It’s not about the food, it’s never about the food…

As you may have noticed, I haven’t been here a lot lately.  I’ve been a bit MIA…haven’t written much, haven’t posted…

Some instagram; some facebook and when I do actually write or post it’s mostly about life, not about food.  

You see, when I created this website all about healthy eating and healthy lifestyle, I left out one of the most important pieces – self care – self love.

I told myself that all of you moms out there needed to hear about food and that later I could bring in the self-care piece (or the woo-woo stuff, as I like to call it) – but that’s not right.  I can’t do it. You simply can’t have one without the other.

You can’t hate yourself thin nor can you angrily chug down a kale smoothie and expect your body to react the way in which you want.  

But most of all, you can’t expect to be happy when…

     you become a size 2

     lose that last five pounds

     lose the baby weight (when your baby is now five)

     *insert your own self deprecating body-image mantra here

Happiness ladies, must come first.

But what does that mean?  Happiness?  How the hell do I get happy?  

Well, I don’t know exactly, but I am here, now, to try…

Work with me.

See me.

Trust me, as we go on this journey together of self-care, self-love to see how it ends up.  To see where we are we now, who we are now and to see where it goes.

Can we get happy first and worry about being thin second?  Because it’s not about the food, it’s never about the food…

You could eat air all day long and still hate yourself for every bite of food that you put in your mouth (and let’s be real, we’ve all been there) or you could simply thank the food for the nourishment it provides to your body and move on.

We all know “those moms” – the ones that sit around all day talking about how fat they are and how they need to lose their last five pounds, their non-existent muffin-tops, the cellulite that allegedly plagues their stick thin thighs or their “flabby” belly. And they are so put together on the outside.

They are “those women” we all know them and we all envy and loath them at the same time.

They are “those moms”

    perfect hair

     perfect clothes

     perfect body

     perfect bag

     perfect spouse

     perfect family

     perfect car

     perfect house

     perfect everything…

Or are they…

They look and act perfect and for some odd reason we feel inferior to them…but why? Maybe they feel inferior to us?  Maybe they wish that they could leave the house in a t-shirt, yoga pants and messy hair.  Maybe?  Maybe they envy that we don’t hate ourselves for every morsel of food that we eat. Maybe they want to be free, like us…

Wouldn’t that be freeing? Not to care about the food we eat?

To treat our body like the temple that it is.  To eat for nourishment and joy rather than gluttony and fear?

What if it was just about love, self-love?  What if it was simply about looking at the adorable five year old you and treating her with love, compassion and acceptance.

What if?

What if it was just about being happy again, or truly happy for the first time?

You have daughters, right?  What do you want her to feel?  To know?  To care about?  To place value upon?  I’m fairly certain that it’s not her thigh gap.

Until recently I “hated” my body.  My stretch marks, my c-section scar, my extra weight, by cellulite… but that ship has sailed. It’s time to love me, care about me, nourish me and only then can I truly nourish others.

As for my “hated areas” – I love them all.  I am so thankful for my hips and what they have done for me.  I am so grateful that I was able to create three whole human beings.

But – why don’t I treat it as such?  Why don’t I always treat it as the temple that it is?

I should honor it, treat it with love and respect.  Why don’t I?  Why don’t you? Why don’t I care for it as the beautiful, bright, amazing five-year-old-version of myself did?

Is it because I would have to care for myself?  Honor myself?

Hmmmm…

What would that look like?  Why wouldn’t I do that?

Well, we’ve all gotta  start somewhere, and for me that somewhere is by just doing one thing each day to honor myself.  To treat that five year old self the way in which she deserves, to set the example for my two daughters so that they never hate themselves for something as foolish as eating a piece of chocolate cake.

Today my one thing is to (bravely) post this and to hope that it resonates with you and hope you join me on this journey.

As my friend Kate said in her first blog post “I’ve outgrown my pot” and I’m not sure exactly where the road will take me, but I know that food is beautiful and amazing and nourishing and we should put love into making it and eating it and that, my friends, is where a healthy family truly begins…

What’s your one thing today?  

XO,

Christina

PS – If you want to join me on my “Just one thing” journey,  follow me on Instagram where I’ll be posting more about my day to day adventures in happiness, health, food and self-care.