On Life As A Picky Foodie

Dear Friends;

Are you the kind of person who eats just once a day?  Do you stuff your plate full, and then shove it down your throat in an attempt to avoid having to deal with food again?

Or are you a grazer – ingesting a little here, a little there -- without ever sitting down to a full-on meal?

Do you prefer to stick to solid breakfast, lunch and dinner?  And what about snacks or are they verboten?

Let’s not talk about what the diet books and gurus tell us is “better” for our metabolism, weight maintenance, energy levels and the likes.  For now, let’s focus on personal preference. 

The way we eat, the food choices we make, even the way in which we combine the different things on our plates says a lot about how we live our lives.

A person who eats one huge meal a day might do the same with the relationships in their life: theirs may be an all-or-nothing kind of deal.  They might be the kind of people who will call and call, and then disappear.  On the other hand, someone who eats continuous, small snacks throughout the day, might be a bit more laid-back, the type of person who feels more comfortable in a good, steady routine.

What I’m talking about is not a science; it’s not black or white.  However, it is a tool that we can all make use of when looking for answers about our selves and the choices we make. 

Do you stop eating before you are full or when you are so stuffed that you need to buy a new pair of jeans? 

Do you often eat in secret? 

When ordering in a restaurant, do you stick to what you think sounds the healthiest, or do you have whatever you feel like?

How does that attitude translate into your everyday? How different is the person you want to be from the life that you lead?

Our bodies are constantly trying to tell us all kinds of things.  Every craving, every preference, every meal is a way in which we are trying to tell our selves something.  The question is do we listen.  They say you can tell a lot from a person’s body language, but how about looking at our own – our own body and the language it is speaking to us. 

On Saturday, September 12^th, 2009 I woke up with a desire for a peanut butter and banana sandwich on run-of-the-mill wholemeal bread.  Now this wouldn’t be extraordinary except that I rarely eat bananas, I don’t usually like peanut butter, and let’s not even talk about the bread to which I am allergic.  The last time I had a peanut butter and banana sandwich was so long ago that I actually remember it: there was a little coffee shop on Broadway between 19^th and 20^th in Manhattan that made them with just the right amount of honey.  This was almost ten years ago.  I was still working as a television producer and it was my favourite breakfast at the time.  In fact, I had it so often that until that morning last September, I couldn’t even think about having another one.  Anyway, halfway through my banana and peanut butter on gluten-free bread indulgence (man was it delicious!), I thought maybe something else was up.  Sure enough, the little stick read “pregnant.”  As did the four others I tested immediately afterwards. 

We are not separate entities – we are integrated beings with bodies, brains, bones, muscles, opinions, emotions and everything in between.  But not every part of us speaks English (or French or Norwegian for that matter), so it is up to us to identify the ways in which our different components communicate.  

I’m not sure Food Translations can predict the future, but based on the work I do with my clients, I am convinced they can help us tune in to what we are trying to tell our selves. 

With love,

Gabriela

P.S. Do you find going to weddings challenging because of the food on offer?  Check out this week’s Friday Night Dinner Blog for a few tips and tricks to help you through it.

P.P.S.  This may be your last chance to get a free one-hour consultation.  This offer will only be valid until the end of April.  Here's a final reminder of how it works: get five friends, co-workers, family members or strangers to sign up to the On Life As A Picky Foodie newsletter, and you will receive a free forty-five minute consultation with yours truly.  Simply ask anyone signing up to email me and let me know your name.