Episode 37 – Our relationship with food

• Welcome back my lovely listeners
• As I am recording this – its a sunny July afternoon in Oakland California, a city that has grown on me – with all its rough edges, sometimes aggressive voices, but its creative spirit and colorful people, its overcast mornings and breezy evenings, and most wonderful cafes and farmers markets –
• and I am looking at the number of downloads for my podcast episodes
• Barely over 250, my second month into this – and I don’t really know if this number should be higher at this point,
• I don’t know who is listening and if you will continue to listen
• I don’t know by much beyond the numbers
• There aren’t many comments on my website either that would help me understand if this is helpful
• But what I know is this – I will continue because I enjoy this
• Its an immense time commitment but you know – it really keeps me on my toes, challenged, thinking all the time, focused and I love it
• And for those of you who are listening and enjoy this podcast – please help me spread it
• To your friends and family and anyone you can think of
• Because that’s how good things grow – by people passing it along to others who believe they will like it
• And as the audience grows, so will I
• I know that my message will become clearer, my voice stronger, and the topics more applicable
• It’s a process – so I have to be patient
• So this was a little lecture for myself
• Believe t or not – when I wake up, the first thing I do is listen to this podcast
• Of course I always want to check the episode posted, and then I want to make sure it sounds ok
• But I also listen to my own content
• And it inspires me for the day
• Because I often wake up disillusioned, frustrated, unhappy
• Especially when I think about the huge desert I ate the night before, and way to late
• Negativity wants to creep right in, first thing in the morning
• And so you have to combat it
• My own podcast helps me and I hope it does the same for you

So – speaking of desert …

Today I want to talk about food

Specifically our relationship with food

• I know – you are probably wondering – what does that have to do with the quest for you?
• Food is often an integral part of who we are, and for some of us, its an important contributor to our happiness or unhappiness
• So many people struggle with food, myself included
• When I was in college and poor, food wasn’t an issue – I bought only what I could afford
• Starbucks was a dream that I couldn’t afford
• But with affluence comes access to all the amazing food we are surrounded with
• Remember that pastry shop I mentioned a few episodes ago?
• I could eat there every day
• The variety is huge and everything tastes out of this world
• Here in Oakland there are amazing restaurant everywhere
• And while I could afford to eat out several times a week – I don’t
• I prefer to control the ingredients that go into my food
• I am very conscious about the quality and the preparation of my food
• And – I enjoy cooking from time to time
• The availability of food, both good and not so good – is almost comparable to social media
• Its overwhelming – always on – distracting – too many options, often cheap, and luring
• There is an overabundance of food
• Aside from grocery stores – Everyone seems to sell food – drugstores, target, the corner cigarette shop, gas stations,
• Restaurants, cafes, eateries, coffee shops, – they are everywhere too
• Then there are food delivery services, meal delivery services – new ones pop up every day
• I feel like all day long we are confronted with food choices
• Even at work – a neutral place – an office building for example – food shows up
• Here in California its almost a benefit that companies feel like they need to provide – I guess because Google started it back in the day – and that is free snacks
• Sometimes entire free meals at companies like Facebook
• in addition, employees cater lunches for meetings and the left-overs appear in your area
• People bring donuts on Fridays, left-over brownies on Monday’s and chocolates from a recent overseas trip
• I can go on and on
• Its very challenging to not think about food if its constantly under our nose
• But The thing with food is this:
• Not only is it abundant and commercialized, it also has gotten really complicated
• Nutrition labels as long as bar menus
• And everything promises something and is somehow good for us
• We need to get back to basics
• Food has taken on a huge transformation over the last 50 years
• From basic food from field and stream, companies began to commercialize food
• And then they sold it to eager consumers who were ready for something that involved less work than cooking a piece of meat for 4 hours
• And the result – everything comes in boxes and packages – ready to eat. Just add water.
• And our bodies adjusted – somewhat
• If you ask yourself – how do you really feel after that donut, that pop tart, that bag of chips with that canned cheese?
• What would you say?
• You may not know because you have lived on certain foods for too long
• Your body is used to feeling a certain way, and so are you

