Permission To Eat

Lately I have been tremendously inspired by Kathleen Caron’s encouraging words. Food, eating- a lifelong battle for me that her compassionate heart touches on. She graciously agreed to share with us today, when I confessed my addictive love affair with junk food.

Her spirit shines through her words, and I appreciate her sincere hope to help her readers. Not just giving us another “list”, but she understands the need for steps. Heart changes. She writes today about Permission To Eat…

Permission to eat

Growing up, I learned how to crash diet.  On the “Grapefruit Diet,” you were supposed to eat half of a grapefruit with every meal, because grapefruit supposedly had mysterious fat-burning enzymes that would scorch all that fat off your body like a blow torch. 

On the “Skier’s Diet” you ate steak and eggs, which would have been awesome except that you were only permitted about 100 calories a day.  So you lost weight because you were starving.

By the time I was a teenager, I had completely swallowed the lie (pun intended) that “eating is bad, dieting is good.”  After all, it was on all the magazine covers, like Seventeen and Glamor.

The twisted logic goes like this: skinny is virtuous and fat is sinful, so unless you are skinny, you don’t deserve to eat.

I felt guilty for eating.  I didn’t deserve to eat.  I wasn’t skinny.

There is even a vocabulary that goes with that: “I was so bad today!  I ate a mega-muffin for breakfast!” Or, “I was so good, I ate two carrot sticks and worked out for four hours!”

Crash dieting taught me an unhealthy relationship with food, which is sad because food is awesome.

Reality check:  dieting is not a virtue.

Jesus didn’t say “blessed are those who diet, for they will be skinny.”  He didn’t say “Come unto me all you who are burdened with extra pounds and I will help you lose weight.”

You can search the scriptures, but it’s not in there.  Dieting doesn’t make you holy.  It just makes you miserable.

It was many years before I recognized my tragic error and was able to make peace with food.   Now, I recognize food as a gift from God that nourishes us, brings us together in fellowship, consoles us and heals us.  As long as—like all of His gifts—we are the master of it, and not vice versa.

Healthy relationship with food

So how can you develop a healthy relationship with food and a balanced way of eating?

1. Acknowledge food as a gift from a loving God:   Like all of His gifts, food is to be enjoyed, appreciated, used responsibly and shared.  Eating is not a sin, unless it becomes gluttony.
2. Change how you think about food:  Food is fuel and medicine for your body and mind.  If you want your body and mind to work at an optimal level, you have to provide the right kind of fuel.
3. Question authority:   Don’t let popular media tell you what to eat.  Food corporations are interested in their bottom line, not yours.  Make whole foods the bulk of your regimen, instead of processed.
4. Ask yourself “What am I really hungry for?:   It’s okay to eat to for comfort, as long as food isn’t your only source of consolation.  Before you eat, ask yourself, “Am I hungry for food, or something else?”  Maybe you’re actually thirsty or tired.  Or you need a hug or a breath of fresh air.  Feed the need.
5. Eat more protein:   Your body needs between 55-100 grams of protein each day (calculate your requirement here) and if you don’t get it, you will be hungry all the time.  Eat enough protein and your carb and sugar cravings will diminish dramatically, I promise.

It’s so sad and ironic that all those years I struggled with my weight, I didn’t even enjoy eating.  The thing that was making me fat didn’t bring me joy, because of the guilt and shame associated with eating.

When I made a conscious decision to stop feeling guilty and relish what I ate, my relationship with food was healed.  Food and I are friends again, and it is a beautiful friendship.

 (photos provided by K.Caron)

Gluten-Free Chocolate Amaretti  Cake recipe

Here’s one of my favorite healthy desserts.  Enjoy a slice and promise me you won’t feel guilty.

The ingredients:

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I like Kirkland Signature, which are responsibly sourced )

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

2/3 cup organic sugar or Demerara sugar or coconut sugar

2 teaspoons grated orange zest (approximately 1 orange)

4 large free range eggs

2 cups almond meal or almond flour

About 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder for sifting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 inch spring form pan using the wrapper from the stick of butter, sift about a tablespoon of cocoa into it and refrigerate.

Place the chocolate chips in a small bowl and microwave for up to 3 minutes, stirring at 30 second intervals.  Keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t burn.

Cream the butter, sugar and orange zest in a mixer or food processor until smooth.  With the machine running, add the eggs one at a time.  Add the almond meal, and finally the chocolate.  Blend mixture well.

Pour the batter into the spring form pan.  Bake about 35 minutes until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  When the cake is cool, transfer it to a serving plate and sift the cocoa powder over it.

Optional:  Sometimes I add about a ¼ cup of grated coconut and a ¼ cup of chopped walnuts to the batter, depending on who’s going to eat it.

Kathleen Caron lives and works in Northern Virginia with her husband and three children.  She writes about food, faith and family at {full of life} soul food.

Healthy food relationship Resources you might like:

40 Days to Wholeness: Body, Soul, and Spirit: A Healthy and Free Devotional

Compared to Who?: A Proven Path to Improve Your Body Image

The Satisfied Workbook: A Spiritual Guide to Recovery and Food Freedom

Grace Filled Plates: Ditch Diets and Find Food Freedom Through God’s Grace

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