Imagine eating cheese and bread every day, enjoying red wine with lunch, snacking on dark chocolate, and enjoying entrees prepared with real butter and cream. Do you immediately cringe and imagine all of that going straight to your hips or tummy? Does that trigger all of your food phobias and fears about fat, sugar, carbs, etc.? Does it lead you to say, “I wish I could, but…”
So how is it that French women can get away with this, without the obesity and eating disorder rates that we do in the U.S?(Obesity in the U.S. sits at 30.6% compared to 9.4% in France). How is it that in spite of our hyper-aware fat-free, gluten-free, low-carb obsession, and our 60-billion dollar weight loss industry, we still struggle more than any other country with our health and with our relationship with food?
The truth is that there is a lot we can learn from our French sisters. In fact, they are tuned into some very powerful metabolic concepts such as the timing and pacing of meals, feeding their bodies high-quality ingredients and listening to their bodies’ signals. But perhaps most importantly, they are telling themselves a completely different nutritional story. They don’t fear and make judgements against food the way we do. They see it as one of life’s pleasures. They don’t expect themselves to conform to an unattainable ideal body type. They appreciate their bodies, they understand the art of eating, and they make time for it.
There is a lot of evidence that demonstrates that we create our own reality, that thoughts become things. And it’s also a fact that stressful thoughts such as guilt, fear, anxiety and self judgement create stress chemistry in the body, leading to weight gain, cravings and overeating. Therefore, the more we worry about our bodies gaining weight the more likely it is to be so. Perhaps the most valuable lesson we can learn from the French is that in order to be at peace with your body and allow your body to find it’s natural ideal shape and size, it’s not just about what you eat, it’s about HOW you eat, and WHO you are as an eater.
Maybe its time we change our nutritional story. Maybe it’s time we say no to the cultural conditioning, pressure, and patterns that are forcing us into a painful relationship with what is meant to be pleasurable and nourishing. Maybe its time we get to savor good wine and chocolate, and fresh-made bread and cheese, and dishes prepared with real ingredients, without a side order of guilt and fear!
While it may not be your fault that you’ve bought into our culture’s distorted relationship with food, it is your responsibility to change it if you want something different. It’s your choice to create a new nutritional story for yourself.
That’s how I’m rolling now. I can show you how. Care to join me?
