Lunch yesterday came from the kitchen of a fabulous Italian restaurant near my home. We had a gift card, and it was Mother’s Day, so it was the perfect reason for my family to stop in for some fantastic food none of us had to cook or clean up after.
I love a great meal, possibly a little more than the next person. If you ask me, I am living my best life when I am eating great food, or nourishing many bodies and spirits around my table.
I believe in food as community glue, but I am also susceptible to repeatedly trying to give food power it doesn’t have. If I hear one word about a particular method of eating, and I am feeling even a tiny bit vulnerable, I will spend time looking into it and likely even try it out.
Food is my super power and my distraction.
So. Yesterday.
By the time our meal came, I took a bite of each dish and was already starting to feel fullness coming on. Those appetizers! (They were great, though, and I wouldn’t have changed a thing.) No problem, right? We would have leftovers, and I could eat more for dinner if I wanted. I was totally enjoying the day and the experience with my family, and the amount of food eaten is not really what mattered.
And then.
My sweet husband made a very innocent joke about the last eating plan (really, the last list of food rules) I’d tried, and I thought yeah, I should get back to that. Today can be a “cheat day,” and I’ll get right back to it tomorrow.
To be clear, he wasn’t even suggesting I do it, or that I needed to do it, but I am so weak in this area at the moment that all it took was the thought of hopping back on “the plan,” and I was thinking I should…without even stopping to ask why.
You know what I did next, don’t you? If you’ve ever been in my position, and have been thinking you’ll start a rules-based plan any time soon, you know what happened: I ate way more than I would have otherwise. Because I won’t be eating this tomorrow. Because this is my cheat day. Because this is so good, and I don’t want to miss out.
That’s scarcity mindset.
That’s making my life about food, instead of a tool to live it more fully.
I sat with all this for awhile, and this is what I landed on:
I’m not getting back on “the plan” again today. I’m choosing instead to make choices that are kind to my body and feed my soul.
Sarah's Table 