So, you’ve made it through the first week of the new year. How are you doing with your weight loss resolutions? What did you eat this week? A dry salad? Bland rice cakes? By Friday were you rummaging through the deep freezer trying to find the two pieces of cake you froze for emergency purposes after the leftovers were put away New Year’s Day?
I did not resolve to lose weight this year. In fact, that hasn’t been a goal for me for about three years running. Not because I’m some little bitty thing. I’m not. I’m actually a very solid size 14. Something happened to me three years back and I don’t know if it was because I was close to turning forty or the fact that I was single for the first time in my adult life, but the desire to go on yet another diet just kind of left me. And I didn’t actually realize, until I was in the middle of cooking a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, that I had not made plans to severely restrict my eating the following week so that I could enjoy the meal I was preparing. The fact of the matter is that I eat well all year and even though my holiday meals do add a little more fat and sugar than I usually cook with, those meals are still relatively healthy. So there was no reason for me to restrict myself to bland, flavorless foods after the last turkey leg had been consumed and all of the cranberry sauce was gone.
Because I do not diet anymore, this week I ate collard greens and black-eyed peas cooked with smoked turkey wings, my son’s yummy first attempt at meatloaf and his buttery mashed potatoes that would make Paula Dean blush. Every meal I had during the holiday season had so much flavor that I found myself eating with my eyes closed. I also found myself eating only to the point of fullness, which meant there was often food left on my plate. I enjoy food so much more now: I celebrate it, I talk about it, and I share it. I don’t overindulge. Food no longer has control over me. It is no longer my enemy.
Now, I’m not suggesting that you should stop your dieting efforts if that is something you need to do to improve your health and your sense of peace with yourself. What I am saying is that in this image conscious society where you can open any women’s magazine and see an ad for lingerie sold by a model built like a twelve -year-old boy right next to an ad for chocolate chip cookies, getting a handle on the way you perceive food can be beneficial to your sanity. Food is something that we need and it is also something that should be enjoyed. Give yourself permission to enjoy it.
Speaking of chocolate chip cookies, my eighteen-year-old son also made his baking debut over his Christmas break from college. After a little back and forth, we decided his contribution to our Christmas dinner (the main course of which was lasagna made with ground turkey and a tossed salad) would be dessert, so we found a simple chocolate chip cookie recipe online.
When on vacation my son and I default to our true night owl nature, which is how we found ourselves up in the dark hours of Christmas morning, me on the couch braiding my hair and my son in the kitchen making cookies. When the cookies were done, I stood in the kitchen and watched him pull them out of the oven. They smelled divine.
“You have to have one,” he said with great anticipation and glee in his voice. He watched my eyes seek out the clock on the stovetop then gently chastised me, “Don’t worry about the time. There are cookies.”
And that’s how I ended up eating a deliciously warm chocolate chip cookie at 1:30 in the morning on Christmas day. Did I eat half a dozen? Nope, just one; more than half of it with my eyes closed because that seems to be the best way for me to focus on the flavor and texture of food that delights me. I never really tasted food when I was dieting because I was so preoccupied with being deprived or how many inches it would add to my waist. Now, I just relax into the love I have for food.
It turns out that for me, when I don’t deny myself something I want or attempt to adhere to some crazy diet restrictions, my body does not allow for overeating. When I feel like ice cream, I eat all I can get into a juice glass. If I have a taste for cake, I’ll buy a slice at a local bakery, eat half and save the other for the next time I want something sweet. And when I’ve had my fill of meat, I will consume rice and vegetables sautéed in olive oil for days until the desire for meat returns. Our bodies determine what we eat. Food is a source of nourishment. It can enhance our sense of happiness and satisfaction. But it is not in control. And it is certainly not the enemy.
As I mentioned earlier, I am not a small woman. I’m curvy which comes from a mix of genes, not starving myself anymore (you can read about my history of eating disorders and body image issues here), exercising four to five days a week, and making healthy food choices. I am not the example of the skinny ideal in America. What I am is a healthy, average size woman who takes good care of herself and who no longer has an adverse relationship with food.
