A couple of years ago I came across some ideas about food choices that challenged everything I thought I knew about my body and the effects of what I put into it.
The idea of not drinking alcohol or caffeine and giving up gluten and dairy sounded ultra-healthy, but the thought of no cake or mojitos ever again? What a boring way to live, I thought.
Back then I judged making different food choices as an obsessive eating habit – a disorder even – where some foods were deemed ‘bad’ and others ‘good’.
The people I met who lived like this didn’t see it or describe it like that, but neither could they explain to me exactly how it made them feel in a way that I could understand. It goes without saying that it’s pretty challenging to experience what it’s like to be in someone else’s body.
If I really wanted to know and understand why anybody would eat that way out of choice, rather than necessity, I realised I would have to give it a go for myself.
I also noticed that people who’d made what I would have called ‘unconventional’ food choices, based on how different foods made their body feel, didn’t seem to be wallowing in a world of deprivation and self-pity.
In fact, they seemed more alive and fulfilled than most, and just getting on with their lives. It was me who was making a big deal about what they chose to eat, not them.
After suspiciously keeping my distance, eventually my curiosity got the better of me and I caved in. Giving up cake, champagne and ice cream had to have some benefits other than the obvious health ones, otherwise why bother with the effort? It was time to investigate.
I gently put to one side the cake, champagne and ice cream, in an experiment that I imagined would last a few weeks or months. Often I had a beer or glass of wine, bread, cheese or something else that I was attempting to temporarily abstain from in the name of my not very scientific experiment. But it didn’t seem to matter.
The less I ate of foods containing things like gluten, dairy and sugar, the lighter, cleaner and clearer my body and my mind felt.
It still amazes me that food can affect my body so much, because until recently I had never really considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts.
But as I started making different choices about what to eat, I noticed that things began to change; the way I responded to situations was changing. Difficult conversations, although still difficult, became less intense. The internal emotional whirlwinds that I’d created (and blamed on others) took less time to dissipate. It felt like a fog I’d been living in – one that I couldn’t see even existed before – had started to lift.
The links between my body and my emotional and mental state have become much more obvious. When I eat lots of heavy food or too much food, I feel heavy, weighed down and foggy – like I’m operating on battery-saving mode.
It makes it easy for my mind to slip into a quicksand of circuitous and dull negative thinking and I start to feel lethargic and bored. Instead of focusing on what I can contribute to a situation and bring to others around me, I make it all about me and my life. My self-obsessed thoughts turn into a distraction and I forget about my responsibility to live fully and truly.
I still have ideas that pop into my head about my choices around food and how I ‘should’ be living. How come nearly the entire world eats gluten and dairy and drinks alcohol – surely it can’t be that ‘bad,’ if everyone does it? Isn’t it fussy and ungrateful to be choosy about what I’m eating?
But I’ve come to realise:
- It’s not about demonising food groups nor judging myself nor anybody else for what we choose to eat, but so much more simple: stop, feel, and choose from there – is this food really supporting and nourishing my body, and how do I feel after eating it?
- It’s not about shouting from the rooftops about how great I feel, but to just accept and allow what feels good by listening to my body
- There are no rules
Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.
Every time I choose something – a food, drink, thought or emotion that doesn’t make me feel so good, I get to feel it – and I can choose differently next time, if I feel like it.
What has been amazing is that I rarely crave any of the stuff I used to. I’ve had a sweet tooth since I was a small child and used to love cakes and biscuits. But now I’d rather choose the stillness and solidness I can feel most of the time, over a sugary treat which makes me feel hyperactive and like I’m on drugs.
When I listen to my body like this, it totally removes the arduous ‘giving up’ of unhealthy foods, the battle against cravings, or strict regimes. Eating in a way that truly nourishes me becomes easy because my body just isn’t interested in foods that don’t make me feel good.
Eating to nourish my body, and how it feels afterwards, instead of just for the short-lived taste sensation, is a constant unfolding, with increasing clarity and an amazing revelation: I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.
The more I listen deeply to my body, the more it shares with me, and the steadier I feel. It’s amazing to feel how this has affected all areas of my life, far beyond how my body feels: from knowing what needs to be said in any given situation, to feeling clearer, having more trust in myself and knowing of what to do next, with far less need from anything outside of me.
The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.
By Bryony, UK
Further Reading:
My Body’s Reaction to Gluten, Dairy and Sugar
The Body Knows
When it comes to food – let your body speak
Becoming aware of the effect of different foods and drink in our body is a fascinating learning process.
It’s interesting that you use this phrase Bryony
‘It felt like a fog I’d been living in – one that I couldn’t see even existed before – had started to lift.’
because it’s not until the fog starts to lift that we realise that we were living in a fog to start with. It’s a really bizarre situation and so I wonder how many of us go around in our own fogginess without realising it. It’s not until we are shown a different reflection of life that we can understand there can be different choices on offer.
Putting foods aside, is a great start to understanding the energetic reason why we are doing a food-y thing and letting go of other impositions in our life, because there is The far greater energetic reason behind why we are involved in a non evolutionary behaviour, and this understanding (inner awareness) is paramount in our true healing.
The most addictive substance is possibly sugar and there is only way to eliminate it and that is slowly? After giving up white sugar or white death some 30 plus years ago it then became what is next! Surly not my favourite fruits or maple syrup, honey etc. but eventually they all were felt for there addictive nature as they ended up being to much sweetness for my body and made me feel racy.
Eating to expand who we are and bring vitality is the choice I’ve made. I never want to return to the days when I felt dull and stagnant in my body.
Making the link between our emotional states and type of food we eat is a much needed conversation. A lot of media coverage of mental ill-health confirms its affect on every age group, but little is said about causes and how eating certain foods can improve the way we feel about ourselves.
The way we eat reflects the nature of our relationship with self. Do we treat the body as a garbage can, eat without discernment or care, pay little attention to what it needs? Or do we relate to the body as a precious vessel, close confidante and loving it dearly shop, prepare and eat food to nourish and sustain and heal?
“Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.” Love this Bryony it takes all the perfection and stress out of it, just a natural unfolding.
I love the honesty and wisdom our bodies are always sharing and communicating with us if we are open to listening, ‘The more I listen deeply to my body, the more it shares with me, and the steadier I feel.’
Choosing food that nourishes us makes sense, but also listening to our body and what it is communicating to us about our food choices is equally important.
Food is a fuel we all need in order to nourish our bodies and so we can function. There are foods that you would categorize as low-grade: all the comfort, dairy and sugar laden products and we all know the foods that are more refined and lighter on our digestion system – we know exactly which foods to eat to sweeten life and, or take the edge of life.
I love to read this blog today- there is so much to digest- pun intended! Recently I got to observe how strict I have been with foods coming from knowledge rather than feeling what is true for me at this time. That said, I have now thrown away the rule book, and being more honest and I find I am so much more relaxed around food. And being more honest is a good foundation to move forward from.
I no longer consume alcohol simply because of how much better, clearer, and fresher I feel in not consuming it.
It is always worth remembering that the choice of the quality of the food you end up eating happens well before you choose what to eat. Your every quality of movement is already governing whether you will overeat or not in you next meal.
Thank-you Joshua, for that reminder and so true that the quality of food we end of eating comes from the quality or the energy that you have been moving in or aligning too.
I love this, it is so simple; ‘is this food really supporting and nourishing my body, and how do I feel after eating it?’
Its interesting to notice the stillness I can feel inside, and how that is affected by food choices. Sure I can wind myself up with some sugar.. and whoa caffeine would have a field day and its gone (or hard to feel). But when I’m settled I don’t get those cravings and my food supports the incredibly strong connection I have inside… and I value that.
Great bullet points Bryony, that offer the reader a clear understanding and support to enjoy new food choices by listening to the body, without feeling something has to be being given up-then with the realisation that there is so much more to enjoy.
* “It’s not about demonising food groups nor judging myself nor anybody else for what we choose to eat, but so much more simple: stop, feel, and choose from there – is this food really supporting and nourishing my body, and how do I feel after eating it?
* It’s not about shouting from the rooftops about how great I feel, but to just accept and allow what feels good by listening to my body
* There are no rules”.
The body has much wisdom and continues to communicate exactly what works for it and what does not. I love that you have found that Stillness and Solidness from within are the antidotes to the sugar addictions.
“But now I’d rather choose the stillness and solidness I can feel most of the time, over a sugary treat which makes me feel hyperactive and like I’m on drugs”.
And that the foods we choose to ingest affects our levels of awareness, ‘I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.’
“It was me who was making a big deal about what they chose to eat, not them” This is a great observation of the disturbance that judgement of others causes in our body.
There is no greater feeling than when we choose to eat a food that nourishes. The body speaks volumes of appreciation with each mouth full!
For me it has been a consistent letting go of the rules of what was deemed healthy. Actually I was quite stubborn and became thinner and thinner but also weaker instead of feeling the solidness I knew that was there’, now with seeing the rules for what they truly are, a distraction and an avoidance of the power i have and am, ‘I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.’
and yet for most people eating is such an unconscious action, and as a consequence it really is feeding our unconsciousness.
Making supportive food choices because my body flourishes versus depriving myself on a diet or because I “should” not eat something comes from two different places. The first an act of self care and the second trying to live up to a belief of what is good for me.
Love this simple answer Jenny – choosing food that makes us expand so we can feel more and be more of who we already are.
The effects of food are massive on our bodies I agree, I find my relationship with food is constantly changing – even though I know food is for nutrition I constantly use it for relief or taste or desire or eat too much – there’s a never ending array of choices when it comes to abusing food – but there’s only one choice that is super precise and detailed when it comes to listening to our bodies and being deeply caring when it comes to what we choose to put in them.
Yes Bryony, food effects us very visually so, but also to note that there is much in this world; like our movements, thoughts and actions that lead to bad health, meaning feeling a lack of vitality, not truly feeling content and or a lovelessness. Why don’t we see that as bad health actually? What has made us think that health is just physical?
It shows us that we have switched our radar out to be aware of what energetically is going on in and around us, that we have only made life about physical health number 1.
‘It still amazes me that food can affect my body so much, because until recently I had never really considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts.’ We are never encouraged to think about this as children when educated about food, food groups and the health of food. More predominantly, we are taught about weight gain, but little else. Yet, eating is one of the most common things we do, aside from moving and sleeping. It makes sense to look at the subtleties of how it affects us.
It interesting to observe within us the thoughts that come up, such as ‘I am going to miss out’, ‘my life will be boring’ when we begin to consider listening to our bodies or consider a way of living that is more supportive to our health and well-being. But do we consider that theses are thoughts fuelled by an addiction to certain foods or lifestyles and not a true response to the inspiration we are feeling from our body or Soul? And do we consider why we have such a strong reaction to the potential to care for our body and being? Our relationship with our body has become distant to the point where we consider ‘abuse’ as normal and ‘loving’ as strange and questionable. Yet we crave for more and seek for more. That ‘more’ is the love we are and through a loving relationship with our body we will realise that living in connection to our love is what we are truly missing out on.
Great blog Bryony, reading your blog has brought to my realisation how I used to feel, and I remember I would often feel foggy in my mind, since changing my diet my head is so much clearer these days and I feel so much more vital in my body, this is definitely something for me to appreciate, the making of self loving choices.
Our bodies are such an extraordinary balancing mechanism… They can be so delicately and lovingly tuned with what we eat
That is a new concept to consider, that our bodies can be so delicately and lovingly tuned with what we eat – and how we eat I am going to add, as sometimes if I am honest, I can rush eating my food because I went too long without… which no longer feels nourishing!
It is amazing the tricks that the mind plays with us. I knew for 20 years that gluten did not agree with me but put off doing anything about it because I was caught in believing that it would be so hard to give up when in actual fact I felt better within 24 hours and this supported me to take more loving care with my diet and I rarely had any cravings for all the things that I thought I would miss. The connection between the gut and the mind is only now being explored more in mental health but in my experience it is crucial to be aware of how we choose to take care of ourselves and the dietary choices we feel impulsed to make for our overall wellbeing.
