Dictionary.com defines "diet" as the general condition of the body or mind with reference to soundness and vigor. This definition is rapidly followed by entry number 2: a particular selection of food, especially as designed or prescribed to improve a person's physical condition or to prevent or treat a disease. And entry number 3: such a selection or a limitation on the amount a person eats for reducing weight.We're almost halfway through December, and I'm thinking that all of the above are probably the last things on my mind at the moment. I'm surrounded by Thanksgiving leftovers (luckily they're all gone now… but the sweets lingered for a frighteningly long time), gingerbread houses (it's amazing how much icing I unwittingly licked off my fingers), Christmas cookies (the time has come to start making dough), and holiday parties serving more food than I could possibly try (but I promise you I will!).
The good news is those high carb, “fattening,” and treat foods, when eaten in moderation, can be as important to a healthy diet as eating the “good stuff.”
Even cookies homemade from scratch can provide emotional nutrition in the right circumstances.
As much as we’d like to think there’s some magic equation, what’s healthy for one person is not necessarily healthy for the next. Some people swear by eggs for breakfast, and others avoid cholesterol completely. Homemade cookies from scratch can provide emotional nutrition in the right circumstances. Although the jury is still out on the health benefits of coffee, there are many healthy people cannot start their day without a cup.
Health counselor, Robert Garner said, “The things that feed our soul are the things that propel us out of bed in the morning.”
I feel it’s important to remember that the food we eat is intended to fortify, sustain, and enrich our bodies. Chances are a chocolate chip cookie won’t do that. When it comes from Grandma’s cookie jar, however, it may just sustain our soul.
For example, if you choose to eat a rather large slice of your mother’s Christmas apple pie, you are engaging in a holiday tradition of honoring your mother’s recipe and hard work while bonding with family. This example of emotional eating is a far cry from eating a bag of chips or cookies without thinking about it.
Garner shared a story about a woman who had good sugar levels and ate healthy throughout the day, but indulged in a slice of cake each night. Garner learned that the nightly slice of cake was a tradition she and her mother had shared together since she was a little girl. Garner suggested that she continue the nightly ritual—her body was obviously processing this emotional splurge quite well—probably because she ate the cake slowly with intention and meaningful attachment… and because she ate well the rest of the time.
Eating well isn’t as much about restriction as it is about mindfulness. When we choose to eat a cookie because it is part of our Christmas tradition, our bodies will process that cookie differently than if scarfed at our desk without really thinking about it.
Because each body works differently, in order to maintain balance between eating healthy and eating for emotion or tradition, we must remain mindful of what we’re putting in our bodies and why. Surrounding these traditions with fear, or mindlessness, on the other hand, is likely to make them more detrimental to our physical and spiritual health than the indulgences alone. Neglecting your spirit at a party or holiday gathering because you've sworn off sugar can bring in more weight (both figuratively and literally) than if you allowed yourself to enjoy the moment by nibbling on your favorite treat.
How will you celebrate this holiday? With an overly strict diet, or with enough self-love and confidence to make good choices in every moment?
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