Email discussion on food.

My friend sent this link to me and a couple of my friends, and it really struck a nerve with me. It's about food, and its significance in our lives. I thought I'd publish it here and see what you all had to say about it. After the link is my response, then the responses of two of my friends. Each paragraph is someone new. What do you think?

http://www.choosingraw.com/what-food-is-not/

Me: OK it's true. But saying it's true doesn't change my feelings most of the time. I found when I was starting the diet with Sandy this summer, that I had a true mourning period -- I said this before I know: I would drive by pier49 pizza and remember the time Jeff and I got a pizza to split at home while watching a movie --still remember which movie, at BYU I remembered truffles I ate while reading art books in the bookstore, EVERYWHERE I went, I had to let go of the good times I'd had with food. I would use food as a sensory pleasure to enhance a good time --almost always. What I found was that having control over my eating was also a really good feeling --a real powerful feeling, and I could create great memories without food, and it really didn't seem like these memories suffered from the lack. I went to the Springville MOA without chocolate in my pocket and it was still a wonderful time. But is it wrong to feel good about the control too? I would argue no. I think with something as prevalent in our lives, something that takes up a good deal of our time and is so strongly involved in our social lives, it is going to be associated with our happiness. Think about it, sunshine is another example. We have a lot of memories associated with sunshine, and summer. The truth is that it warms our bodies and gives us the vitamin D we need and that's all. True, but it will be strongly associated with our happiness. Food is what we create our bodies out of! Our whole material being is created and maintained with food. The China study guy argues that it is the most intimate way we interact with our environment and I agree. To say this is a small role is a statement of denial in my opinion. Sensory input is the major part of our mortal experience, and food uses ALL FIVE senses. Facing it is smart. I agree with what she says, I really do, it's just that I've heard similar things before, and looking for your happiness outside of food isn't as easy as it sounds. I would say be aware of emotions, and why you're eating, but to disassociate happiness completely from your relationship with food is not going to happen. hhmmmm --maybe I'll post this on my blog.

Friend 1: You're right too, of course. And she says on a post right after that that's part of what she meant, that she was trying to uphold the complexity of it even as she made her point. I just know for me, it was an important reminder that food is not my friend or my enemy. That's huge, to let those go. And difficult. The sunshine is an interesting and apt comparison, I think.

Friend 2: The biggest truth about food is that it is hard to erase old habits. So much of what we eat and how we feel about it are habits. If you spend the time to change the habit, you can create good memories around the new habits.

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