I couldn’t agree more Helen when I gave up gluten and dairy my body recovered very quickly from all kinds of health issues. In fact, considering how ill I was I didn’t expect any miracles but that’s what I got. Even when the tests do not show an intolerance to gluten or a dairy allergy the body can still be struggling with these food products.
When people come to know that I do not include gluten, dairy and sugar in my diet many of them still say things like – ‘surely just a little wouldn’t hurt you and everything in moderation’. But without hesitation, I look lovingly at them and reply – why would I risk having 2-3 days of my body feeling miserable, simply for a few seconds of a “taste sensation” in my mouth? I can see them processing this and then they usually nod in agreement and nothing more is said.
I never thought I would be able to give up gluten, dairy and refined sugar. But when I started to love, care and cherish my body, it was a very natural thing to then discard food that was not truly nourishing my body. Also, from listening to my body, I was able to be super honest about my food choices and I now let my body guide me as to what to eat and when to eat. It is not about following a diet regime or rules, it is about deeply listening to our body and our body is our best food guide.
The picture we have of what is healthy and what is not healthy is shaped by the influence of others in our lives. Those others include a massive, multi-billion dollar food and entertainment industry. To really ask ourself what suits our own body we have to acknowledge the influences on our thoughts and building a relationship with the body’s feedback loop instead.
I agree Lucy, listening to our body is super empowering and if we all did this, our lives would change drastically in an amazing way and also our food industries would naturally change too.
“From Eating for Taste to Eating to Nourish” – this line alone reveals so much Bryony. Whether eating for taste or to nourish lies in the depth of connection we have with our own body. When i lose connection to myself, i can eat for taste, pizazz and appeal, and equally when i am connected and eat or have foods to nourish, but then later and whilst connected to my body eat “for taste” maybe at a client dinner/lunch at a hotel or cafe for example, then i find that i lose my taste for that food on the menu, or eat it and afterwards taste the emptiness of the lack of nourishment in the cuisine however fancy it looks/presents.
“Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.” This makes so much sense but most of us are not taught or encouraged to listen to our bodies and naturally our bodies suffer, often for our whole lives. We might think that we can’t do without the food we have always eaten, but you have shown we can. It is only our mind that tries to convince us otherwise.
Having trust in our selves and our confidence levels are very much connected to the quality in how we care for our body. This is a science that we all need to consider, that possibly much can be addressed in how we are on an emotional and mental level by how and what we choose to eat.
Yes, absolutely Leigh, brilliant sharing. Our choice of food affects us in more ways than we think. There is a science to this for sure, from what we choose, how we prepare our food, to how we eat, the quantity and also our level of appreciation and quality of conversation while we eat are all part of this science.
“Every time I choose something – a food, drink, thought or emotion that doesn’t make me feel so good, I get to feel it – and I can choose differently next time, if I feel like it.”
The above sentence is very significant, it is not just food that we allow to enter our body. The quality of our thoughts, the emotions we choose also affect our body. The reality is they either bring us out of the fog, or bury us into the fog we don’t even realise we are in.
It is amazing how much food can affect the body, with just a few added ingredients that can make all the difference to how one is in a whole day with family, friends or at work. And I have found that there is always a constant refinement of the foods I can eat each day, as each day is different and what works for one day may not work for another, so there are no rules, just the language and communications of my body.
“The less I ate of foods containing things like gluten, dairy and sugar, the lighter, cleaner and clearer my body and my mind felt.” Can you imagine what an effect it would have on society if everyone was to give up gluten, dairy and sugar – we would have a much more aware, productive, energetic healthy and loving society! One day it will become painfully obvious the harm that these foods do to the body.
For many it is already painfully obvious with such health issues as: Sinus, Asthma, Bloating, Iritable Bowel Syndrome, Digestive Issues, Lung Diseases, Stomach ulcers etc, etc. We all know exactly what affects each of us. The question is what stops us from actively embracing what we know will support our bodies?
Yes, I know what it has been like in my body but what would it be like if, as a family, then as a community, and potentially as a world we experimented with how we felt without those food as part of our lives? This is not about deprivation, or forcing ourselves not to eat something, it is about clocking why we eat what we eat and responding rather than ignoring.
“It felt like a fog I’d been living in – one that I couldn’t see even existed before – had started to lift.” This is a very accurate description of how I became aware of the effect on my whole body of what I put in my mouth.
This whole blog is amazing and offers such realistic life changing insight.
I know myself if I eat the wrong thing I can feel mentally all over the place – I am starting to realise that something in my mouth that may taste delicious for a few seconds is never ever worth the negative after affects.
It is interesting how we can either eat to support ourselves in life, or dull ourselves with heavy or stimulating foods to shut down to what we are feeling.
Thank you Bryony. You raised many valid practical ways to apply with food. Eat well feel well. My experience has been until you clock what feels good in the body will you go for that feeling again. Otherwise it’s chasing a picture or an ideal that does not ever hold. So, “accept and allow what feels good by listening to my body.”
It is always great to feel the impact food has on our bodies, ‘The less I ate of foods containing things like gluten, dairy and sugar, the lighter, cleaner and clearer my body and my mind felt.’
“The idea of not drinking alcohol or caffeine and giving up gluten and dairy sounded ultra-healthy, but the thought of no cake or mojitos ever again? What a boring way to live, I thought” – !!!! I had the same thoughts too Bryony… until of course I tasted the effect and inebriation of true self-love, where there is nothing to ever feel missed out on but instead everything else to enjoy : )
Great blog Bryony – I have changed my eating habits over the past few years and am still amazed how quickly the body reacts to things that don’t serve it now. If I get caught up with my mind thinking about food, or my eyes ‘loving’ the look of something and fall for the trick, my body soon let’s me know it is far from okay with it if it is eaten.
Sugar makes me feel racy, gluten bloats me in almost an instant and even a hint of dairy fills up the sinuses.
It is staggering how much different foods effect our mood, levels of energy and general sense of well being. If someone had told me 5 years ago that I wouldn’t be able to eat some of the foods that no longer support me back then because they make me feel ill I really wouldn’t have believed them. It is only through my own experience, feeling the impact on my body and being playful with what I eat that I have come to understand which foods truly support me.
I have recently had a great lesson as to the importance I had been placing on taste and it took losing it for two weeks for the lesson to unfold. In the beginning I was rather shocked at the loss of taste and also by my determination to be able to taste something, anything. But after a couple of days I surrendered to what was happening and realised I was being offered a wonderful opportunity to be very honest about what I was eating and why. By the time my taste started to return I had become more focused on the long-term nourishment of my food rather than a few seconds of pleasure in my mouth. I love this life lessons that we are constantly being presented with.
At times I look at and crave certain foods however when I eat them I always feel the effects afterwards and this is what supports me to not want them again.
What we put into our bodies does get reflected back to us in other areas of our lives, and can affect our work performance, the quality of our relationships, how we feel about ourselves and the thoughts we entertain. When we do not live with that constant dullness or tiredness life takes on a whole new meaning.
You make a great observation here about how the quality of what we eat affects our thoughts – and I have certainly experienced this first hand. Food drops us – and the more I refine my diet – the more I feel it when I eat something that is not supportive. Headaches, racyness – you name it.
More and more I realise this link between food and the kind of thoughts we have. It is really a no brainer to follow the body’s calling for changes in diet. It so clearly tells us , when we choose to connect the discomfort or unease in us to our eating patterns, that it doesn’t find certain foods supportive anymore, yet we can get messages from our head, in other words thoughts, to go and buy, or eat these very foods. I can feel this inner conflict sometimes but if I really settle in my body and let go of all tension, (coming back to breathing my own breath if needs be) the truth will out.
It is interesting to contemplate eating to nourish ourselves and eating to allow for more awareness and expansion to occur in our bodies.
What I can see from this piece of writing, is how when there is judgement there is also stagnation, so much so in fact that it can become very easy to confine oneself into a kind of box of limited understanding of the world, which has only a certain and perhaps authorised set of criteria for what is right and for what is wrong. But what is beautiful here to read is how with just a little bit of playful experimentation these boxes can be dissolved and thus your mind can be set free to realise your own understandings which may not be part of the predetermined picture, but feel wonderful in your body all the same.
What you say about eating too much food, even if it is ‘super healthy’, and how it affects your thoughts, movements and vitality is so important for me to really feel in to. I have a super healthy diet and I take great care in what I put into my body and when I do. But, with that can come an arrogance or a sense of “well, I’m eating super healthy, so therefore it doesn’t matter how much I eat” or…”since I am eating so well and healthily” then I’ll have a reward of eating lots of it!” So, I really appreciate your blog and also rally appreciate that there is always a next level of refinement.
If people realized how profoundly food affects us, supermarkets would have a very different appearance…( there would surely be a lot less shelves ! )
Judging a heathy diet as boring in my case comes from the need for treats. I grew up on reward food and treats and I thought that food was one of the highlights in life. So, considering cutting out the highlights in my life seemed insane. However, once I started listening to my body (which had to shout at times) the food choices no longer are driven so much by reward as the way they leave you feeling.
‘from eating to taste to eating to nourish’….this is the wisest choice we can make.
Yes, a never ending process indeed how much you accept your power and awareness and how much you numb it still with even the littlest things. And if it is not food it might be created emotions, fights, drive etc etc. Food is a great marker, but there is so much more to look at as well.
I started every dinner with the words:” I choose awareness”- it is so easy to eat out of pleasure, but is it true pleasure, when the body feels like a heavy stone afterwards?
With all the contrasting studies out there these days in regard to food and diet getting stuck in the mentality of good and bad food, right and wrong food gets us all confused as to what is actually important, which is listening to our bodies and reading what it feels.
After removing the foods that I always felt were no good for my body from my diet I too felt that the “fog I’d been living in – one that I couldn’t see even existed before – had started to lift.”. And as it lifted my energy levels soared and my vitality with them. Life felt so different than it had ever felt which had me wondering why I had ignored my body’s wisdom for so long – 50 years in fact – simply so I wouldn’t lose out on the pleasures of life that, I was convinced, food provided.
‘The more I listen deeply to my body, the more it shares with me, and the steadier I feel.’ I experience this too Bryony, in all areas of life, my body is a great friend and guide for the choices I make, when I listen to it, I love the feeling of steadiness that comes with this.
“Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.” Beautiful Bryony. What we gain is far greater than what we feel we may miss out on when we let foods that don’t serve us disappear from our daily menu.
I can so relate to this Bryony, as even though my body and being experience huge and unpleasant reactions from eating gluten and dairy, and I mostly watched what I ate because of this, I still struggled with feeling like I was ‘missing out’ when I couldn’t eat pizza or cakes so much so that I would end up have some knowing how unwell it would make me feel, which it always did. It was only when I began developing a loving relationship with my body that I began to also to honor the love I felt within me. From here I came to realise that this connection within me was worth more that any food out there and that I was not actually missing out on anything. Instead I have in fact gained a far greater quality of well-being and richness in my life, that I now am not interested in compromising again.
Whenever I walk past something I fancied a lot, before I changed my diet, I tune into how it actually felt in my body after eating it. The level of lightness and purity my body has is what I would not leave for this short moment of pleasure in my mouth. So it is easy to “withstand” although it is not really a withstanding. Interesting as well, when I don´t have a great day, something fancy to eat would attract my sight more than on a day when I am in full power.
Listening to my body and buying, preparing and eating food in response to what it has to say has made my relationship with food much simpler.
” The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.” . This is so true , from once I took charge of what I ate , and ate what felt right for my body , my body transformed over a few weeks. I stopped eating gluten , dairy, manufactured sugars , caffeine and I did not drink alcohol. It was like an outer covering of puffiness evaporated off me. I have since refined my food intake even more and now I feel my body is my body.
This is so true Linda and how much we appreciate ourselves for who we are not what we do.
It is also I have found as you share undeniable the impact of food choices on our thoughts and moods, when I eat chocolate or sugar I am yes racy in the body but more obviously irritable, less able to cope, quick to anger, defensive and reactive essentially. Some have the same thing with salt. The impact of food is like your share profound.
