Finding balance again.
I know my husband doesn’t really like bananas. They are a why-bother food for him. So I think it’s for me that I slice one on top of his morning granola- it just looks too boring otherwise. And I guilt him a bit by telling him he needs potassium, even though I know that spinach would be far superior if this was actually my concern. Spinach on granola though? Hard pass.
But a while back, one evening making supper I asked him what veggie he wanted. He replied with his usual after-work tired indecisiveness: “I don’t know”.
“Carrots?” I asked.
He thought for a half second before wrinkling his nose and saying: “Umm… carrots are like…”
“Bananas of the veggie world. I know.” I said. And we both laughed.
We decided on carrots though, and he enjoyed the meal as always. His life pie chart has a lot more pieces than mine did still at that point.
You see, when food is that important, it takes a lot of space in your life. But there’s only so much pie to go around in your day. If food is the biggest slice (half a pie anyone?), there’s not as much room to make slices for the other parts of life: work, friends, family, music, play, hobbies, even thinking!
Choosing becomes nearly impossible, because you are always striving for “the best” meal. For some that looks like the lowest calories or fat in their selection. For others it may be “healthy foods” that guide their choices. Those suffering from orthorexia might strive to have exclusively foods that are organic or high in antioxidants. Athletes may get obsessed with lean protein. Fear of foods or food categories (eg carbs or fats) is a big one. Regardless of the determining criteria involved, choices dwindle to only a few in the selection, and eventually many individuals find themselves eating the same meals every day because, to them, they’ve whittled things down to “the perfect” food choices that make them feel safe. And, needless to say, flavor and variety are very lacking.
When the food slice of your life pie gets too big, not only does everything in life suffer because food has taken precedence above all else, but so does your your health- physical and mental.
Forget about going out to eat or over to your family’s house. Tears are the norm if the oatmeal didn’t bulk up quite enough. Panic sets in if the apple isn’t the right size or has a blemish. And please put the broccoli on the upper right corner of my plate.
I’m grateful that my pie chart looks a bit more generous these days. Piano practice has a big slice right now. Kayaking gets a piece in the warm weather and sometimes gardening gets a sliver. My husband gets way more than he used to and my cats get greedier by the day.
I routinely botch my scrambled eggs and overcook the frozen veggies while texting with my dad, and during power outages (we have a lot- who knows why), I pride myself on my creativity and ability to make something from nothing. Not quite Jesus with the bread and fish material, but passable! There are occasions when the new fish tasted way too fishy, even for Baxter (one of my fur-faces and table companion when hubby is away for work), and I sub cottage cheese and cereal for supper. Something burned… oh well… I get to eat again tomorrow.
I can do that now. And gosh life is better.
Does any of this resonate with you? Does your life pie look a little uneven? Has food taken up more wedges than it should? Reach out and I’ll help you rebalance.