• If you tune into your body a little bit more, and listen, you may realize a few things
• maybe you are always tired in the afternoons, constantly burping, feeling bloated, or feeling hungry right after you eat, trouble falling asleep, or waking up, and making all sorts of interesting human noises
• just because our friends and coworkers complain of the same issues, doesn’t mean its normal
• This could be your body talking – its telling you – hey, I am working hard here, this is not easy
• We often ignore our body signals
• because our brain is happy
• The cake looked amazing – we could not resist
• Forget about which diet you should follow
• And also forget about calories and weigh loss for a while
• This is not what this episode is about
• Its about finding out what is good for you what is not when it comes to food
• What will make you feel your best?
• What food will help you accomplish your goals?
• When I eat junk, you can forget about me. I feel drained. On those days I don’t usually make it to the gym because I am tired. I cannot focus. My brain is clouded. My stomach rumbles.
• What is your relationship with food?
• Do you struggle resisting delicious food?
• Do you overeat or under eat out of fear of weight gain?
• Are you confused about what to eat?
• Food directly influences our health, our performance and our brain
• It affects our mood, our attitude and ultimately it affects how we show up in this world
• Always thinking about what to eat next steals us of valuable time we could use to dedicate to our goals and projects
• I am not telling you how to live, I am not telling you what to eat or how much you should weigh
• But I am here to help you push forward with your dreams
• To become the best you, you need to look at your relationship with food
• That means – how much you eat, what you eat and how you eat
• You need to look at how food makes you feel and how YOU feel about food
• If you don’t feel your best every single day – then start analyzing your diet
• Because it is possible to feel amazing every day
• Food is meant to nourish us, it should not be something we get anxious over
• And You don’t need expensive tests to figure it out what your body is telling you and what your diet should be

Start with these 2 steps unless you have major health problems

ONE

• listen to your body
• tune into your body a bit more while you eat
• I see people eating while they drive
• Really?
• That cannot be an enjoyable experience
• Take time to eat and eat slowly and consciously – also called mindful eating
• Relax while you eat.
• Do you have a nice patio or a balcony? Go outside with your plate and admire your garden and the smell in the air while you eat.
• Watching TV or reading the news while eating is mindless eating.
• Also – take time to reflect on the food you eat and how it makes you feel
• You can take time out of your morning quiet time to think about the day ahead
• I do that at times
• When I want to be particularly tuned in with my food but I know a challenging day with many tempting foods is ahead of me
• I think consciously about the food choices I will make that day
• Become more aware
• In the back of your mind you already know what the issues are
• You just have to bring them to consciousness and decide to address them
• Food is meant to nourish you and provide you with the energy you need to be successful at the things you do.
• Your brain needs food to function at its peak
• Your body needs some food to keep up with your physical demands
• Proper food will help delay the aging process and keep health issues away
• Provide your body with nourishment, don’t just give in to temptations that look appealing
• Think of the long-term with every bite you take
• Most Boxed and packaged food is not food. Its manufactured crap.
• Make your life simple and eat real food. Then you don’t have to worry about reading food labels anymore
• And start looking at how you feel after certain foods
• There are these frozen drinks that Starbucks sells that are delicious. When I had my first job I would reward myself with one of those from time to time
• But they gave me a huge amount of gas – always
• Not sure if it was the milk or what ingredient – but I haven’t had one of those in years.
• Your body will tell you what to stay away from
• And the second step is this:
• Eliminate the food that you think could be an issue
• Or change a habit such as late night eating if you then cannot sleep or wake up feeling full
• Try it out – give yourself a week.
• Then see how you feel
• And if you still cannot tell – eat that food again after a break
• If it was something that your body didn’t think was good, your response will be more pronounced
• Many diet programs these days offer a 10 day detox plan or elimination period where you eliminate a wide variety of foods that can create issues, such as sugar, dairy, and gluten, alcohol and any processed food
• They then have you re-introduce them one by one and slowly to see how you respond
• That’s how you can discover the foods that cause you discomfort, and inflammation
• but even more than that
• you may discover behavioral issue with food
• an addiction to sugar
• a need for alcohol every night
• things that you may not have consciously registered

Lastly – I want to encourage you:

Enjoy your food. 

The more you become conscious about your food, the more you will enjoy it.

Once you stop eating at random and take more care in selecting your food, the joy will come along with it

Enjoying means indulging from time to time

Thanks to other mindful people we have many decent options for the days we seek some pleasure

• There is dark chocolate that is loaded with antioxidants
• There is low calorie ice cream that doesn’t give you all the gas and still tastes amazing
• There are dry farmed wines that have less sugar than regular wines
• There is almond yogurt if you are sensitive to dairy and it tastes like desert. And I am talking about the plain one.

Make a conscious decision to reward yourself with food from time to time and savor it.

If your relationship with food is troubled, make a conscious decision today to work on it and fix it.

Just like any other relationship in your life.

Nothing should hold you back from being your best and most amazing self.

Wishing you a joyful day filled with delicious food that you enjoy.