Just what I needed to read, thank you Bryony for the no nonsense sharing of a way of living that supports and heals, I am always experimenting and learning more about my choices.
Food is a constant exploration for me and one that will be a constant refinement over time. Some foods I used to eat that still may be deemed as healthy but no longer feel good in my body. I love how our bodies constantly communicate what they feel and it is then our responsibility to nourish and nurture from those responses, to help us express from our bodies full potential.
I too find that the heavier my food the heavier my body feels…. I feel sluggish and down on myself. It’s so worth eating more lightly…. my body feels lighter, more open, clearer and I feel more joy!
“Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.” This is the beauty there are no reals it really is an individual experience and choice, what feels supportive or not supportive to my body, by stopping and listening to the messages of the effects of what I put into it.
Everyone needs to really feel why they quit to eat or drink certain foods. Otherwise it comes from a knowledge and not an experience felt in the body, which will be very solid, as it is a choice made from the body.
‘Every time I choose to put something into my body, a thought, a food…….’ this is so powerful and has made me look in a different way at how everything that goes into our body has an impact. It is only by trying different ways that we can truly uncover the effects of those things that separate us from the clarity and lightness you write of Bryony. So much ‘food’ for thought.
I love this – one of the best ways to learn in life what truly works and what doesn’t is to experiment. Our bodies are a beautiful science and it’s worth taking the time to know and understand what really supports them and what doesn’t.
‘The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.’ Yes, it is. More than what apparently may seem. Being present in our body supports us to choose the food that supports our presence in our body. When we allow ourselves to feel, we allow this process to begin and the food choices that come with this awareness, are definitely self-loving
Thank you Bryony for your confirming and encouraging blog. Food choices can still be a big stumbling block for me at times!
So much of the time people are changing their diets for ‘body’ reasons, … its great to read about the very strong effect upon our mind and emotional well being as well.
Making better food choices is not rocket science. You put cleaner fuel in, your vehicle runs better. The belief about healthy eating being boring is significant to be aware of as it the opposite of boring that we seek – be it stimulating or a salt/sugar buzz, reward or comfort when we go against what our body wants to eat.
‘The links between my body and my emotional and mental state have become much more obvious.’ – As we refine our relationship to foods, exercise and even just how we move every day, things that don’t support us and jar our body become starkly obvious.
I love this blog. To me it just reiterates that instead of judging the food choices of others we should try it and see how we feel! This brings it back to the body not the mind and what ‘it’ thinks. ‘stop, feel, and choose from there – is this food really supporting and nourishing my body, and how do I feel after eating it? This is still something I am learning and reading this I know I need to stop, feel and ask myself this question with food far more than I currently do. It is not about perfection, reaching a goal or being something it is about loving me more.
we all have to at some stage listen to our bodies… The thing is our body is always speaking to us, and if you don’t listen… Well it just speaks louder!
The observation that those around you who were beginning to change their diets by removing certain foods “didn’t seem to be wallowing in a world of deprivation and self-pity” would have been such a profound one and it seems like it got you thinking. I found that when I removed gluten, dairy and sugar from my diet those around me were certain that I was depriving myself and missing out on the culinary joys of life. They were worrying about me more than I was, but finally the worrying has stopped as they can see what a turnaround there has been in my health and in my life; hard to argue with living proof.
I love how you describe the changes you experienced as you cut out various foods as being like a fog, that you were not even aware of, lifting. Perhaps this is why we can resist making changes because we choose to be ignorant of the huge impact eating things that are not supportive can have on us.
When I read the words, “challenged everything I thought I knew about my body and the effects of what I put into it”’ I realised that before meeting Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, my only relationship with food was my idealistic vegetarianism and eating whatever I could, so long as I could get away with it. This ‘getting away with it’ meant that I only monitored my input due to not wanting to get too overweight. There was no concern for my health, the lightness I felt in my body. It was all about satisfying my taste buds and feeling ‘full’.
What a great experiment that was…. choosing to let go of so much, and we can just go on learning from listening to our bodies.
What a great experiment that was Bryony, choosing to let go of so much, and we can just go on learning from listening to our bodies.
When I have a day where I look after myself, express whatever I need to and move in a way that supports my being, then I do not over eat in the evening. Every thing in me wants to honor my body with what, how and when I eat.
I know this very well Mary- Louise. Plus when I am very conscious present with whatever I do and don´t let thoughts rule my day, I am hungry, but I am not craving and don´t need much food either. What a great marker . The next step is accepting this and keeping this as the new standard.
‘Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.’ This is one of the most amazing things about the food choices I have been making is that if I enjoy something and my body doesn’t tell me otherwise I carry on eating it, which means that the foods I have stopped eating I no longer enjoy. For example, I used to love chocolate brownies and a sweet tart made with confectioners custard and filo pastry. The other day I tried a tiny bite of something super sweet and was amazed how my taste buds completely rejected it. It doesn’t become hard to walk past the cake counter, there is no discipline needed as there is no part of me that would want to take away from the loveliness I feel inside.
The title of this blog says it all. Do we want to support ourselves to evolve and be in the health and nourishment of that or do we want to go round and round feeling comfortable and, if we are honest, stuck in patterns that lessen our light.
Our sense of taste and our choice of foods is determined by our relationship with ourselves and our willingness to deepen in life – to be more transparent, more loving, open, connected and surrendered much more so than it is determined by anything else.
How would it be if we were to each commit to our body in the same way in which we commit to our cars and tend to our belongings?
We are never not without our body for instance and yet do we honour our body, listen to see if we need to adjust our rhythm and tune and nourish ourselves with the full power fuel without unwanted debris? Our body will run on the fuel we put in – therefore it is wise to support ourselves rather than ingest what will never go the distance.
“Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.” Upon reading your blog Bryony I realise how in the past my brain had felt like it was in a fog, but no longer, also my body feels much lighter and I now have more vitality, thanks to listening to my body and its wisdom.
Having given up an array of foods over the years, I do not miss any of them, as the lightness and clarity I feel not eating them far out weighs the taste sensation I got from eating them.
Bryony, I agree with this, ‘The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.’ I notice how I get super racy after eating anything sugary and that I find it hard to settle, I have also noticed this with children and I have noticed how I feel heavy and tired after overeating, and that I cannot be bothered in this state and really just want to go to sleep or I can eat light, nutritious foods and feel amazing, have lost of energy and feel light and playful – very different and so yes the effects of what we eat in our bodies is indeed profound.
Yes indeed, thank you for this. There is no question, anyone who chooses to embark on this experiement will share the same – what we consume has an effect on our physical and mental health. Our choice is to support ourselves or not by whether we choose to indulge the temporary stimulation of the senses or value the solidness of stillness in the body.
I have realised that my sense of taste and ‘favourite foods’ are all determined by the quality of my relationship with myself and the way I choose to live.
I agree Kylie if I am feeling great then I do not want to eat any food that is going to dull me down and I will be very particular with what I eat.
“I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it.” This alone is huge because if we are ever uncertain, unaware or confused about something we could ask “What am I choosing to bring into my body to be unaware?” What is there to be aware of?
Who would have thought that the food we eat has an effect on the quality of thoughts we have, and yet it is so true. So it’s quite easy to observe our thoughts and then backtrack to the food we had eaten previously and ascertain if that food was truly nourishing…
Yes me too Linda, the more I am feeling in tune with my body the more I want to nurture it more and more and nourish it in a way that my body feels light and energised and full of vitality. Eating things that dull and or make me racy so do not sit well with my body anymore and it lets me know immediately, through discomfort and the like…
Yes the overeating sometimes is a bit tricky for me too, not all the time but at times, and the lethargy and tiredness after is telling indeed.
It’s so awesome when we can start to feel the difference in our body when we stop eating certain foods, gluten and dairy were the ones for me where I felt a huge difference many years ago now. With not eating dairy since the late 80’s my overall health improved so much and all the colds etc I used to have, just stopped. Having a gluten free way of eating also made a massive impact how my body felt after eating, a few hours later and the next day or two, no more heaviness or bloatedness or such thing, just light and full of energy. I am so glad I have no desire to eat any of these again (as well as other things).
Me too Karina. I can though rest on my laurels as such, and not continue to refine what food my body needs. There are many foods now that even though are not gluten and dairy or sugar, they act just the same in my body because its time for them to go as well. Like eating something that is dairy free and my nose immediately running after.
What I am learning to appreciate is that my food choices not only affect me, they affect everyone around me, for if I am making poor food choices that make me feel dull, heavy, cranky or irritable then this is what I share with the world. We are not simply eating for ourselves, we are eating for humanity.
There is such a huge correlation in what we ingest and how we feel and it seems like a lifetimes’s relationship with food where we are being offered more clarity and wisdom at every turn. It is just up to us to continue to make those self-loving choices.
Even those things we champion are great and wonderful for us and are what our bodies need may in truth not be like that at all. I mean we can have too many green vegetables at dinner time even if we think they are healthy.
Eating for taste and comfort is, for most of us, the first response when dealing with our emotions, subtle or otherwise. Personally, speaking I have used food (and still do, even the ‘healthy’ kind) as a deviation away from a difficult issue, or used it as numbing device. Yet, my body speaks loud and clear about what it can and cannot take. So, it’s like a double whammy, my body has to deal with the issue first and then the overburden of too much eating. Addressing the emotional ill undercuts the desire to eat more!
I’m allergic to quite a few foods and choose not to eat others because they make me exhausted, come out in a rash, bloated etc., and when I’m explaining it to other people they feel sorry for my diet and struggle to understand ‘why anybody would eat that way out of choice, rather than necessity’. But, as you’ve shared Bryony when you look at the effects and cut out the foods that weigh down your body it feels really different – I’d recommend anyone to try it, even just for a week.
I started to eat ‘the right food’ when I was presented with what some kind of foods like gluten and dairy did with us and our bodies and did not allow myself to experiment and to feel what my body was communicating. Now I do and my food choices learn me to refine what my body needs to deepen my stillness and the love that I am.
‘If I really wanted to know and understand why anybody would eat that way out of choice, rather than necessity, I realised I would have to give it a go for myself.’ What a great step to take Bryony – a personal experiment to arrive at a personal understanding. Most people never get anywhere near that point. They seem to be able to readily observe a change and note a vital appearance and presence, but rarely do they ask how you did it, let alone try it for themselves!
When we connect and appreciate the stillness which is innate to us all in our bodies we realise that there is no food that can ever substitute the feeling of oneness with all there is.
Even healthy food choices can be used to numb, or dull what doesn’t want to be felt and bloating or lethargy can occur as a result.
It sure does as healthy food that works for one may not work for another, depending on their level of evolution in any given moment.
The relationship we have with food, I know for me, I can still slip back into have this dialogue with food, relenting and eating foods that don’t support myself, then beating myself up for having done so. Which is such an age old pattern and one that feels unsupportive and definitely unloving. But I feel that questions I need to ask myself are…..why? why am I going to these foods? what is it I don’t want to feel? why don’t I want to be all of me? I have markers of what that feels like, what is it I don’t want to take responsibility for? I feel that there is a lot for me to ponder here.
Like any drug or poison we digest, smoke or drink, food also has a profound and often lasting affect on the body. We’ve all eaten food that we feel some sort of reaction or excitement from… even when people say ‘oh it doesn’t affect me’ or ‘I can eat what ever I like’, it’s not really true… the body will either be tired, bloated, full, deflated, foggy or even wired and artificially pumped up. For me it comes back to being super honest and appreciating how clear my body shows me.
It’s been said in the comments above that we eat to quell our emotions, which is true – we don’t like to admit that before physicality is the emotions we don’t want to deal with – and it would change the way we eat if we decided to recognise this fact and how the two effect each other.
I gradually weaned myself off gluten then dairy then sugar over a period of 12 years, it has been a long process but the results have been well worth while, and my body has shown a great improvement in weight and vitality. I slipped up plenty of times and now choices are easy because I can feel the effects, particularly sugar – it makes me feel depressed!
I love just how things evolved for you from that experience with eating you thought might only last a few weeks to feeling the joy of listening to your body’s wisdom and all that this has brought.
