Most overweight or unhealthy people think they got that way from eating too much food.
I sure used to think that…
I ate out for lunch and dinner almost every day.
Thai food. Mexican food. Veggie burgers. Fries. Indian food.
More Thai food. Pizza. Potatoes. More Thai food. More fries.
You get the picture.
I wound up weighing close to 200 pounds because I was overeating…that’s undeniable.
But guess what I realized?!
The stuff I was eating wasn’t actually even FOOD.
Food is material used in the body of an organism to sustain growth, repair, and vital processes and to furnish energy.
Most of the stuff I was eating did NOT meet the definition of food above.
Take fries for example. (My old super favorite food.)
1. Are the fries going to sustain growth within my body? In other words, are they going to help create healthy cells, bones, organs and all the other important parts of my body? (Decidedly NOT.)
2. Are the fries going to sustain repair in my body? Are they going to help heal any parts of my delicate pink insides? If any of my organs are out of whack, will the french fries make them better? (For sure NO)
3. Are the fries going to sustain vital functions in my body? Are they going to help me breathe better? Are they going to help my blood flow better? Are they going to help me digest food better? (Ummm. Are you kidding? No.)
4. Are the fries going to furnish my body with energy? Will they give me the strength and endurance I require in order to feel good during my day? (It seemed like they did, but they basically just gave me a spike of energy that I’d soon crash from.)
Run the other types of “foods” I was eating all the time through that criteria and they all fall short for qualifying as FOOD.
Bread, pasta, fried things, oily things, packaged things…none of them serving the purpose that actual food is meant to serve.
Most of the stuff we’ve been taught is food…isn’t actually food.
When I realized that most of the stuff I’d been putting in my mouth was not actually food, it really changed my approach to what I ate.
Most of what I was eating was just STUFF. And because it wasn’t actually food, my body didn’t know what to do with it. So it made me fat, made me tired, made me sick, made me feel low on energy, and it made me crabby and irritable.
As I’ve mentioned in another post though:
People who want to feel good, don’t eat things that make them feel bad.
Now that I’m committed to feeling good and enjoying my life, I pay attention to what I put in my mouth.
Is it food or not? Is it going to…
- sustain growth (Is it going to help to create new cells?)
- sustain repair (Is it going to heal my body from the inside out?)
- sustain vital functions (Is it going to lead to better breathing, blood circulation, digestion, elimination?)
- provide energy (Is it going to give me consistent energy that helps me feel good?)
If it doesn’t meet the definition for food, I don’t put it in my mouth.
Why? Because I love my body! I love feeling good! And I know I deserve to feel good.
I also know that my body is built to have food…not just *stuff* that I like the flavor of.
When I eat actual food, I feel great.
When I eat non-food, I feel tired, bloated, irritable, and sick. My body doesn’t know what to do with it, so it stores it around my body and clogs things up. Blech.
So if you’re overweight or unhealthy, start asking yourself:
Is what I’m about to put in my mouth actually food? Or is it just some stuff I like the flavor of – and which most likely is going to hurt my body in some way?
Remember: It’s all about sustaining growth, repair, vital functions and providing energy for the body.
That’s what food does.
Choose to eat food.
Choose to eat things that sustain growth, repair, vital functions and furnish energy to your body.
You’ll feel better, your health will improve, and your body will naturally get in alignment with itself.
Natural magic at its finest. xoxo
And so I ask you…are you eating food? Or something else?
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post Mona, thanks!
It’s refreshing to read something about food that actually makes sense – there’s so much conflicting and misleading information out there about which foods are good for you and what you should or shouldn’t eat; after hearing about it all, it’s tempting to think ‘screw that’ and just reach for the pizza. The guidelines you outlined in your post are great though and definitely ones I’m going to practise
Wow, Hannah! Awesome. I totally know what you mean about conflicting advice. Sure does make it a lot simpler when we focus on eating things that do what food is supposed to do: HELP OUR BODIES!
