As a culture, as a world, we have made it a moral wrongdoing to derive any kind of pleasure from food.
We look down on people who love to eat.
We judge those who enjoy different kinds of sensory pleasures, who love to experience new tastes and who get (almost) orgasmic delight from eating.
Getting pleasure from food is only allowed if those foods are considered to be “good” foods.
Otherwise, you shouldn’t like what you eat.
No, you should only eat what keeps your body thin, what supposedly keeps your health optimized – no matter the taste, no matter the repulsion your body may experience.
Thin is best. Foods that keep you thin are the priority – whether you like them or not.
When I was 17, I would spend weeks on the coleslaw soup diet, almost puking knowing that I had to eat yet another spoonful of that nauseating soup.
Yet, I’d do it. Disgusted. Repulsed. I’d eat that soup because I knew that it was good for me – it made me thin.
Once I went back to eating normal foods, I’d regain the weight (and often more) within a few days, which instantly forced me to go back to eating coleslaw soup again.
Why couldn’t I keep the weight off? Why wasn’t I not “disciplined” enough to not binge? To not “lose control”?
Because I had denied myself a basic human need: pleasure.
I had refused to allow myself to eat what I wanted when I wanted (although I hadn’t done that in years) and thus, created an inner imbalance that would come back to bite me the moment the horror of coleslaw was in the past.
My body was craving to eat foods that would make it rejoice instead of gulping down soup that tasted like crap.
Here’s the thing: wanting to experience pleasure when eating is normal.
It’s a need we have.
It is not something to be disappointed in or repulsed by.
Instead of hating on your desire to like what you eat, accept it, worship it, and eat foods that make your taste buds want to have a party.
Instead of eating coleslaw soup for two weeks wanting to puke, eat only foods you LOVE for two weeks and see what happens then. See how you feel, what changes in your life, what happens in your heart.
Notice how amazing it is to know that you are totally allowed to eat foods that taste phenomenal on your tongue.
In fact, how freaking amazing would it be to commit to eating what you love for your entire life instead of having to drink the green juice you hate, having to eat the veggies you dislike or the health promoting carb you just don’t ever want to put into your mouth ever again?
How miraculous would it be to actually truly enjoy whatever it is you’re eating? Not just once in a while on a cheat day, but every day; as a rule?
Wouldn’t that be the freaking best?
Wouldn’t that make your entire life a billion times more fun?
Doesn’t that sound like heaven on earth after all your years of deprivation and eating foods based on rules that you read in a book?
You can have that.
You are allowed to enjoy what you’re eating.
You are allowed to crave the mousse au chocolat or strawberries with cream.
You are allowed to crave the green apple or the macaroni and cheese that your mom used to make.
You are allowed to crave lemon tart or toast with chocolate sprinkles.
You are allowed to want pleasure, to want pleasure from food.
Your entire nervous system relaxes when you experience pleasure, when you savor every bite and truly, deeply love your eating experience.
That is a million times better for your health than only eating foods you hate, being stressed every time you think of food, hating your exercise and only eating what your weight loss program deems healthy.
So, stop the shame, stop beating yourself up and surrender to the desire to eat what you want when you want.
You won’t forever binge on once “forbidden” foods or the “bad” foods that your parents never allowed in the house in amounts that make your stomach hurt. You won’t forever crave everything all at once – but only if you are serious about allowing yourself to have what you desire – not what is “right” according to yet another fad diet.
Food is awesome. Food is amazing. Food is an essential part of life.
It’s our society that has mad it an immoral act to experience pleasure when eating.
But guess what?! Your body doesn’t care about societal rules and beauty ideals – it wants what it wants and it wants pleasure, balance and wellbeing.
If you won’t give it to your body, she’ll take it from you.
With binges, with the obsession of food, your body, calories and fat.
It’s your decision: which way will it be?