Bryony, I agree with this, ‘The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.’ When I eat lightly I feel great, I feel full of energy, I feel me and I enjoy my day, if I overeat or eat foods I know do not feel good in my body I feel dull, lethargic, I am more irritable and grumpy and I do not truly enjoy my day, so food affects me hugely. It seems crazy that the link between what we eat and how we feel is not spoken about more, particularly in schools.
Food choices have a huge impact on how we feel after we have made those choices, and a lot can come in before we make them. Great to actually stop and ask yourself, is this going to truly support me?
It is a huge and beautiful step in life to make choices based on how your body feels following on from certain experiences. This way is what builds and makes for a super strong, super loving and playful foundation for living in true freedom.
Yes and this way there is no feeling of ‘doing without’ or ‘forsaking something’ but a true evolution based on what the body is telling us, and then there is no ‘missing something’ , only feeling great in a truly nourished body.
The body is the first one to feed back the quality of our food choices, and any choice in fact. This is something I did not appreciate in my youth rather I ate from from the taste aspect alone.
We need to also consider that was truly nourishes us constantly changes based on where we are at with ourselves and our body. Nourishment is determined by our relationship with honouring what our body needs, over a tick box of ‘eating the right things’.
We hold so many false beliefs around food and it is not until we listen to our bodies, become honest about the messages it is giving us that we start to change our relationship with food.
This is very inspiring- and I have had the opportunity to eat more then binge foods for a couple of days and the difference I feel is immense. It is only by me choosing to eat this way and feels the difference in my body- that I am able to give myself a marker so I know the difference of eating more supportive food.
I have been experimenting with eating a lighter meal in the evenings. When I come home I can be very tired and this normally leads to me overeating, not from hunger but from wanting to get rid of the exhausted feeling. So now what I do is have a rest when I come home, then make sure I go to bed earlier. The result is the lighter meal helps me sleep better and I wake feeling more energised and rested rather than sluggish. The next step is to look at my days and adjust them so I am not coming home exhausted.
When you start to say no the foods which cause havoc in the body it becomes very clear how many products are manufactured to work against the body instead of nurturing it. Things life wheat, dairy, excessive sugar, salt and additives all play a part in the reactions our bodies exhibit.
People become very curious when you eat food that is different to ‘the norm.’ Of course there are no rules, but lots will have some kind of sandwich or bread for lunch. The fact that I don’t eat bread is unusual and what I’ve noticed is people ask questions; and some at work and in my family have actually decided to start paying attention to what feels right for their body and make changes to what they eat.
From own experience I know that becoming more clear in the body through taking away certain foods, such as gluten, sugar and dairy that my body clearly communicates with me what to eat and what not. For instance when people are presenting cakes when they have birthdays. Nothing in my body is wanting anything of this, and when people ask me if it is difficult to not take any I have to tell them that what my body is sharing, that there is no such thing as to give in to the taste buts of my mouth in disregard of my body, which in fact has to suffer the consequences of eating this cake for instance.
It makes sense that our food choices change as we do.
‘like I’m operating on battery-saving mode.’ This is a perfect description of what it feels like when I eat certain foods. And often, I eat foods that don’t support me when I am trying to avoid dealing with something, so in enters a thought that tells me I need some kind of reward or something to pacify me…and then not long after, I feel like I need to go to sleep.
“It goes without saying that it’s pretty challenging to experience what it’s like to be in someone else’s body.” Yes very true, all our ideals and beliefs we picked up when we grew up and along the line when living our lives makes our views/feelings of things like what to eat very tainted. It is therefor very hard to know what another is feeling when you are living in a totally different way – it can seem for us to be from outer space even. The only way to see if what someone presents, when we are not able to feel it, is to live it ourselves.
Just like you Bryony, when I took the foods out of my diet that my body had been telling me for years that it couldn’t deal with, “It felt like a fog I’d been living in …….. had started to lift.”, and as long as the food stayed out the fog stayed away. In fact, it has not just been the fog, but many other symptoms that have disappeared out of my life; the sinus problems from milk, the itching from the sugar and the digestive disorders from gluten, are all no longer making my life a misery, and for that my body and I are endlessly appreciative.
I know that feeling. Whenever I eat something that is heavy or not right for me I feel it in my eyes, and my nose also reacts.
Can we please teach children from young how to listen to what their body really wants, at present we give children sweets and all the wrong types of food usually to give ourselves a break and to keep them quiet. With a little patience we can help children to develop a loving respectful relationship with their body.
Sure Samatha, this is really needed. But it has to start with the adults who must be aware of the fact what they do bring to children when they offer them sweets for no other reason to comfort them or to make themselves pleased as there is no need for sweets in the body at all.
‘Learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.’ This simple statement turns so many established industries associated with food on their heads… and provides a clear path to self-care and wellness.
The pleasure and simplicity of learning to prepare food was so much fun that it was equally as enjoyable as eating the food, and sharing the mealtime with those whom we live with. My point is that, there is so much more to life than simply tasty food and the mechanics of cooking as well as the dreaded jobs like washing up and putting away, there is our beingness which is made to come through in all that we do.
What you have expressed in this blog Bryony is a wonderful reminder to take responsibility for what we eat;
“The less I ate of foods containing things like gluten, dairy and sugar, the lighter, cleaner and clearer my body and my mind felt”.
If we connect, listen and respond to our bodies we will discern what foods support our vitality and our wellbeing; it really is as simple as that. Thank you Bryony
A timely read for me as I have been reflecting on how often I make it about the food first and not me. I’ll worry or be anxious about what’s for lunch or what I might eat rather than whether or not my body actually feels it needs food. It’s an an entirely different way to be – letting your body doing the ‘thinking’ rather than the head.
That correlation between eating less of the foods so many crave, and actually feeling more fulfilled, and more full is such a key point. I notice for me that when I eat sugary foods then my cravings are far more, just as when I used to eat pasta it would never fill me up, as I was always looking for something extra. There is a science to food and one that is uniquely individual, but for me the way food used to leave me feeling lethargic and flat is in contrast to how much lighter and full of beans I felt when I gave up gluten, diary and alcohol. Food for thought indeed.
More and more I have been discovering the same in that how I prepare a meal reflects the quality of energy I have allowed into my life that I will then swallow. Food can show us what we choose to be in our lives. I used to live with a lot of sadness and this was reflected in my constant pull towards soft, comforting foods. Even now if I feel sad my food choices lean towards foods like avocados and smoothies, soft and squishy but now from experience I know these do not make the sadness go away, only my choices to understand why I feel sad and to not repeat behaviours that make me sad.
When we bully ourselves to not eat certain food or drink then we are swallowing that hardness but when we choose what to eat and drink to nourish our body then we are nourishing our body with the love of self-care and self-respect.
There are many foods that I like the taste of but they come with a price. Even though I love the taste, more and more often I find I’m not prepared to pay the price. I like mangoes and many other sweet fruits but they make me really racy for a short period followed by the need to sleep. I’m then moody for the next day. Less and less am I willing to live that way for the short moment of pleasure when the food is in my mouth. Often things are referred to as treats, but it is really a treat if we feel terrible afterwards?
I am finding that as well Nikki, some foods, although I no longer eat them like cheese pizzas, smell really good – but the days afterwards (if not five minutes after) would not be pretty. Some people speak to me in a tone of pity when they say I ‘can’t’ have chocolate and cheese as if I am suffering but it’s not that I ‘can’t’ it’s more that I don’t want the hours, days, week of pain afterward!
” I judged making different food choices as an obsessive eating habit” I could really relate to this comment. The feeling that you are always judging for what you eat, no matter if it is good for you or not. It never promotes a feeling of being loving or supportive when we are critical of ourselves.
Amazing how clear you felt when you eliminated those foods. You were obviously already super sensitive if you were so aware so soon after removing them from your diet. Pretty cool!
The notion of having to ‘give up’ food in order to be true for the body is absolutely crazy when you think about it. What are we truly giving up – the food or the emotional hit we get from having it?
it is amazing to feel the difference between eating well, or not and how this makes the body feel. Cutting our heavier foods such as bread, gluten and dairy coupled with getting rid of caffeine and sugar has made an inordinate difference to how I feel day to day. Like you Bryony my mind is clearer and less foggy and I feel sharper and more awake. I am noticing though that even on the ‘healthy’ stuff I still have the propensity to overeat especially at the times when I don’t want to feel what has happened in my day or what I might be feeling and this can make my body feel drained.
More and more I feel it is not only about the choices what to eat but also how we eat, are we present with ourselves or reading a book, or surfing on internet at the same time. How did we cook, were we there cooking with love or were we in a rush, or a need for food. It all comes down to the relationship we have with ourselves, is this a loving one as in we want to take care for our body or are we just going on autopilot.
I do agree with what this blog is saying and I must admit that when I hear people say they listen to their bodies some people may say my bodies say’s it needs cake or needs a beer after a long day. I’m not choosing sides or picking on the blog but we need to be able to quantify what we are talking about a bit. Everyone has food cravings, well I assume they do and then it’s either a decision to cave in or to fight it but what if you knew like alcohol does that you feel crap afterwards? As we can see and as I remember it didn’t make any difference I would still have a drink. So what has changed now that I don’t? Have I just got better at saying no or has something else changed. Well much has changed but it’s the way I look at things. I do listen to my body I can say but like I said I would have said that before and so now I look ahead. I know if I eat, drink or do something that in the past or from what I have seen doesn’t go well then I say no at the thought itself and don’t bother about it any further. The thought may come again a minute or a day after who knows but it’s about exploring more that this is not actually you. It becomes about getting to know yourself truly, I mean who would deliberately do something that hurt themselves? No one truly and so there is something or someone else at play here. I have opened up to my thoughts not being my own and this is a relationship that’s ongoing.
So true Bryony… ” It was me who was making a big deal about what they chose to eat, not them” – it is my experience too that others make a far bigger deal of my food choices now I am the healthiest and most vital of my whole life, but never a word when I ate all sorts of things that clearly did not support me at all. That begs a much deeper question to ponder and the answer for me offers an understanding of those who do, far more than it is reflective of anything I am answerable to. Making choices that truly support us is challenging for others, as they also know deep down those choices are ones they would like to have made too. We do not like being exposed in the choices we do make, and the reasons therefore that we make them… and that applies to us all at any time we are facing another who has taken steps we have thus far chosen not to.
It’s funny for me to sit back this morning reading about food. I can say yesterday I chose to eat cake or biscuits or I chose to eat an apple or snack bar. Anyway you look at it you are saying ‘you’ chose it. But what if you don’t truly know who you are? Or what if you know part of who you truly are but not fully? Would that leave an opening in you? What I am saying is that if our world is energy more than physical and if we are giving more power to physical then energy when it comes to decision then I say we can say we ‘chose’ this and that and then gauge one decision as looking better than another. Some may say cake, oh I don’t eat cake which they perceive maybe better than someone that does or someone that eats refined sugar over someone that eats honey or maple syrup, a perception of better and worse. Yet here we are saying energy over physical therefore wouldn’t it not matter what type of sugar or if you did or didn’t eat cake? It would all be about the energy and not the energy you are in, more about the energy you choose. So if we don’t really live in the fullness of who we truly are in every moment, some may say they do but then from your choices you can look and see if this is true or another thought from somewhere else. I would say if we are trying to stop ourselves from eating certain things or stopping ourselves from eating certain things because they are better then we have already taken a few steps into something and it’s not truly you choosing it. Energy first, so you choose the energy you are in well before a physical choice. If we want to talk about food then we need to take the food off the table, the energy is there well before you put whatever on your plate. Keep talking about food as being the choice and it would seem we will be forever lost in choices, energy comes first, how are you feeling?
The taste of certain foods often blinds our body into eating food that serves to tingle the taste buds and leaves us craving more and more that often leads to the detriment of our health.
Your last sentence is very humbling Byrony, “The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.”