Stay in touch about how these guidelines work for you. I’d love to hear what you notice. xoxo
I’m totally with you on eating food and not “food products,” as Michael Pollan refers to the chemical laden crap that chokes our grocery store aisles. But I do have one question–how exactly are bread and pasta not food?! They’re traditional foods–humans have been eating bread since the Neolithic, and pasta for over a millenium, with no ill effects. Sure, a lot of the stuff in stores is pumped full of chemicals, but at their core, they have very few ingredients, all of which are food: flour, salt, and water at the minimum. Even sandwich bread should only have about 6 ingredients, all of which are food (flour, salt, yeast, milk, butter, sugar).
Hey Stiney! I agree – Michael Pollan has some great ways of looking at things. Very powerful. Loved his little book Food Rules.
What you say is true…people have been eating bread and pasta for ages. But what I’ve noticed about it…is that it’s not doing anything awesome for my body.
Bread and pasta aren’t sustaining growth and repair of my body. It’s basically just landing in there like a big pile of BLAH and then my body is trying to figure out what to do with it.
Not only that, but it also didn’t make my brain very happy. I’d get headaches, feel brain clouds, etc. and it isn’t easy to digest, so it’s not sustaining my vital functions either.
That’s how I’m categorizing it as non-food. There are so many other things I can eat besides bread and pasta that really HELP my body.
For some people it may be their their experience that bread and pasta don’t hurt them.
But I don’t want to just “not hurt” my body.
I want to give it stuff that’s going to SUSTAIN my body. Stuff that’s going to HELP my body.
Based on the definition of food, it’s not just stuff that doesn’t cause ill effects. It’s stuff that creates the presence of GOODNESS in our bodies. That’s where I’m coming from when I group pasta and bread as non-food things for me.
Love the discussion. So glad you stopped by to read and share!
To me, that sounds like you have an allergy in something in bread or pasta. If they make you feel icky, you shouldn’t eat them! That doesn’t mean that bread and pasta are non-foods for everyone, and I’m tired of the “carbs are bad for” lies that have been spread around since the Atkins diet became big in the late 90s.
Bread especially is an important source of calories. While it’s important to eat as many fruits and vegetables as you can, bread, especially when made from whole grains, can be an important part of a person’s diet. Ironically, the white bread that was so coveted for it’s sweetness and soft texture is worse for you than all the “peasant” breads that most people actually ate for most of history.
I objected to the lumping in of two healthy foods (bread and pasta) with stuff that is blatantly junk food. Generalizations are bad!
Great article, this will definitely keep me in check. I have been making some poor choices lately. Thanks.
xoxo
Awesome, Caren! Often when our choices are poor it’s because we aren’t clear about WHY we’re eating what we’re eating. And what the purpose of our eating is.
We’ve mistakenly been led to believe that eating is about pleasure and taste only.
If we orient our choices first around what sustains, Growth, Repair, Vital Functions, and Energy….then everything else gets easier.
And I still totally enjoy the taste of my food and find pleasure from it. But first and foremost, it does what food is supposed to do. And ya know what? Knowing that I’m giving my body actual foods makes the whole experience way more pleasurable and tasty too. Funny how that works.
I’m so glad the post spoke to you. It’s really exciting that you’re going to start giving your body stuff that will sustain all of its goodness!
Great post! I agree if you eat foods that make you feel better your health will get better too
Thanks for the kudos! xoxo
Hey Mona,
This reminds me of a conversation I had last night at dinner with some non-raw friends.
Them: Don’t you miss it (in this case, we were talking about wheat).
Me: I’ve come to realize that there’s three points along the eating process that I have to consider when it comes to food. The fifteen seconds that it’s on my tongue. The two hours later, that it’s in my stomach. And the long-term effects that the “food” is going to have on my body and spirit. I can joyously forgo that initial first stage fifteen second burst of taste sensation in order to also forgo the not so amazing second and third phases. In other words, I’d much rather feel great two hours, two days, and two years later than to sacrifice that for 15 seconds of “ahhh!”
I love the blog!
KJ
Ezzzzzzzactly, KJ. To be able to have that perspective and think a little bit more long term than the 15 seconds that the bread, fries, pie, (whatever) is in our mouths…is a BIG DEAL!
It sounds like you were able to clearly articulate what your choices were without feeling awkward and without judging others also. Just very clear and honest about what’s true for you. Beautiful! (And I’m so glad you’re loving the blog!)