What is behind our “food desires?”

As we’re breaking ground and chiseling out new ways to relate to food, I find myself asking, what is it that I really want from food?  The first thing that pops into my mind is deliciousness.  I want to enjoy decadently rich, mouthwatering, soul satisfying delicious meals, three times a day.  Not only do I want to thoroughly enjoy these delightful dishes, I want to look great and feel great too.  I want to have abundant energy, a fit body, and a clear mind.  I don’t want to think about food, or worry about eating too many cookies and not enough veggies.  I want not only eating to be pleasurable but after eating to be as well.  I want to enjoy food rather than be scared of it, scared of not feeling good after eating it, emotionally or physically.  I want to feel comfortable eating with and in front of others and I want to eat sitting straight up rather than hunched over trying to hide my belly.  
 
I realize as I sit here and actually write out my desires surrounding food that these desires are pretty hollow, inherently empty of anything truly valuable.  I mean talk about the voice of the consumer-driven mind!! If my motivation to change my relationship with food is to look and feel good, I highly doubt success with be as sweet as I imagine. When I really look at these desires I find that they aren’t just mine, their ours.  They are desires that we as a whole, a culture, are creating while simultaneously striving to satisfy.  And what exactly are we trying to satisfy? 

With this in mind I begin to scratch at these superficial desires in regards to my relationship with food in order to see what is holding them up.  I’ve found that under them is actually inertia.  It is my own inertia that desires eating so richly, because I know that when I do my ability to harness my potential  is limited.  It is my own inertia that creates the food dilemma of not knowing what to eat in the first place, because the truth is I do know what to eat, we all know what to eat!  It’s just a matter of retraining ourselves to listen for the answer and then having the integrity to choice what goes into our mouths accordingly.  
 
When I first sat down to write this blog I was building my case for having to choose one or the other- choose to eat the decadent food (things like cake, cheese, etc. where on my mind) or choose to have the benefits I desire (clear mind, fit body, etc.)  But now I can see that this is only a struggle if I stay on the superficial level of relating to food.  If I go a little deeper I find that the true desires and cravings don’t contradict my desired benefits, and that my desired benefits are actually just by-products of what I truly desire, which is to live a life of meaning and Purpose.  If I place my attention here I find that my original answer to my question, “what do you want from food?” is included as I transcend into a deeper purpose of caring for my body and what/how I eat.
 
Love, Amber

Speak Your Mind

*