Reflecting on a Body Built on Comfort Food

If I'm on a set or sitting next to you at a restaurant bar, and we strike up a conversation, food might be a topic that comes up.

I believe that the food that we eat directly affects our mind, body and dare I say it - our spirit!

I am also working on shifting the way I feel by changing up my diet these days.

I'd enjoyed a New England winter of going out to restaurants for fun - especially Mexican restaurants with chips, salsa, spinach quesadillas and margaritas.

I know better. Of COURSE I know better! I know that I'm happier in my body when I'm lighter, and looking toned and fitting loosely in my clothing.

I'm also happy enjoying skinny mango margaritas, warm and cozy at one of my favorite comfort food haunts. Comfort food. Yes, comfort. COMFORT.

"Comfort zone" has become a buzz phrase with a negative connotation. A comfort zone can be necessary because it can be the place we go to after experimenting with the unknown.

Sometimes a comfort zone is somebody's constant marijuana use...or the hitting of a vape pen all the time...or a relationship that's been lived in for several years. A comfort zone can be a type of food, a genre of music. A comfort zone can include living close to family.

A comfort zone is safe and brings us into balance when we've been off exploring somewhere, someone or some thing new for a while.

And let's face it - food can be a major source of comfort.

Welp. If the old adage, "you are what you eat" is true, then it's time to adjust to eating natural, "whole" foods. After all, if I eat mostly "natural and whole" foods, then I too will be "natural and whole".

A simple process to changing my body:

WHAT

80/20 is a pretty standard guideline to follow in this process: 80% of the time, eat natural foods, and indulge 20% of the time if that feels good.

Walk 10,000 steps/day because walking outside brings clarity.

Lift heavy weights because I feel amazing after.

WHY

The dominant habit is what is important, because the body will reflect the dominant habit.

For fun and further thought

What are people who eat lab-created foods? Lab-assisted? While I'd prefer to be au natural, and real AF, the reality is that the food supply is becoming increasingly suspect. Maybe ignorance is bliss when it involves playing "I'm not hearing you" with the reality of what we're actually eating.

I have been a vegetarian for decades because I loved animals and didn't want to eat them. That was my rationale. Well, I loved animals AND I thought eating them would make me fat. I didn't know much at 12 years old but I had a case of body dysmorphia and I believed an FDA-approved food pyramid that told me 6-12 servings of rice, grains, cereal and bread per day, while limiting meat.

Today, I am learning to listen more to what my body needs, and it seems like the more natural the foods, the better.