What She Ate

There is a lot of truth to that quote.  I find it fascinating to hear the details of what people eat.  Lucky me; it’s a huge part of my job!  What you eat really does say a lot about your personality, passions, beliefs and priorities.

And it’s not just the specific foods that tell your story.  Attitude towards food and eating can also disclose so much.  What are your reasons for choosing the foods you do?  Is health a factor?  Taste?  Convenience?  Cost?  Is what you eat simply out of habit?  Do you enjoy your food?  How much thought and planning are involved?  What emotions are attached?  Is food associated with gratitude and love or is there fear and anxiety?  Are food choices based on what makes you feel good versus what you think you should be eating?

Do you believe in a connection between what you eat and the person you are?

I just finished this book…

(OK, the truth is actually I finished this book well over a month (or 2?) ago, started writing this and then abandoned the draft while I was busy, busy, busy moving.)

…But read on!

What She Ate:  Six Remarkable Women and the Food that Tells Their Stories.

Laura Shapiro is a writer who has “been curious for decades about what prompts people to cook and eat the way they do.”  (Hey, me too!)  These mini biographies are written from a unique angle that encompasses each woman’s relationship with food.  From Eleanor Roosevelt to Eva Braun, you’ll read about an interesting mix of women and their food.  I find the concept of how a person’s daily eating habits can reflect their personality pretty cool.

This book got me thinking… What does my diet say about me?

It’s an interesting question and if you haven’t pondered it yourself I encourage you to give it a shot.  It’s a complex topic and I think the answer changes as we go through life and learn, grow and evolve. My eating habits have said some very different things about me as I ventured through my childhood, my twenties, my thirties and now my forties.  Just as I was a developing person throughout those years, my eating habits shifted and yes, I think they did reveal many things about who I was at those various times in my life.

Here are some of the things I think my diet says about me now:

I’ve learned to trust, respect and feel grateful for my body:  Oh, was this ever a major battle throughout my twenties.  In comparison with my younger self, I am more forgiving, accepting and kinder.  And my eating habits certainly reflect that.  I remember a time when I felt food had power over me and I despised my body for not looking a certain way.  I even got angry and scared when I felt hungry thinking I shouldn’t feel that.  What an awful way to be.  I have learned to recognize and appreciate rather than ignore and fight my appetite (eat, not restrict) and to be thankful for my body and not believe there are parts that need changing.

I care about my health and happiness more than the size I wear:  I’ve changed my attitude about what is important in this life.  Not a skinny stomach at whatever the cost, but a strong, healthy and happy body and mind.  I’ve learned to eat nourishing foods that make me feel really good while limiting the ones that don’t– which resulted in regaining that trust between my appetite, my body and food.  Once I  believed in making my health a priority, I changed my eating to support that stance.

I am a planner and I like to feel in control:  I’ll admit I probably think about food more than the average person.  This doesn’t mean I am obsessed with food; it’s more of an instinct that I have to plan ahead for whatever I’m doing in life.  And it pays off when it comes to eating.  We all know what happens when we don’t think ahead about what we’re having for dinner.  I am not perfect at it 100% of the time but I do know that life is better when I’ve got a meal plan.  Plus, I’ve learned to improvise and can put together something halfway decent based on what I’ve got in the house.

I also like a morning routine that doesn’t involve planning:  Breakfast is my one meal that doesn’t involve planning ahead because I eat the same thing every day.  I love how I have found a breakfast that works for me.  For a while now it’s been 2-egg banana pancakes with almond butter and berries.  I can’t believe I am still not sick of them– but they taste insanely good and keep me full for several hours.  I never wake up with the question of what to eat.  One less thing to worry about makes for a more peaceful morning!

I am generally a fun and happy person who doesn’t take things quite as seriously as I used to:  I am mellowing out in my old age. 🙂  I am more relaxed, caring and kinder to others as well as myself.  I enjoy more of the foods that I used to consider off-limits.  Funny how when you realize you can have anything you want you find you don’t want all the junk you thought you did.  It took me many, many years to learn and accept that nutrition is by no means an exact science.  And all those theories on the best way to eat, well they are just that– theories.  Lightening up about food concerns and accepting the fact that there is no one right way to eat was extremely freeing.

I am concerned about where my food comes from:  Animal welfare, chemicals, natural choices vs artificial– these all affect what I eat.  But while I take these things into consideration and try to make good choices, I have also learned to loosen up a bit too.  I will pay extra for local or humanely raised chicken when I shop but I’ll also occasionally eat chicken at a restaurant where it’s undoubtedly come from a factory farm.  I am aware but I am not obsessive about it.  When I was vegan I had a much different perspective.  I have evolved from a belief that nothing should suffer to a belief that there is a circle of life that exists and something must die for something else to live and it can be cruel and scary but that is how life works.  Interestingly enough, I am a happier and more peaceful person with my current attitude.  How can that be wrong?

I believe what I eat makes the general statement that I care deeply about staying as healthy and strong as I can for as long as possible.  I want to do what I can for myself to remain self-sufficient and independent, both physically and mentally.  And at the same time as all of this, I also acknowledge that life all too often goes by too quickly.  And I really want to be a happy person and live this life with as much joy as I can.  The unexpected is to be expected and we truly only have control over only so much.  So while the foundation of my diet is built on wholesome, minimally processed foods I do also enjoy what I consider a healthy balance of lower nutrient foods.  Because– well, it just feels right to me.

Our eating habits can reveal what is important to us and what we see as meaningful in our lives.  Do we make the time to plan, shop and prepare meals?  Do we pay attention to the connection that exists between food and the body or is this ignored?  Do we choose foods that are a balance of pleasure and nourishment and that make us feel good?

While our relationship to food and eating says a lot, obviously there is much more to our personal stories.  The outlook and attitude we choose to take towards life, the way we handle what comes our way, how we treat others and the love and kindness we express are all pieces of our individual beings.  What we eat gives some clues but I think our overall habits and behaviors are what truly make us who we are.

What does the way you think about food and eating say about you?