As you embark on the second week of your weight loss resolutions, I challenge you to begin viewing food as a life source that is meant to be enjoyed.
-Melissa Brown Levine
www.melissabrownlevine.com
I did not resolve to lose weight this year. In fact, that hasn’t been a goal for me for about three years running. Not because I’m some little bitty thing. I’m not. I’m actually a very solid size 14. Something happened to me three years back and I don’t know if it was because I was close to turning forty or the fact that I was single for the first time in my adult life, but the desire to go on yet another diet just kind of left me. And I didn’t actually realize, until I was in the middle of cooking a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, that I had not made plans to severely restrict my eating the following week so that I could enjoy the meal I was preparing. The fact of the matter is that I eat well all year and even though my holiday meals do add a little more fat and sugar than I usually cook with, those meals are still relatively healthy. So there was no reason for me to restrict myself to bland, flavorless foods after the last turkey leg had been consumed and all of the cranberry sauce was gone.
Because I do not diet anymore, this week I ate collard greens and black-eyed peas cooked with smoked turkey wings, my son’s yummy first attempt at meatloaf and his buttery mashed potatoes that would make Paula Dean blush. Every meal I had during the holiday season had so much flavor that I found myself eating with my eyes closed. I also found myself eating only to the point of fullness, which meant there was often food left on my plate. I enjoy food so much more now: I celebrate it, I talk about it, and I share it. I don’t overindulge. Food no longer has control over me. It is no longer my enemy.
Now, I’m not suggesting that you should stop your dieting efforts if that is something you need to do to improve your health and your sense of peace with yourself. What I am saying is that in this image conscious society where you can open any women’s magazine and see an ad for lingerie sold by a model built like a twelve -year-old boy right next to an ad for chocolate chip cookies, getting a handle on the way you perceive food can be beneficial to your sanity. Food is something that we need and it is also something that should be enjoyed. Give yourself permission to enjoy it.
Speaking of chocolate chip cookies, my eighteen-year-old son also made his baking debut over his Christmas break from college. After a little back and forth, we decided his contribution to our Christmas dinner (the main course of which was lasagna made with ground turkey and a tossed salad) would be dessert, so we found a simple chocolate chip cookie recipe online.
When on vacation my son and I default to our true night owl nature, which is how we found ourselves up in the dark hours of Christmas morning, me on the couch braiding my hair and my son in the kitchen making cookies. When the cookies were done, I stood in the kitchen and watched him pull them out of the oven. They smelled divine.
“You have to have one,” he said with great anticipation and glee in his voice. He watched my eyes seek out the clock on the stovetop then gently chastised me, “Don’t worry about the time. There are cookies.”
And that’s how I ended up eating a deliciously warm chocolate chip cookie at 1:30 in the morning on Christmas day. Did I eat half a dozen? Nope, just one; more than half of it with my eyes closed because that seems to be the best way for me to focus on the flavor and texture of food that delights me. I never really tasted food when I was dieting because I was so preoccupied with being deprived or how many inches it would add to my waist. Now, I just relax into the love I have for food.
It turns out that for me, when I don’t deny myself something I want or attempt to adhere to some crazy diet restrictions, my body does not allow for overeating. When I feel like ice cream, I eat all I can get into a juice glass. If I have a taste for cake, I’ll buy a slice at a local bakery, eat half and save the other for the next time I want something sweet. And when I’ve had my fill of meat, I will consume rice and vegetables sautéed in olive oil for days until the desire for meat returns. Our bodies determine what we eat. Food is a source of nourishment. It can enhance our sense of happiness and satisfaction. But it is not in control. And it is certainly not the enemy.
As I mentioned earlier, I am not a small woman. I’m curvy which comes from a mix of genes, not starving myself anymore (you can read about my history of eating disorders and body image issues here), exercising four to five days a week, and making healthy food choices. I am not the example of the skinny ideal in America. What I am is a healthy, average size woman who takes good care of herself and who no longer has an adverse relationship with food.
As you embark on the second week of your weight loss resolutions, I challenge you to begin viewing food as a life source that is meant to be enjoyed.
-Melissa Brown Levine
www.melissabrownlevine.com
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