There was a time when this would mean to me the foods and drinks I would consume. I would not even have remotely considered the emotions that I used and wallowed in to be ‘something I put into my body’, but they are. Allowing such thoughts and behaviors to take over my body have severely harmed it by way of exhaustion and anxiety. Blogs like yours bring these awarenesses out for consideration and discussion and if anything in today’s world is going to change, it has to begin with awareness.
Yes, I agree Bryony – This is exactly what happened to me when I stopped eating foods that were making me feel lethargic or bloated – there was nothing to ‘give up’ or ‘do without’ – fairly soon, my body just lost interest in these foods and there was no battle to take part in.
“When I listen to my body like this, it totally removes the arduous ‘giving up’ of unhealthy foods, the battle against cravings, or strict regimes. Eating in a way that truly nourishes me becomes easy because my body just isn’t interested in foods that don’t make me feel good”.
It is only until we choose to build an honest relationship with food that we begin to realise it’s importance on our health and wellbeing and the many ways we have been using it to delay our evolution by constantly numbing our awareness with it.
I visited a restaurant for the first time and ordered lamb kofte with salad. When the dish arrived something did not feel right: too much food on the plate, how it was served, salad smothered with dressing I hadn’t ordered. I bit into the kofte, all I tasted was salt, it was over-powering, meal over. I no longer cook with salt, and this felt like an assault on my body. The more we care for ourselves in daily life, the more discerning we become when eating out. Usually I walk with my own food, or know restaurants (few and far between) that serve foods my body would want to eat.
Bryony, a very clear exploration of our relationship with food its effects on our bodies and one to shared with others. Our choice of food gluten, dairy, sugar and largely carb alcohol and caffeine free, is also about the energetic quality of food. I once stopped by ‘freefrom’ supermarket food range (gluten, dairy free) and examined product information, only to find they contained all sorts of nasties and usually sugar. Keeping food simple, largely fresh, green vegetable, fish lamb gives me all the nourishment I need: my body feels alive and my mind clear.
Its such a simple equation. Food is going to spend a few seconds at most in your mouth, and yet about 36 hours wending its way through the rest of your body being assimilated. Which is the more important stage?!
Great point Simon and very a very simple and supportive reflection when choosing the real motivation of what, when and how much to eat.
When I used to eat foods that dulled me I was completely unaware that they did so. That was my ‘normal’. As I have made different food choices and feel more energetic and vital, if I do make a food choice that doesn’t support me my body gives me an instant signal these days. Always my choice…..
Indeed there is much to be said for no rules rather observing what is supportive and nourishing for our bodies and learning when we are eating to dull our awareness of what we are feeling in life.
“The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.” This is a continuing daily choice to understand this and to fully take responsibility for it. The effects on our body really is profound depending on what we choose to put into it.
This is an amazing sharing and learning with such a simplicity and honesty of the effects of food and what we eat how we feel and what we want to feel or not. ” The more I listen deeply to my body, the more it shares with me, and the steadier I feel. It’s amazing to feel how this has affected all areas of my life, far beyond how my body feels: from knowing what needs to be said in any given situation, to feeling clearer, having more trust in myself and knowing of what to do next, with far less need from anything outside of me.” I have found the same also and choosing what we put into our bodies is really profound.
Thank you Bryony for sharing your experience with us. The more I read and listen to my body I can see that there is no one but me who can take responsibility for my decisions . The Wonderful presentations of Serge Benhayon have opened my eyes to see that I am the only one who can make the changes and therefore nurture myself with my food choices.
Throughout our life we learn many beliefs, customs and routines, but some or a lot of them may not be true at all – A very liberating step was to eat when I’m hungry and not because it is a mealtime.
“……..to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.”
To listen to the body is one of the most important tools we have in order to stay healthy.
I love this line about the arduous giving up of unhealthy foods. This to me is like a merry-go-round that takes us nowhere but around and around on the same cycle of behaviour and thoughts, which never really seem to truly benefit us, even if they can appear to for a short while. In contrast to this, it has been an amazing experience to step off of this spinning wheel and address the self-loving choices that are available to me each day. In turn my diet has changed, sustainably and with great pleasure. And, what’s more, is that I am now my ideal weight, although that was never my goal or intention, it has just happened naturally.
If I could give my younger self one piece of advice it would be to avoid gluten and dairy, sugar and alcohol. Doing so transformed my health, wellbeing and vitality and I reckon these are the cause of so many health conditions and feelings of discomfort and illness that many of us suffer.
Re-reading your blog again today Bryony and reading your statement – ” I had never really considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts.” – this made me sit up: “… and even the quality of my thoughts.” – That is a great marker – that the food we eat also affects the quality of our thoughts. I shall be very vigilant on this one, thank you.
“It goes without saying that it’s pretty challenging to experience what it’s like to be in someone else’s body” – exactly Bryony, which means that there can be no point in casting stones or judgment over a person’s choice to eat what they eat.. because we are not, and never will be them, or in their body to even get a feel/experience of what that’s like for them. Same with directly copying people with food choices too when there’s the belief that by eating the certain food/diet etc. “we’ll become like the person, and their body”. As ever food is related to acceptance of oneself and one’s body.
A great understanding and sharing Bryony, ‘I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it’. Most people know this, yet pretend they don’t and choose to continue to numb themselves.
It is amazing that more study hasn’t been done into this area of the impact of food on emotions and how you feel. It is something that is very relevant for us all.
” I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.” This is so important what you say here Bryony from early on this should be a teaching in mainstream education.
Thank you for this very awesome blog Bryony. Lately I have noticed that food has a huge impact on my relationships. If I eat food that doesn’t support my body I have negative thoughts towards myself and I find the people around me more difficult to understand and connect to. The scary thing is that I have been aware of this for a long time and I often knowingly choose food as a form of protection. I am inspired by the following line as it reminds me that the only way out of this cycle is through choice. “But now I’d rather choose the stillness and solidness I can feel most of the time, over a sugary treat which makes me feel hyperactive and like I’m on drugs
It is fascinating to observe what is happening in the world at the moment around food and diet and when Doctors challenge the ‘food pyramid’ that we have been sold. When so much evidence flies in the face of this, if people go against this trend there seems to be an outrage directed towards them regardless of the very good physical results it is having.. This is something that needs to be looked at and questioned in regards to why is there so much control over our food industry.
‘It was me who was making a big deal about what they chose to eat, not them.’ Yes, that is often one of the most noticeable things about going gluten, dairy, sugar, yeast, caffeine and alcohol free – how the rest of the world handles it! Some people feel terribly challenged and affronted when they discover my choice to no longer ingest these substances. But perhaps what they’re feeling is their own inability to do what they know deep inside is there waiting for them to do but cannot quite embrace. Our bodies know what works, we just get in the way with our various desires, wants and ideals and beliefs.
This part is a classic, ‘surely it can’t be that ‘bad,’ if everyone does it?’ I used to use this as an excuse to justify most of my unloving choices especially ones related to food. But now, I listen to my body, trust what I feel and take responsibility for my choices. I realised, just because everyone is doing something it doesn’t necessarily mean it is true.
We can easily kill ourselves with our food choices or at least make life dull and humdrum, accompanied by thoughts about what to put next in our mouth and where to get it, and as fast as possible please.
Hahaha – so true Gabriele – indeed as fast as possible .. We have all been there and at times may find ourselves doing just that too . However, with more and more awareness these occurences do lessen, and we then can and will notice how the quality of life and thoughts etc does improve.
“The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound”. Just imagine if we were taught to understand this simple wisdom from young; that we have a body that is so precious, that treated with love and respect will in turn support us through our life, but if we mistreat it in any way the level of support will be so much less. When you think about it, this actually is common sense, which for some reason we sadly appear to be able to override at our discretion, and then wonder why our body at times brings us to a grinding halt.
If I stop eating a food because of a dogma or because someone has told me to, then maintaining that choice is a constant struggle.
Yes as it was not felt first in the body. Once we feel what certain foods do in our individual bodies, making choices to nourish rather than ‘eat’ become so much easier.
Joining the dots between what you eat and how you are in the day, your emotions and your energy levels etc is so vital. Seen in isolation the choice to eat or not eat something can be really hard. Few would deny the yumminess of certain foods! But the actual taste is such a small part of the picture, such a tiny moment that lasts only a few seconds…yet the effects of that food can last for hours or days. Once we look at the wider picture, then making the supporting choices becomes very simple.
The more I refine what, why and when I eat, the quantity of food I eat and the quality I eat in the lighter I feel and the more energy I have.
Hear hear so true Mary-Louise. I also find if I do eat something that I normally do not eat anymore or I eat without conscious presence, my body tells me very quickly – a true marker indeed of how we are with ourselves.
You have nailed it Bryony when you state how your choice of food comes from listening to your body. Even if two people eat exactly the same food if one does it from their head or from some ideals and one does it from a loving and honouring connection to their body, the results will be quite different…. added to which it is not only what we eat but the quantities and energy we prepare and eat it in and you can’t get away from how it all comes back to our body and our relationship with it.
I can see how changing food choices can be seen as controlling. And sometimes perhaps it is, like for example as a way to compensate oneself for feelings of lack of control in certain other areas of life. I certainly have done this in the past. But it feels different when these changes are made from the body that speaks. My body has made it very clear what it likes and what it does not, this does not involve any one else, and there is no real need for me to talk about it unless the subject comes up. Food and me, we have a private relationships that is based on mutual trust and respect for my body.
I had the opportunity the other day to observe two children in a very stressful situation. It was interesting to hear both of them, in their various ways, bring up the subject of food many times. At its worst, food is an everyday comfort, a medication we can legitimately turn to because we have a human need to sustain ourselves at the physical level. It’s not a drug we can completely divest ourselves of and therein lies the challenge – how to use food responsibly. And it starts so young.
Its been an interesting experience playing with what I eat. My approach at the start was definitely one of feeling deprived so I would make changes slowly, feeling cheated if I realised that there was something I liked the taste of but that did not make me feel good.
But then when these choices are consistently lived I can feel the difference. How much more vital I feel, that there is no bloating after a meal, that my body does not waste any energy having to wade through or recover from some poison of another.
Fact is it feels amazing, and that is why I continue with and am committed to having the foods in my diet that suit my body the best.
Refining food choices to feel healthier and happier should never be a rule or a struggle.
Instead an appreciation of how much you care for yourself and the ability to bring more to your everyday.
We are more challenged by the thoughts, beliefs and ideals we hold about food than we are from our body. Our body will always love any change that agrees with it; and yet our mind will battle with anything that has been serving a purpose in providing comfort, or satisfying an emptiness on some level.
“Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it”.
Stopping to feel the effects of the food we put in our mouths is certainly the key to the quality of life we live; this fact cannot be underestimated.
“I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.”
I can feel the power in this statement Bryony. The quality we choose in everything we do is reflected back to us, so it makes perfect sense that the food we put into our bodies can be either dulling, or it can support us to be all that we are.
It is amazing to read of the relationship you have developed with yourself through the commitment you had to listen to your body and honour what it needs rather than what you desire. It is clear from the awareness and clarity your now have that what we choose to eat has a profound affect on us and our way of being.
Perspective is a fascinating thing… originally when I was looking at a gluten free, dairy free diet with no alcohol, no caffeine etc I was just thinking how hard it would be to give all those things up. Having lived like that for 10 years it’s totally different – I know how incredibly well my body feels and how challenged my boy gets when I indulge in sugar for a day, so the impact of the others would be pretty extreme… that is the perspective from the other side of the fence!
I love your three point realisation Bryony, it makes it so clear that there is no need to convince anybody with anything (not only food) but to live our life as truthfully as possible by stopping and felling, as you say, to then choose what feels true for us. This takes the whole comparison, that we are so used to in this world, out of the equation and allows us to live and let live.
Food has a huge impact on us, how we feel, what we feel and are aware of, ‘ I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.’
