad of some sort. Food is sooo good!