Food.
Such a simple four letter word that is a vital part of our everyday life.
When I wake up, I think about what to eat for breakfast. Oatmeal? Avocado Toast? Then, I work until 12 and think about what's for lunch (maybe a sandwich?), and while I finish the work day in an indisputably productive way, I think about what to have for dinner (definitely chicken and rice). And yes, my definition of productive might mean coincidentally having YouTube open in the other tab all day. But there's a lot of productivity and education that comes from watching Rhett and Link determine if diapers make good umbrellas, okay?
Essentially, food is always on my mind. When there is something that's so important to our survival, it would only make sense to constantly think about it which is probably why that's the case, right?
Yet, we don't think about water that often seeing as everyone around me complains of how dehydrated they are. People even had to create apps and time-marked water bottles to remind us to drink.
I guess what makes it different is the variability of food and all the flavors that come with it--the salty, the sweet, the spicy, the sour, and the umami. It's the ability to get that rush of endorphins from a slice of pizza or an entire box of Godiva chocolates that you really can't get from a glass of water.
Basically, food is Batman gliding around with cool gadgets, doing cooler stunts, and fighting crime to protect the citizens of Gotham. Water is Detective Gordon--important, also fighting crime, but not really doing anything too flashy.
That's not saying food is bad for you at all, it's still Batman, but our obsessive relationship with it is kind of concerning. For example, we have issues of overeating. We even created a clever new term for it: "food coma". We say "I can't wait to eat this and food coma" and everyone laughs like it's not a bad thing, but like it's a fun challenge instead. Let's take a pause to realize what the term means though. According to Mayo Clinic, "Coma is a state of prolonged unconsciousness that can be caused by a variety of problems […] Coma is a medical emergency". So we basically laugh about eating so much that we can possibly lose consciousness.
As someone who loves cooking, I came to the realization that cooking for others is my way of taking care of people and showing my love. But, if I push them to eat more than they can handle (like I was taught is the hospitable thing to do) and they knock out--is that really love then?
I really think it's time to reevaluate this relationship with food.
At least, for myself, I should. Cause I was always laughing about that overindulgence like it was a game to beat and like it was flattering that people fell asleep right after the meal I made.
Maybe this indulgent relationship with food is also why I personally struggle to consistently drink water. Even if I added fresh fruit to it, it just never matched up to the magic of food and the challenge of eating it all.
But at the end of the day, we need water more than food. It's a known fact that a human can survive longer without food than water and yet, 75% of us are dehydrated. So how do we make it more appealing without having an app remind us we need it? How do we create some boundaries in this toxic relationship with food and develop a healthier relationship? And how do we cultivate our monotonous relationship with water to have a more enjoyable overall experience?
Honestly, I don't have an answer to those questions. It's just interesting to think about it.
If you struggle with this as well and have any ideas or thoughts, I'd love to know what they are and maybe we can all try out some new techniques together.
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