Yes this is well expressed Lorraine, I find that too – the reflection of what I put into my body and how, comes rather quick these days 🙂
When I was a child I loved anything sweet. Chocolate, cake, ice-cream, sweets, I would always eat them and eat a lot of them. Never if you asked me then that there would be a time in my life I would eat NONE of these I would not have believed you! And probably been horrified! But I now have a different awareness and understanding of life, the truth I knew deep within had been woken up, and got to feel the loveliness of me. Maybe all that sugar was me wanting to connect to my innate sweetness? I completely agree with what you have said though, that is, any change, experience or pondering with our diet needs to come from us because we want to and not because we feel we ‘have’ to, that is never going to work. There is still loads for me to learn and heal with this, it is an ongoing journey depending on the level of self-love I have for myself.
It wasn’t so much taste that I used to eat for but more to zone out than anything. A big plate of food in front of some really crap telly and I was gone. Mummified in a muffled existence until the telly went off and then I had to haul my weary self to bed, nothing resolved, all the things that had been bothering me, simply shoved down a bit deeper along with the food!
“Every time I choose something – a food, drink, thought or emotion that doesn’t make me feel so good, I get to feel it – and I can choose differently next time, if I feel like it.” This is so true, a few weeks ago I ate things I had given up, but soon my body showed me clearing that it was not supporting me, I felt tired and my mind became cloudy, I felt heavy in my body. It doesn’t take long for the body to respond when it doesn’t like what is has been given.
One thing I have learned about eating – and life in general is that every aspect we engage with in life has a natural rhythm that our body works in, cooking has a rhythm and so does eating – eating not in this rhythm or rushing, etc is just as detrimental as eating ‘unhealthy’ foods.
There are so many reasons we can make as to why we eat certain food. I have made my fair share which makes me feel comfortable about the decision I have made in the short term but not long after do I notice the body gives me a pretty clear signal that my choices don’t agree. As humans we know deep down inside what feels right and what leaves the body feeling heavy and lacking the energy and vitality that we know we have all felt in some way or another. Maybe the question here is not about food choices but why we continue to repeat this again and again?
“But now I’d rather choose the stillness and solidness I can feel most of the time, over a sugary treat which makes me feel hyperactive and like I’m on drugs.” I too have found that the sugary foods don’t give me the thrill they used to. in fact the buzzy, hyper feeling is actually quite irritating and uncomfortable. I know there is nothing more ‘thrilling’ than feeling connected within my own body. The feeling of stillness has with it such contentment that I am deeply enjoying becoming more and more accustomed to feeling this in my life.
“I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.” this to me feels like the core of my relationship with food at the moment, how aware of what is around me do I want to be and feel? Because whenever I eat something that has a negative, dulling, racy or dampening affect or I eat too much it’s because before that moment I was feeling really amazing or disturbed about something and it’s in the fighting of my feelings that leads to my food choices. Our relationship with awareness underpins a lot in life.
I have recently been refining my food and am amazed by the difference it makes. I was eating to relieve the tensions of the day and then becoming very exhausted and run down and experiencing health issues. From paying more attention to this I feel lighter and have more energy but also a little raw as I am now needing to feel all of what I had been trying to dull with food.
Listening to and honouring what our body says has many benefits, ‘Eating to nourish my body, and how it feels afterwards, instead of just for the short-lived taste sensation, is a constant unfolding, with increasing clarity and an amazing revelation: I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.’
It is only since I have been paying more attention to what I eat that I have really begun to notice how food and drink are unquestionably woven into every part of our society, in fact our life seems to revolve around food and drink, which considering how much we are affected by them is actually quite a scary fact.
‘But as I started making different choices about what to eat, I noticed that things began to change; the way I responded to situations was changing.’ We can’t underestimate the multitude of ways in which the quality of our fuel (the choice of our energy source) impacts upon every choice thereafter (including our food choices and beyond).
How easily we can judge eating and foods as ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, eat to ideals that we have and pictures we form. We have favoured flavour over nutrition and eating as social, sport and escape rather than as nourishment and support.
We have eating back to front and inside out – right down to the foods we are now consuming enmass in humanity – from simple whole foods to refined, processed, high sugars, caffeine, fats and salts. This is worth looking into and arresting for the ill-pattern begins from young and also passes from adult to child without honest inquiry and reflection as to what is the purpose of this food and why do we seek it?
Our body has so much to share, it just takes a lot of humbleness and humility to be open to what it shares.
‘I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.’ This is what I have found too – every choice affects the next choice.
Today my diet is radically different to how I used to eat 10 years ago and so is my health. The simpler and more natural the foods, the more my taste buds have changed and now I thoroughly enjoy meals full of fresh green vegetables, fish, lamb and plenty of salads and wow I feel like a million dollars on it.
Oh I so relate Rowena – me too. Gone are the days of heavy spices and salt – food is so simple these days, colourful, fresh and so nourishing indeed – my taste buds have totally changed as well and my body feels just awesome.
This deepening relationship with myself is worth pursuing. There is so much confusing information and contradictive information around food that unless we build this relationship with food we can become stressed about it, or worse, we can feel we are wrong all the time. This relationship is something I didn’t imagine in the past, and these days, if I ignore it to eat something I want to indulge in instead of listening to and knowing my body, the results can be painful. This relationship also needs space as I need to devote some time to prepare the food I need. Food becomes part of my rhythm.
The first loving relationship I have built with food is that I take responsibility of my body and I deserve to be nourished, therefore, it is a relationship I have with myself. I lovingly trust that whatever I choose for myself in terms of food is done so with a reason supported by the intention to return to love. Being honest about our intentions but always holding ourselves in love, begins to build a relationship that goes a long way, with food and everything else.
I find the same Ariana – the more I listen to my body the more my body shows me and it is for me to keep that awareness open and feel deeply into all it offers.
I am only just beginning to notice that what I can eat changes constantly, and what suited my body a year ago, may not suit it today. So constantly re-evaluating my food choices to support me living the vibrant and joyful life I deserve, is essential.
Rereading your blog has been a very timely reminder, because I could feel I was slipping into a bit of reluctance with listening to my body. “I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.” I am very aware of what is going on, but not been wanting to action what it is that my body has been telling me. So reading you blog has been very inspiring to listen to what my body is saying, so it can go to the next level of love with myself and then others.
It is in fact not difficult at all when we can be honest with what our body tells us to eat or not to eat. But how honest and clear can I be to myself, that is still the question as the food choices I make are not made from the rational but come from my body that still caries some hurts from which the different choices are made. Therefore to me when I encounter unhealthy a habit I question myself what hurt is there that needs to be healed.
The food choices we make definitely have a profound effect on our bodies. It is more than the gut, it is affecting our connection with wisdom we forgot we had, and in turn deliberately choose to leave behind. And so it is just a choice to return back to that, feeling into the foods that are supporting, this is connection.
I love that you have stated this here so clearly again Benkt – ” …feeling into the foods that are supporting, this is connection.” So true and so important and when we are able to do that, the connection we get to feel with ourselves becomes stronger and stronger and our bodies and thoughts will reflect this more and more.
‘ It was me who was making a big deal about what they chose to eat, not them’, I too have come across this, that other people make more of a fuss about my choices over food, which I now realise is the reflection others get of their own (and perhaps not so good) food choices.
Yes I find that too – other people making a fuss and commenting on my food choices, Even when I am invited for dinner or lunch and I bring most of my own food, making it much easier for the host and myself, the comments still come, often in form of judgement or something like that. I realise though that what I bring and eat may reflect to others their food choices which can create some discomfort when this is realised.
“The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound” Absolutely – this is an undeniable truth.
“But as I started making different choices about what to eat, I noticed that things began to change; the way I responded to situations was changing.” This was my experience as well although it did take quite some time before I connected the dots and realised that there was a correlation between the two.
Most of us eat food to deal with what we are feeling emotionally – and it is this more than taste that drives our diet. Taste, after all, is an acquired thing for the most part. But it is our craving to numb ourselves from what we feel that lies underneath our attraction to foods that are clearly not good for us.
I always considered myself to be relatively ‘healthy’ as I ate a moderately healthy diet, even a good one by most standards. Although I was not one for sweets, my treats were to lash out big on fried and salted foods. I became dairy and gluten free quite easily about 10 years ago and found that it revolutionised my life – weight dropped off that I didn’t need and my energy levels soared. And I realised that I had not known what ‘truly healthy’ meant or felt like. I am still adjusting my diet, listening to my body as I go and I have never felt so consistently well and vibrant.
On top of eliminating gluten and dairy from my diet several years ago, I have, for the last 6 months been on an auto-immune diet for health reasons which eliminates many other food groups. Stripping my diet back to the bare essentials like green vegetables and small amounts of protein, I’ve noticed that when I do deviate, or experiment by re-introducing others foods, I am far more sensitive to how they feel in my body. This is a great marker for me to appreciate that my body knows what it needs. I am then left with the choice to accept and honour or ignore and indulge anyway.
It’s so interesting the effects certain foods have on us without realising, until we start to remove them from our diet. I’ve been gluten and dairy free for many years and I am constantly refining my diet…although I’ve also ignored many of the signs my body has shown along the way, as there are some foods I find more difficult to let go of. I rarely add salt or cook with salt these days, and when I do, I notice how very often it is because I’m not feeling 100% and the salt acts as a pick me up. I also notice how if I eat something salty, I eat a lot more than I need. Salty foods are so addictive. It’s that stimulation that has us wanting more.
This really is quite the revelation: ‘I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.’ I know for many this statement just doesn’t feel achievable, but the proof is right here, With a little curiosity and a bit of commitment, there is an opportunity to feel different.
It really is extraordinary how much food affects us, everyone of us, all the time.
I too also feel how precious my stillness and my awareness is, and as this gets stronger, the temptations for something sweet are less and less and totally not worth a few seconds of a false sense of pleasure.
Love how you nail this blog Bryony. Food is such a huge subject and there’re so many ideals and beliefs around diet and food that we have all at some point fallen for. Learning to listen to our bodies is vital if we truly want real health and vitality.
Food choices are entirely personal – to choose the foods that are really supportive of our bodies at any given time is a beautiful way to approach the food we eat, but it requires a lot of honesty and a willingness to look beyond all the readily available ideals and beliefs around food choices.
I love your title of your blog Bryony, it is a great question and to be pondered deeply. It would be so awesome if it could be published in main stream media as well …
Love this blog, Bryony. It dispels the myths of ‘good’ food and ‘bad’ food and places responsibility for our choices front and centre in the debate about what we should eat. If there is any rule at all it’s to eat what we know to be true for our bodies – how they feel during and after digestion. And we can only get to that by experimenting, observing, knowing and honouring.
Indeed what we choose to put into our mouths is profound, thank you Bryony for expressing this simple yet powerful message;
“It’s not about demonising food groups nor judging myself nor anybody else for what we choose to eat, but so much more simple: stop, feel, and choose from there – is this food really supporting and nourishing my body, and how do I feel after eating it?”
I used to use tons of salt on everything and now I don’t. I notice now that anything salty makes me cough before I have even put it in my mouth. I find it quite amazing that my body is aware to that kind of detail now that I pay attention to what foods support me and what do not.
It is amazing Jeanette what the body communicates when we start listening to it. Only last night I was eating my dinner which had half an avocado. I have always loved avocado and ate them a lot. However last night, something had changed, because when I was eating it, it just did not hit the spot as was usual….. it even tasted cold and then damp. Initially I went into oh no I don’t want to give up avocado, to how amazing that I could feel and taste that and then honour what my body was communicating.
“I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.” This would be a great subjet to teach in cookery class in schools! Imagine how different our approach to food would be, and indeed our lives, if we considered this from a young age. To understand that the food I eat has a direct impact on how I am the following day with everything I do, including how tired I am has been an enormous learning and something that I continue to explore. I find that my body very quickly tells me if I’ve eaten something it did not want, that I ate too much, or even how I ate (e.g. I ate because I didn’t want to feel something). I am listening and learning more each day.
I remember a tine when healthy food was bland and tasteless and boring, and yet as time passed and I began to experiment with the foods I ate and how I felt and began to eat from a place of caring for my body and fuelling it rather than just eat, I found that I ate less processed foods and so my desensitised taste buds slowly re balanced and I could find that things I found bland before actually had a beautifully natural taste. And my cooking skills have widened and improved, so now every dish I cook is healthy and tasty.
