I Eat Too Much
Better food than heroin, amiright?
I’m in a relationship with food and so are you.
Isn’t it funny how we have relationships with things that aren’t our boyfriends. Like people have relationships with money. They have relationships with nature. Relationships with brands. I realised recently, when I was sweltering in the summer heat, that the way I mentally battle with turning on the air conditioning unit each summer means I’m probably in a relationship with it.
And of course food is a big one, and it’s alluded to in the title of this write-up so let’s get on with it.
You might not think you have a relationship with food, but trust me, you eat it and you’d die without it, so you are technically more connected to it than any human you have a relationship with.
It’s not necessarily a balanced relationship, it certainly gives you 100% more than you give it. But it’s important to have a good relationship with it because it influences the relationship you have with your body. And that’s a real give and take situation you got going on there, buddy.
Fill up the body with good nutritious food and it gives you good gut health and strong muscles. Fill it up some ultra-processed American food and you’ll get a case of goo guts.
I read somewhere once, something like, you wouldn’t invite a person into your home who you didn’t get along with, so in the same way, you should only invite foods into your body which you get along with and which make you feel good about yourself.
Much like my relationships with men, with years of practice, I’ve gotten pretty good at picking out the good from the bad with types of food. Like, I know the type of food I should be eating the same way I know the type of man I should be kissing. The problem is, my rocky emotional management skills tend to steer the habits and behaviours I apply to each situation.
Like, when my mental health is in check, I can go steady with a good diet for a good amount of time. And the food I eat would be none the wiser that I could ravage it in an instant if I suddenly felt hurt, betrayed or was on my period.
Also like my relationship with the man, I turn to it to comfort me. So if something else besides man or food is making me feel unease, I will call up man for attention—or eat way too many almond-butter smothered bananas with cracked rock salt.
The menu of choice really depends on which way my tastebuds are trending in that moment, but do you see what I mean? The food I eat isn’t necessarily bad for me, but girl please, bananas and butter in moderation.
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I was in San Francisco back in October, en route back to Australia after a delightful 5 months living in Colombia. It was a great chance to get slapped in the face with the reality of the cost of living outside Latin America. But even nicer of an opportunity to spend a day with my friend and colleague, Jamie Jenson. I just call her Jamie.
I arrived in San Francisco off the back of a good mental health run where I hadn’t relied on food to stop me feeling sorry for myself. And I felt lighter and stronger for it. But I requested Jamie take me on San Fran food safari because I saw her eating nice food on her Instagram stories once.
It was such a fun day, but the over-indulgence in food, and the feeling of being out of control of myself because I was eating not just to be social, but also for the video I was making (which I’m about to prompt you to watch but stay with me)… well it fooked wid me a bit.
There was something about the over-indulgence and feeling out of control of myself that triggered the uncomfortable feelings that also cause me to eat. Then it becomes a cycle. It’s sick and twisted okay whatever. But it could be worse. Like, my relationship with heroin is phenomenal. I’ve got very clear boundaries with it. And so far, it seems to have respected those boundaries. No heroin.
I wonder what your relationship with food is like. Or heroin. No judgement.
Hey! Watch the video. Please do it. Jamie is so great on camera.
Some people go to therapy, others journal, meditate or pray. I make videos👇👀👇👀👇👀👇👀 WATCH NOW
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Over and out chicos.
PLEASE EXCUSE TYPOS.
Hey, pal. If you’re still here. Could you do me a favor and subscribe to my YouTube channel. Or subscribe on here, SubStack (less important to me). Thanking you.