Good For You

Dig In, Enjoy, Bon Appetit, Buon Appetito....

I love the pre-meal ritual. Every culture has their own meaningful yet unique rendition. Sometimes its a prayer, sometimes its a toast, sometimes it's merely a string of words that bequeaths a type of blessing over the food on the table & the people on it's outskirts. The Sicilian woman in me loves them all.

How interesting that across all races & religions there is a respect for nourishment, the body & the convergence of the two so much so that a ceremonial routine of sorts was created to introduce the two together. "Food, meet body. Body, this is food. Nice to meet you both..."

Gross overstatement; but, there is a beauty in the protocol no matter the motivation (your body is a temple, you are what you eat, etc).

Another layer of this reverence that went unnoticed to me until recently is a universal "blessing" people display everyday without realizing. Picture this: you're at work & it is lunchtime. You have brought yours for today (insert typical lunch imagery) and place it nicely on your desk, ready to devour at your leisure. Right then, your best co-worker friend passes your desk, sees your arrangement of food on display and says....

What will they say? Well, depends on what you have in front of you but familiar does this sound familiar:

Food: Apples, nuts, cheese wedges & a smart water
Response: "Oh wow, you're so healthy. Ugh, that looks so good - I should eat more healthy."

Food: Microwaved mac and cheese cup & a coke with a crumbs cupcake for dessert
Response: "Look at you, I wish I could eat that way now but with my metabolism, sheesh..."

Or even...

Food:

There is this insatiable need to validate not only what we intake on our own accord but what we see other people eating. It's like you do something (run a 10K) and reward yourself with a beer and cheeseburger. All your friends say you deserve it and then comments ensue for no less than 2 minutes about the caloric intake versus the calories burned at the recent race.... you dieted for weeks, you deserve a splurge, blah blah blah. Meanwhile, at the same table, someone is eating a salad for the exact OPPOSITE reason. "I haven't worked out in weeks, I feel so lethargic. I just need to watch what I eat more."

It's like a never-ending soap opera saga. We must talk about and analyze what we eat every single day. Oh, and what others eat too.... AND what we are not eating.... or want to eat but can't...or use to eat...

Please understand, I'm not criticizing especially because I'm probably the one most guilty of commenting on anything that enters my mouth before it even gets there. This makes me an expert in pointing out though how mundane it is to think that over 30% of conversations revolve around FOOD? Not even the interesting parts like the rituals surrounding meals or new baking secrets or fads like cancer causing sugars (those only make up like 5% of the 30, wouldn't you say?). I'm smacking myself over the head in an effort to learn how to enjoy food more and talk less about what my next meal will or won't consist of ....

I fully embrace the fact that we are only given one body in this life and therefore must cherish it, nurture it and be patient with it in regards to food. That same body, however, must also be cherished in mind, nurtured in soul and receive patience in overall health because I believe it only feels like our stomachs act independently from our minds. They are more intertwined than we know. This is the true meaning behind dinner time practices to me, like why we crave family style sit-down dinners or leisurely meals rather than rushed lunch hours that are only 30 mins anyways. We want to respect what we eat by enjoying the content of the meal as well as its preparation, reception and even clean up.

My point, eating is a process that should be revered rather than rushed or over-calculated.
My wish for us as Americans living in a fast paced corporate world is to have more time to eat what we want, when we want and enjoy it. Everyone relishes these few and far between moments and for this, I challenge you to aspire for more. Don't succumb to fast food because it's convenient, find more time to charm yourself with cuisine, pay homage to the fare in front of you. Your body and your soul will thank you.

And by all means, pig out from time to time and mean it! For example, I ate an entire box of Crunch and Munch solo during a movie last night.... no shame - it was delicious. In fact, more delicious than normal because I replaced my usual mindless shoveling with an offering. Before each bite I said a silent but oh so significant thank you to those caramel kernels & I cherished my peanut breath all the way home.