Food as Fuel: what that really means
I like to think of food as fuel.
When you're at the gas pump, you're not criticizing or moralizing the type of fuel you're putting into your car. You put in what you can afford and what is available.
You probably put the same type of gas in again and again so that it becomes a mindless endeavor each time you fill-up the tank. You grab for the same one without even putting conscious thought into it.
The same is true with food. Sometimes it becomes a mindless ritual that you eat whatever is in front of you. Or money is tight at you're fueling your body with what you can afford.
The fact that we will disparage ourselves for eating a twinkie and lionize ourselves when it's broccoli is a vestige of diet culture that moralizes food and judges people, irrespective of size or health status, on what they consume.
Food as Fuel
The very culture that gives us insomnia cookies and 24-hour drive thrus are then baffled and critical when the consumers can't lose weight & have no idea what a vegetable is.
We all want to eat healthy and feel our best. But, we don't have a moral obligation to do this.
When thinking about fueling my body, I like to become mindful and tune inward to what my body is craving on a physical level, emotional level and also based on what is going on around me. I try to fuel up with something that is
1.Easy/convenient
2.Delicious/comforting and
3. Macronutrient based. (has some sort of fiber, some lean protein and a healthy fat).
This way of thinking doesn't pre-judge any food decisions. It becomes a project of how I will achieve these 3 objectives.
Examples of this are:
Nut butter on sprouted bread with bananas and berries.
Cut up veggies with guacamole and/or hummus
Oatmeal with hemp seeds and apple slices
When food is fuel, you can give yourself the benefit of the doubt that you will do your best to feed your body the highest quality that is possible in that moment and forgive yourself when circumstances don't allow.
When food is fuel, you trust yourself that the goal in fueling up is to feel your best and thrive in your life and do the things you feel called to do, all of which is more difficult when you feel tired, sick or unhealthy. In doing so, fueling rather than eating just to eat becomes about how you want to show up in your life and feel rather than about weight loss or some other type of extrinsic goal.
When food is fuel, it takes away the moral anguish of making a "wrong" decision. You meal plan with compassion rather than worry or fear.
Fuel is one of 45 cards in my Mindful Eating Wisdom Card deck available for sale on my website. Check it out here.