A few weeks ago I was hiking with a friend. It was a beautiful day, we were climbing a steep track to seek a magical vista. It’s the kind of afternoon I live for.
On the way, we stopped for a drink. At which point, she offered me a piece of chocolate. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate. I have no problem eating a lot in one sitting if I feel like it. But in this moment, I didn’t. “No, thanks,” I said.
“Are you sure?” She rejoined. “It’s healthy.”
I declined again, politely, but it got me thinking.
What do we really mean by healthy? Because any food will kill you if you eat enough of it. Even water, fundamental to life, will sign your death warrant, you if you drink enough at one time.
So how could she possibly know if that chocolate would be healthy? It certainly wouldn’t have been healthy if I’d just polished off four bars in the preceding hour. It certainly wouldn’t have been healthy if it contained an ingredient I was allergic to – say a nut. And saying something is healthy once someone has said they don’t want any if you unpack it, is pure madness.
Think about it. My body didn’t want chocolate at that point, regardless of its organic, raw nature. To over-ride my bodies appetite signals, with a mental position about ‘healthy’ is about as unhealthy as one can get.
But you see, we live in a society where food choices have become moralized. The desire to eat, or not eat, a piece of chocolate is meant to be weighed up against its ‘health’ register. More health equals a good choice. Less equals bad. And let’s face it, making bad food choices, we are encouraged to believe makes you a bad person.
The problem kicks in when we find ourselves making ‘bad’ choices because it leads to stress. Our guilt goes crazy and we feel like hopeless losers. Most of this is unconscious, so we can’t quite pin point why our stomach is hurting or we feel the need to drown our feelings.
‘Healthy’ food is the new mantle for ‘good’ food. But as we know, any food can be good or bad depending on when, where, how and why we are eating them. A food cannot be good, bad or healthy in a vacuum.
I’m standing for the day we think a healthy food choice is predicated on one factor: Do I feel like eating that right now, or not. End of story. Notice I said nothing about being hunger driven, or nutritious, or devoid of emotional escape.
My body wants to eat that – that is a good and healthy choice. Imagine!
It will signal the end of body shame, disordered eating & restrictive behavior.
It will signal the start of freedom, peace, aliveness, and way ‘healthier’ bodies.
Call to action:
Want to be more body positive? Join the BodyBlossom BootCamp now and I’ll take you there.