It may sound strange but understanding food in a more 3 dimensional way has helped me to understand how I use it support and sabotage my body.
“The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.” – Very profound indeed and isn’t it quite astonishing that when we look at the world around us, some people are not making that connection or choose to override it – all to the detriment of their health and well-being.
And to observe this on a daily basis – “…links between my body and my emotional and mental state have become much more obvious’- is such a helpful method not just what food is supportive, but how our mental and emotional states are. To become aware of them allows us to choose differently.
I love this Bryony – “Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.” I am doing that too and it feels so awesome when the body communicates how it liked what I gave it. and it is so true, it’s not about rules or dieting or anything, it’s all about connection with our body.
Well said Bryony and a great reminder that ‘the effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.’ It is amazing how much food can effect us and how we plan life around food and meal times. It is also fascinating how little food the body actually needs! Which makes sense when we look at the alarmingly high levels of obesity.
“I still have ideas that pop into my head about my choices around food and how I ‘should’ be living.” Yes it is amazing to observe how many ideals and believes I have around food. More and more I am realising that it is only about what my body is saying, I can’t go to a goal that I have in mind if my body is not feeling the same thing. It is basically about surrendering and letting go of the disciplined way in which I have been with my food most of my life and letting it speak what it truly needs.
‘The links between my body and my emotional and mental state have become much more obvious.’ This is so true Bryony – and a science that the world is hardly willing to peek at.
Bryony after reading your post I was reflecting on the fact that in my experience food and family go hand in hand, you get together for a big meal that often is designed to taste amazing and provide the much sought after comfort. Yet if we also turn our purpose to evolution then the purpose of coming together and eating as a family would be connection and evolution so the natural pull towards what food to eat would be to nourish and support that purpose. If someone in the family does not feel so great they will be supported by the natural pull of the family and what they eat to feel more themselves and not divert into eating for taste.
There are so many myths surrounding food and what we should eat and shouldn’t eat, I was always one to eat a full English breakfast everyday to set me up for a day of physical work. Since I have cut that one out I have way more energy and less weight to carry round all day.
Thank you Bryony for your sharing. Our bodies are so wise but our minds try to argue! Learning to truly listen to my body has taken a little time but I know it tells me the truth.
A great expose on how the mind can trick us Bryony – ‘The idea of not drinking alcohol or caffeine and giving up gluten and dairy sounded ultra-healthy, but the thought of no cake or mojitos ever again? What a boring way to live, I thought.’
And so if we don’t ‘think’ but simply ‘feel’ every step of the way it is so obvious, the body tells us everything.
There is nothing boring about the renewed vitality and enthusiasm for life that I have since I stopped consuming foods that clearly dull me.
This is so true and likewise what we consume in the way of what we listen to and what we watch. It is interesting to lie down after watching a movie for example and feel what’s going on in our body. The choices we make after listening to some forms of music may be influenced by the music itself. We may find ourselves irritable with no known reason but maybe we have been consuming poison in what we have heard or seen or where we have placed ourselves and what we have absorbed without realising it.
I’ve found that the best way to decide what I am going to eat or not eat is to ask my own body. If I follow or copy anyone, even people who are seemingly healthy and vibrant, I am giving my power away. It’s so important to follow ourselves and not anyone else.
Bryony, this feels really true, ‘It’s not about demonising food groups nor judging myself nor anybody else for what we choose to eat, but so much more simple: stop, feel, and choose from there – is this food really supporting and nourishing my body, and how do I feel after eating it?’ I can feel how I have been judgmental of what foods I and others eat rather than accepting where others are at and having understanding of myself and others, I can feel that I have demonised certain foods as ‘bad’ and have had had quite strong opinions and reactions to these. I love how you are simply focussing on what feels good for you in your body.
Yes, it is becoming more and more apparent to me, the effect food has on all of our body, mind, emotional and physical,
‘It still amazes me that food can affect my body so much, because until recently I had never really considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts.’ Listening to and honouring my body at all times is vital.
My willingness to explore my relationship with, and attitude towards, food has been and continues to be, totally life changing. From so many of the beliefs you talk about Bryony to a blind acceptance of what the world statistically says is normal (alcohol, caffeine, sugar…) I have been disregarding and irresponsible about what I have eaten/consumed. What I love about a true approach to food is that there are no rules – for me it is about developing an honouring, listening relationship with my body and a care for my purpose and work in life.
I love the simplicity of food and our choices reflected in this sharing Bryony it is very supportive and shows the difference it makes to our lives “.Eating to nourish my body, and how it feels afterwards, instead of just for the short-lived taste sensation, is a constant unfolding, with increasing clarity and an amazing revelation: I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.” So true !
I like the analogy here Bryony, and I agree eating too much is really deleterious for our bodies, ‘The links between my body and my emotional and mental state have become much more obvious. When I eat lots of heavy food or too much food, I feel heavy, weighed down and foggy – like I’m operating on battery-saving mode.’
Since the last several months I have really changed my diet to eat more nourishing foods rather than just tasting foods, I have noticed a difference in my energy levels and how healthier my skin looks.
How big is food and I have the feeling not even I know how big it is. Blogs like this are a good start for us to cut into the food groups but we use food in so many ways. I know I use food for different reasons, different foods, different times, different combinations, different quantities. I am more and more amazed by the effect food can have on me from one moment to the next. I’m not concerned or weighed down by it but I feel more and more open to be shown ‘why’ I choose the things I do and now onto the next meal.
“It was me who was making a big deal about what they chose to eat, not them.”
I love your honesty here Bryony, its confronting watching others making choices that are clearly serving them, indeed is this not the beginnings of jealousy?
Oh – and I forgot to mention another huge bonus – the extra space that I have in my day, through only preparing and eating once. Good news for productivity!!
“The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.” As are the effects of what we choose not to put in our body. I’m referring to reducing the frequency with which I eat anything. This has been a gigantic revelation to me and I am every-day getting more and more surprised by the level of clarity, energy and awareness that I have through out the day by choosing not to eat anything until the evening. It goes against everything that we are taught or led to believe. But my body can’t be lied to and my body knows what works – so I’m listening.
Bryony – like you I can believe the link between food and how the body feels and quality of thoughts.
The connection is pretty in your face and one I ignored for a long time. I love the experiment you did and now my relationship with food is constant experiments. After recently having a baby my whole diet changed completely – I was eating things i did not expect to eat – but they really did support me at the time and now I can feel them dropping away and thats great.
The body really knows what is supportive, how much and when – so constantly experimenting is just us listening and responding to our bodies.
So true Hannah, the body does know, I feel like i have started again with food, taking the time to honour my body and feel what supports – a blank canvas free from any ideals cast by others – I have become my own science project.
What great research Bryony, feeling what to eat and the effect it has on our body and how we are, ‘Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.’
What I find is that a food can be fine one day, but not the next. It’s not about the food itself but when and why I’m eating it. So if I’m eating anything to numb myself, then I’ll feel that. If I’m eating the same food to nourish, then I’ll feel great afterwards.
Taste is such a HUGE product pleaser in the world of food producing. The pull to eat food for nutrition value is often down played over the BIG bangs of flavour sold in the media through the myriad of cooking shows and channels. How often do we stop to feel our bodies reaction after these tantalising meals that yes do send high five signals to our taste buds but often leave us in the same merry go around feeling of being tired or bloated after the meal has ended.
Craving sugary or fatty foods is a sure and clear indicator that there is something I dont want to feel it can either be something emotional I have taken on or even if I dont want to confirm or appreciate how good I am feeling or doing.
There is so much around food. Keeping it simple, feeling how my body reacts to food, and not being drawn in to what others may or may not be eating has been wonderfully liberating and so great for my wellbeing as a whole.
“Instead of focusing on what I can contribute to a situation and bring to others around me, I make it all about me and my life.” Such an honest statement – it is this type of honesty that will change the world.
This is a superb blog sharing about the profundity of our food choices and how it affects our body. Not only affects our body but when we make choices that are nourishing and caring, it affects our whole life with greater clarity, lightness, vitality and we feel more connected to ourselves and our bodies…such a simple thing we do every single day out of necessity, but then it becomes more than that, we can use food for many reasons to fill us, dull us, comfort us or to support us to live our potential to healthy living as is my experience.
‘Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.’ Learning to listen to our body is the key, and allowing ourselves to make the connection how much what we eat affects our bodies which ineffect, affects the quality of our body from heaviness to lightness, lethargy to vitality and so forth. When we begin to make choices to eat supportively this starts to expand to other areas of our lives in taking care of ourselves so we can begin to live at an optimum rather than on the back burner.
‘It’s not about demonising food groups nor judging myself nor anybody else for what we choose to eat, but so much more simple: stop, feel, and choose from there – is this food really supporting and nourishing my body, and how do I feel after eating it?’ Exactly, its not about judging but choosing what is supportive and nourishing for ourselves…
This is a very powerful statement ‘The less I ate of foods containing things like gluten, dairy and sugar, the lighter, cleaner and clearer my body and my mind felt’ It’s that simple when we are open to feeling the affects food has on our bodies and our bodies show us easily, if we are willing to pay attention and make the connection to body affects from what we eat. As you have stated Bryony, when we eat certain foods we can feel heavier, and other foods much lighter and clearer.
This awareness along with the willingness to really take care of and honour ourselves and we have a very powerful combo.
I love the title of this blog. It says it all and lays the choice so clearly at our door. A taste is a short term hit; a buzz, a relief, a distraction, a reward – whatever the reason it has been sought, it last for a maximum of 5-10 seconds. And afterwards what are you left with – nothing, or actually an increase of what was felt before so probably an even stronger urge for more ‘taste’. Nourishment is totally different. It supports, it builds, it nurtures. So we have a choice.
The fact that we can make choices, suffer the consequences we know we don’t like, such as a hang over or bloating, and then make the same choices all over again next time round, reveals an arrogance within us, a stubbornness that is rooted deeper within our hurts and issues than initially appears. The very fact that our body would naturally not choose to make these choices again reveals this very fact.
‘ It still amazes me that food can affect my body so much, because until recently I had never really considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts’. Aah, how many people consider that the food they eat affect the quality of their thoughts….
Only a few years ago I had no clue how food and also how I prepared and ate food ( normally in a rush) affected my body and how I moved. I have made many changes around food and still refining, but more and more I am gaining the awareness that the less I eat the more aware am I and my body is supporting me in this process, all I have to do is listen to it.
Yes, me too, Jacqueline, and this has helped me realise that there are many beliefs I have adopted (around food and many other things) that can be reviewed and reconsidered and then refined or dispensed with.
Its been my experience that I wasn’t really able to gauge the full harm of certain foods until I gave them up and then returned to them and felt the difference in my body. Which goes to show that it is worth being aware of what we eat and being open to considering the effect foods may be having on us. This has served me far better than saying that this food is labelled healthy so it must be right for me, or worse still when I used to live with no awareness of the harm of a certain food like dairy, where it really was clear, not associating the nasal blockages with the consumption of this food even when it occurred right after eating it.
Making food choices for what our bodies feel they need, rather than thinking what we need, leads the way back to true nourishment. Sounds pretty good to me. Thank you Bryony.
Sounds simple when we choose to be responsible with each mouthful and the level of clarity that comes from feeding the body the nutrients it needs in order to support us in our daily lives.
I’m sure that part of the reason why I find it difficult to feel the relationship between food and my body is because I have always been able to eat anything and everything without any allergies or side effects – I even used to be proud of the fact that I had a ‘cast-iron stomach’. It’s a work in progress (a labour of love!).
“It still amazes me that food can affect my body so much, because until recently I had never really considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts.” I was so quick to jump in and change my food choices in a ‘monkey see, monkey do approach’ that I completely missed the most important ingredient – taking the time to stop and consider the link between ‘what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts’. Even though, within a very short period of time, I could feel and see a marked difference, I didn’t delve deeper and connect to the direct link between food and its profound effects in my body.
One of the things that struck me most clearly is that “Difficult conversations, although still difficult, became less intense.” That was such a revelation for me. I had not expected it at all but it definitely forms an incentive and inspiration to be aware of what I choose to put in my mouth.
