A Case for Food

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My last couple posts have been a bit on the heavy side, so I thought I’d lighten it up a little tonight.

So.

Food.

Let’s talk about it.

Because, frankly, it’s time to bust open a can of #RealTalk about it.

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Scroll through the #edrecovery hashtag on Instagram (I’m @beauty.beyond.bones – shameless plug 😛 ) and you’ll find lots and lots of pictures of, yes, FOOD.

But sift through the pictures of banana “Nice Cream” and Quest bars and you’ll begin to see that many of these beautiful warriors, are stuck…in a food rut.

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Meticulously measured portions. Almonds to the exact number. Using the same plates or glasses as a means of a measuring tool. Snacks eaten at the precise minute. These are all remnants. Remnants of ED.

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And, let me just be like this goose, and interject: I’d like to be 100% clear here: I am PROUD of you guys for sticking with your recovery and for nourishing yourselves, and trust me, I know how big of a #recoverywin it is to stay on your meal plan — believe me, I know.

But I wanted to just take a second here to throw you something to think about:

Food is a way that God shows us that He loves us.

Now before you just tune out or flip the channel, please just hear me out.

I know, this is a pretty strange thing to think about.

Come on…It’s…food.

The evidence:

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  • 1) FOOD TASTES GOOD

Let’s face it: God could have made all food taste the same. I mean, think about it: If the sole purpose of food was to simply provide adequate nutrients and energy needed for survival, God could have just made some sort of sludge or pill, even, to get the job done. But no. He created all different types of foods with different tastes, flavors, and textures to be enjoyed and savored.

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  • 2) THE EARTH IS EXPLODING WITH FOOD CHOICES

Think about all the different plants and trees that produce food. All the fruit trees, and different vegetables. Seriously there are so. many. options. The earth is literally bursting with nourishment options. There are an abundance of different choices. He could have just made like, two. But no. He wanted us to enjoy the different tastes and foods.

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And yes, enjoy is the correct word. No, it is not wrong to get really, really excited when you order the molten chocolate lava cake for dessert. 🙂

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  • 3) OUR BODIES WERE DESIGNED TO ENJOY FOOD

I mean, heck! Look at the human tongue — there are between 2,000 and 8,000 taste buds that recognize five different flavors — salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami. You look at that and tell me that God didn’t want us to enjoy food.

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Come on — our tongues were literally designed to lick an ice cream cone.

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But not only that, our bodies were wired to be attracted to delicious foods. Hunger signals aside, our eyes are drawn to the delicious and beautiful looking foods out there. I mean, how can you look at a juicy piece of watermelon and not have your mouth start watering.

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Or how about coming home to cookies baking or dinner in the oven. Our noses send signals to our bellies that it’s time to get excited, because food is on the way.

So why am I saying this?

For a long time when I first started recovery, I was stuck in a food rut. Eating the same things over and over and over. Because they were safe. Because in a way, it was still a lingering aspect of control that ED had in my life.

I’ve written about it before, but going to buffet restaurants with my father, where I could take a little bit of this and a little bit of that, really helped me fall in love with food again.

But the main take away, is that food is a gift.

Food is a gift of love.

We didn’t have to have been given the abundance of options out there for nourishment, or given the bodies that were able to experience the tastes, textures, and smells of foods.

We were given this food experience because God knew that it would bring us enjoyment. Because He loves us.

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Now with all things good, we can abuse them: we can stray too far on one spectrum or the other, either in love, or in repulsion of food. But the key is moderation.

Maybe you’re stuck in a food rut, and don’t know how to get out, nor do you honestly really want to.

If that sounds familiar, first, I applaud you for staying in recovery and nourishing yourself. You’re a warrior and that’s amazing.

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But I invite you to just think about this:

How could a gift from our Father, who wants only good for us, be a source of fear?

How could something that communicates God’s love for us, harm us?

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And I’m not being facetious or a snotty pants. I’m just offering another perspective. Something I wish I would have thought about when I was in my rut of canned tuna and egg whites.

Food was given to us to be enjoyed. To be tasted. To be savored over with friends and loved ones. To nourish us. To delight us.

There is nothing to fear.

Food communicates His love.

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44 responses to “A Case for Food”

  3. Thanks a lot! Here I sit, working on a menu for the rehearsal dinner for my niece’s wedding this Saturday (it’s a citified country affair called ‘barn chic’, something women all seem to be aware of but comes as a total surprise to most men – and yes, my friend, this is the niece who sat on a stage with me in front of a bunch of young people in New Hope church in Lorton, Va.last night, but I’ll tell you about that later. It WAS incredible though, and SHE was amazing), and along YOU come with more pictures of tantalizing gifts from God and here I sit drooling.

    Seriously, though. You are right. God wants us ALL to eat and He placed upon the earth everything necessary for every one of His children to have enough. And then along comes Satan, who steals the desire to eat from some, and urges others to binge. He places evil men in positions of authority in countries all around the world who hoard and squander all of those countries’ resources, thereby condemning other children of God to die of starvation.

