“Apprentices have asked me, what is the most exalted peak of cuisine? Is it the freshest ingredients, the most complex flavors? Is it the rustic, or the rare? It is none of these. The peak is neither eating nor cooking, but the giving and sharing of food.”
~Nicole Mones, The Last Chinese Chef
“Many of the things we claim to cherish – family relationships, cultural identity, ethnic diversity – were all intimately linked to the making and eating of food and now are changing as we outsource more and more of our food preparation to restaurants and industrial kitchens. Not only do we cook less than we used to, but more of us eat alone – at our desks, in our cars, standing at our kitchen counters. In America, the average family shares a meal fewer than five times a week.”
~Paul Roberts, The End of Food
My fondest “food” memories do not come from expensive 5-star restaurant cuisine, but from quality time spent with family.
~As a child, I absolutely loved our Christmas, Thanksgiving, and birthday family gatherings (as well as our hour-long nightly dinners);
~during my college years the best meal of the week was “Newman Club Dinner with Father Dave,” where 15 of us crammed around a long table to relax, talk, and eat for an hour;
~and as a young adult, my husband and I absolutely love hosting friends and family for special meals!
Integrating Primary & Secondary Food
For those of you who follow my blog entries, you have heard me explain that Primary Food consists of Relationships, Spirituality, Physical Activity, and Career, while Secondary Food is the edible food on your plate. In order to be “healthy,” both of these sources of nutrition need to be balanced.
The integration of these two concepts looks like this: eating alone or while angry about a relationship versus eating with your spouse, family, or friends; binge eating because you are ridiculously stressed about work versus slowly savoring a meal because you are at peace with your career endeavors; taking food for granted versus embodying a sincere appreciation for the hands and the energy that harvested and prepared it; eating fewer nutrients because you feel guilty for failing to exercise this week versus having a healthy metabolism to efficiently digest a balanced meal.
It is important to note that external circumstances not only impact your ability to enjoy a meal, but they also affect your body’s ability to break down and absorb nutrients from food.
Food for Thought: The word diet comes from the Greek language and means “a manner of living” or “way of life.” The Latin root dieta means “a day’s journey.” Both of these definitions incorporate everything that we ingest: food, thoughts, movement, TV shows, music, news, interactions, and so much more.
A Health Coach’s Optimal Diet:
Whole foods (organic if possible)
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healthy relationships, a fulfilling spiritual practice, consistent physical activity, and a fulfilling career (or life purpose)
People constantly ask me, “what do you think about Paleo, the Ketogenic diet, vegan, pescatarian, vegetarian, etc?”
In terms of secondary food, a different diet is ideal for each person. Quite frankly, the most important thing to consider is the quality of the food you’re eating.
Avoid: artificial coloring, artificial flavors, refined sugar, and preservatives.
Meat, poultry, eggs, dairy: if you choose to eat these nutrient-rich foods, I would strongly recommend buying the highest quality you can afford. Look for pasture-raised, cage-free, humanely-raised, antibiotic-free, vegetarian-fed. Otherwise, you will be consuming the antibiotics and hormones fed to the animals.
Gluten: if this sits well with you, look for whole grains, not refined, bleached, or fortified flours.
Fruits & vegetables: get as much of these as possible!! Familiarize yourself with the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists, which rate the produce that is most and least contaminated with pesticides. (Check out the link to learn more!)
Bringing this all full-circle….
Home cooking: brings families together, more likely to incorporate whole foods and traditional family recipes, ensures that food is prepared with love, and doesn’t have to be complicated!!
Be sure to follow the Recipes tab on my website for simple weekly ideas that always use whole foods!
Send me a message if you’d like to work with a health coach to improve your diet and learn simple recipes to nourish you and your whole family!