    Satan uses food in the same destructive manner in which he uses sex, drugs, alcohol, hate, greed, and countless other tools to achieve his purposes which are, simply, to kill each and every one of us, and to claim our souls as his own in hell for eternity.

    You are quite a voice for God, my friend. Your talent inspires awe, but the pain you had to endure (and still do, I am sure) in order to use it as you do saddens me. However, all I need do is look down the right side of this blog and I am drop-down-to-my-knees-grateful to God for the power He has placed in your talent.

    You demonstrate perfectly that God uses us, if we will only use HIM. May He continue to bless you and give you the strength and the courage to fight for Him.

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    • Thank you so much Tony. I am humbled by such kind words. Barn chic. Sounds like is going to be breathtakingly beautiful! If you need a reference for barn chic, Google “glee wedding” (from the TV show) and that’s all you need to know:) so glad your talk went well. Can’t wait to hear more about it!

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  5. Oooooh yes. Great timing. I seem to be going back and forth between telling myself, “it’s ONLY food – what’s the big deal? What is there to be afraid of?” …. and also “food is meant to be special and is here for us to savor and enjoy.” I think either thought can be taken too far. If we think its “ONLY” food, we are giving up all the wonderful pleasures food can give us. However, when we go the opposite way, we may begin putting food on too high of a pedestal, and then comes all the pressures and anxieties surrounding something that should be just a natural part of life. It’s a tricky balance – food IS just food and there should be nothing to FEAR – but food IS also special and should be greatly enjoyed. Hmmph…?

    I also agree there is a bit of a “rut” that needs to be broken out there. Like you said, it is wonderful to be following your meal plan and sticking to timings and getting in enough nutrients, and when one is beginning recovery I absolutely believe this is where one must begin. But only as a beginning. This can very easily just become a new form of safety, and we need to be aware of when our new “improvements” are really just a new mask for the underlying problem.

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    • so so much wisdom here. thank you for sharing these awesome thoughts! you’re right — it is a bit of a catch 22. but like all relationships, balance is key. and i love that — it is only the beginning. a new beginning. a blast off point 🙂 thanks for stopping by! xx

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  6. I just started blogging and just found your blog, and honestly I really will find reading your posts eye opening. I have a lot of food related issues, which I want to work through with the help of my blog and changing my lifestyle. Yours posts have a lot of passion behind them, and even though I am not religious, what your saying and what you mean has a lot of power. Thank you xxx

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  10. Wow, this is so true. In my book testimony, I shared so many of the things you put here. <3 you girl and your wisdom. God has given you a true gift for communicating things that would be hard for me to put into words.

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  12. Thank you for your inspiring words about food! You are helpful and encouraging, and your perspective is refreshing. I love food, and I agree that it is something to be enjoyed

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  13. I really appreciate how brave you are.. Just went through this blog. A lot of the points you mention in this post regarding food and our attitude towards it, needed to be addressed. Many a time, I do find myself afraid to eat something in particular out of fear. The important thing to understand is that everything is fine in moderation. As you said, food is God’s way of giving us a choice, to live and to enjoy life to the fullest.

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  14. Oh, I love this! So true! This has been a big mental hurdle for a long time. It’s so easy to just live with it, not fully realising that I’m still acting out remnants of my ED an am not fully free. But yes, God definitely created food to be enjoyed! There’s a balance between enjoyment and obsession of course, but it’s so funny how sometimes the ED can make me feel ashamed of loving to eat. Thank you xx

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    • Thanks for this, friend. A big mental hurdle for me as well. But you’re so right. There is NOTHING wrong with loving to eat! Heck, think about how in the bible there are soooo many scenes and descriptions about feasts and banquets. Especially when they talk about heaven being a banquet! They’re joyous occasions! Thank so stopping by!

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  16. Truth! I love this quote, “Food is a way that God shows us that He loves us.” If you think about the way Jesus shared communion at the last supper. He broke the bread and told them to eat, saying that the bread was his body, broken for them. When God wanted to show us just how much he loved us, he used food, saying that we should remember him every time we share that meal together. God loves us in mind, body, and soul. He doesn’t want his children to go hungry in any way! He wants us to have full hearts, stomachs, and lives through him. Thanks so much for sharing! You’re awesome. 🙂 Audrey

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    • Thanks Audrey:) you’re so right! An all the talk of banquets and feasts in the bible. It’s really quite true how God loves us and wants us to enjoy the abundance of delicious foods he put on earth! Thanks for stopping by! Xx hugs

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  19. Reblogged this on wwwpalfitness and commented:
    We all need to eat. We can be depressed, sick, hurting physically and emotionally and even on meds that make our stomach upset. We have to eat or we lose muscle, balance and so much more. Everything in moderation, then you feel better, then you exercise and do things, next thing you know the vitamins you should have started kick in and you feel better. You are drinking water and your skin glows. But you have to eat and not hide.

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  21. P.F. Chang’s: Great Wall of Chocolate. Seriously! And when trying to evaluate someone new to you, just remember that you can’t completely trust someone who doesn’t like chocolate. Chocolate is one of the many ways God says, “I love you!”

    Reply

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