I can relate to all you say about food here Bryony and what I choose to take into my body definitely has an effect on how I feel emotionally and whether there is a mental fog or clarity after certain foods. My body is very quick to show me now if there has been an excess of some food that it can’t deal with – for example a skin rash will begin and once the offending food is removed, the skin rash clears.
Bryony, your blog shows how cravings are not real. It’s our emotions that crave something, not the body. The body knows what it needs and it lets us know and as you say “Eating in a way that truly nourishes me becomes easy because my body just isn’t interested in foods that don’t make me feel good.”
I always felt very heavy after eating bread, pasta or pizza but instead of thinking that perhaps they weren’t good for my body, I thought there was something wrong with me. I had allergy tests and results showed an intolerance to such foods and the offer was there to ‘cure’ me so I could eat them without the effects. I looked at this and then realized that perhaps my body was telling me something so I experimented by deciding to give up eating food containing gluten. Almost immediately I started to feel lighter, I no longer felt drowsy after a meal and I could think more clearly. Every time I tried a little bit of this food I would immediately feel the same old heaviness so I just naturally gave them up very easily. Why would I want to ingest anything that made me feel that way? The body sure does let us know, it’s a matter of whether we are prepared to heed it or not.
The title “Eating to Nourish” instantly changes the way one views food and eating. Brilliant blog Byrony, showing there’s another way to love and self care our body.
To stop and feel the depths to which food can affect how we feel and how it affects our thoughts is massive. In the short term we just look to satisfy those emotional cravings but taking stock of what happens later in the day or few days after is a fascinating study.
Thanks for your great blog- Bryony. I have recently been diagnosed with the beginnings of an autoimmune disease and been asked to follow an autoimmune diet protocol. I initially reacted to this, feeling it to be too restrictive, about rules, too hard to follow and therefore didn’t commit to it fully. 3 months later my blood results showed my condition had deteriorated.
A big wake up call- letting me know how important diet plays in our well-being as well as the need to take more responsibility for my health.
Hello Bryony and just when you think you know this, “It still amazes me that food can affect my body so much, because until recently I had never really considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts.” Something else pops in and shows you there is another layer to go to. I think I had always considered what you are saying with food but I had only considered a part and not everything. Even now I don’t think I am aware of it all, I could say I am but I am continually humbled by another part. Thanks Bryony, time for breakfast.
Even though I know all of this to be true, and have gone through long periods of eating very nourishing for me I still find it difficult to live this consistently and often will willfully chose to harm myself with food and block the clarity I so easily can have when I simplify everything. It is fascinating the games we play with ourselves and food, all a very strong reflection of how we feel about ourselves.
The links between our emotional state and the foods we not only eat, but crave to eat should not be underestimated. One will tend to influence the other in ways that we often do not consider.
It is astounding how much of a big deal we make about food. Food is used to comfort us, distract us, excite us, stimulate us etc. The problem is most people are not honest about this fact and this is why they react so strongly when another is making simple loving choices for themselves around food.
It is quite easy to relate our food choices and how much we eat with the weight gain or loss. It is a bigger leap to consider that our food choices have a significant effect on how we feel and our thought processes and putting our own bodies to the test is a wonderful way of finding out just how true this is.
Giving up gluten and dairy for me was a gradual process, the gluten more from the reason that I was feeling intolerant to it and my body was definitely saying that it didn’t want it anymore. The dairy, at the time I had thought was more voluntary, that I just didn’t feel to anymore, so started to let go of it in my diet. Interestingly enough, at the time, I had not attributed the sinus and hay fever issues that I suffered were connected to the fact I ate dairy. But over time, all the symptoms that I had, completely went away…..completely!! So I can honestly say that these choices have made a very positive impact on my life.
“The idea of not drinking alcohol or caffeine and giving up gluten and dairy sounded ultra-healthy, but the thought of no cake or mojitos ever again? What a boring way to live, I thought” – ha ha, i thought the same too Bryony, and also remember asking a person who’d given up all that whether they’d have ‘just one’ for birthdays or celebrations.. the fact that they said they did not astounded me, and disappointed to a degree. Because 10 years ago i never ever thought i would not drink because back then it was an integral part of my life from a work perspective and social too, it was how deals were struck or friendships made. With regards alcohol i remember going to a sacred esoteric healing course, and afterwards never drinking again, i can’t even remember the occasion of the last drink, or me consciously or with any will-power whatsoever saying ‘i must no longer drink’, for me it just happened, i just never drank alcohol again, …. and looking back now do remember during that course feeling the responsibility i had to not drink if i were to heal a person with my hands (i had been considering a career change in healing back then). So it was the energy and responsibility aspect that had resonated deeply with me to not digest or ingest things that were not going to support (and harm) another person, and myself too. It all came very easily, no trying required, and i’ve never ever had even the remotest desire to have it despite people’s best efforts to convince, or saying i’m missing out, no fun etc. Not drinking alcohol may well be a phase for some, but for me love most definitely is not; it is ongoing and only gets greater and greater in its joy. Why give something like that up?
And that makes it then so easy doesn’t it, when we make it about how it feels instead of rules and regulations. Connecting to our body and observing what certain foods do or don’t do is such a great way to finding out what truly serves in any moment, and this can and does change as we grow in awareness and consciousness.
Isn’t this just the best feeling Bryony – “What has been amazing is that I rarely crave any of the stuff I used to. ” I have got the same experience and it feels so liberating to not being governed anymore by these cravings.
What I eat has changed significantly over the years. How I eat is another issue. I eat very quickly. There is a feeling of wanting to be full. Reading this informative blog with all the comments has inspired me to conduct a little experiment with myself. Over the next week I’m going take my time when eating, putting my knife and fork down between mouthfuls. I’ve tried this before but never been able to sustain it for more than a day. Committing this to writing on a public forum may support me to stick with it : )
I used to eat food to change how I felt because I didn’t feel very good, whereas now that I feel great I eat food that leaves me alone.
I can honestly say that giving up gluten and dairy for me was the start of getting on with my life, mainly because my health improved so much and I was able to go out to the shops and get a job. Prior to giving up I was practically house bound due to the IBS symptoms I was experiencing and several other illnesses – all of which started to improve as I detoxed my body from the gluten and dairy.
The effects of what we put in our bodies is profound. Last night I had a takeaway curry from a place I used to use often, the guy knows to put no dairy, gluten or salt in it but whatever was in it my body didn’t like very much. I won’t go into the gory details. I used to be able to eat just about anything without feeling the consequences but the more care you take the more care you have to take.
We give up a food or drink, we often feel like we have been deprived, but in actual fact we feel much more vital and clear without it. So it had me question why I felt the deprivation, and it’s really not the eating of the food I crave but more to do with the visual and mental stimulation, that comes from my mind and definitely not from my body.
“When I eat lots of heavy food or too much food, I feel heavy, weighed down and foggy – like I’m operating on battery-saving mode” – i agree,and when not I find myself much more alert and focused at work as though the energy spent digesting heavy food is now (through eating lighter), spent on work needing to be done, not occupied elsewhere working to digest a heavy stomach/system.
‘Eating to nourish my body, and how it feels afterwards, instead of just for the short-lived taste sensation’ this is something I am learning to do more consistently. I also love what you shared that there are no rules as to what food to eat or not to eat. It is by listening to our body it will naturally guide us. There is a choice to choose to eat for nourishment or for the comfort feeling and state sensation, which I sometimes battle to make a loving choice of nourishing my body instead of comfort. So reading your blog again is an awesome reminder for me to choose to be with myself in stillness and steadiness instead of avoiding listening to my body’s guidance.
There is an innate responsibility for choosing the foods we nourish ourselves with. So much automation occurs around food, so often food is prepared and presented in a way that says this is it, eat it or don’t. When we choose to be responsible it comes from our inner knowing what is absolutely supportive and essential for our nourishment, basically we are solo. We are the entire responsible chooser and the second we look outside of ourselves by way of questioning ‘should I or shouldn’t I’ based on what other people are choose we get lost. But we then have to live with the consequence of our choices and are still solo on this path as well.
The body actually speaks loudly to us should we only just listen to it! Time and time again I have eaten foods that do not suit me and so time and time again I have suffered from bloating, discomfort, gas, heavy feelings, tiredness etc. And it seems that I keep doing this until such time that I suddenly actually let myself really feel how awful it feels to not have the full vitality and energy and lightness that is actually my norm. And then when I feel this discomfort deeply enough, then it is like suddenly I can say ‘Enough is enough’ and I finally stop or give up that food and my body just sighs in relief and feels so much better. Right now I am going through another one of those feeling phases – where I am feeling the discomfort and allowing myself to admit there is a food that does not agree or that I have eaten too much…time to feel more deeply so that I can just let it go (pun un-intended there! 🙂
I am so pleased to have read this today. What we choose to put into our mouths has an enormous affect on both our physical and mental well-being and as such the only person that can be responsible for the choice is ourselves. When the rates of overweight and obsesity are an international high priority we have to start looking at our own choices and asking ourselves to honestly look at how we feel after everything we eat.
Beautifully said Bryony. I too am surprised at how cravings can just drop away. For me it has been a gradual process. I was always craving biscuits for most of my life, and for a while I would regularly choose something from the gluten free dairy free supermarket selection, but eventually the ultra sweetness and the feeling in my body after I’d indulged was so heavy, lethargic and unrested that the temptation held no allure. A nourished body feels lovely to live in. I’m finding there is a fine balance between eating enough and eating too much – an extra mouthful can have a huge effect.
What a topic, food. There are so many discussions, opinions, views, blogs, advertising, books etc all devoted to food and what we should do with it. As soon as you start talking about food people can go into all sorts of things. Even with a blog like this and the awareness around it can go off track. Food it’s not what we think it is and we place so so much importance on it. Yes we need it to function but that doesn’t justify the way we use it. Food has become a traded commodity and it maybe a while before we can come back to the truth of it. I am by no means saying I’m clear of this either but just looking at the funny side of what we ‘think’ it is.
Our bodies know what food they need to nourish them and they let us know when we don’t listened to them.
What a blog Bryony, thank you for your sharing which feels so honest and light 🙂 I noticed just recently that if I’ve eaten salt it makes me feel emotional and aggressive, my tummy gets hard and feels pressure when I overeat, if I eat too many nuts or apples or berries my nose gets blocked, to feel tired after overeating or eating in a drive or hurrying, not really being present makes me wanting more without end….so for me it s really so much in the how I eat and start to stop there and feel me first before I put in food. The more love I feel and I am surrounded with the easier is it for me to nourish and I do not need that much.
Hello Bryony and as you are saying it’s not rocket science but simply how things feel, “The less I ate of foods containing things like gluten, dairy and sugar, the lighter, cleaner and clearer my body and my mind felt.” I don’t not eat foods out of a principle or anything like that, I eat them or don’t eat them because of how I feel afterwards. If something upsets my body after eating it then it may take a few more times but the awareness of that feeling is the overriding part to not eat that food again. No different from alcohol, you know the day after when you swear black and blue never again. I just did the never again not only because of what the alcohol or food is but the day or days after are and were never worth it.
This is a great article on food choices and how we can truly support ourselves in making the right ones for us by listening to our bodies and not to what a book says, or the media says, or someone says… but acknowledge that our own body is truly the expert in that.
It is truly, truly, TRULY amazing what we end up eating when we listen, really listen to our bodies.
The food that our body needs is a direct reflection of how we are living. I notice that when I have made great choices for myself and I’m feeling great in my body I need less food to support me. When I have been through a challenging period and I’m feeling exhausted for example my body starts to ask for more food, and I need to go back to certain foods that I had stopped eating. It is important to do this for myself without judging or criticizing myself. It is loving to listen to what my body needs, whatever that may be.
“The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.” Absolutely Bryony, we do know this but we let our taste buds run the show at the expense of the body. It is amazing how food can make us feel racy or have foggy and unclear thoughts both of which affect us in more ways than we are often aware of.
“The less I ate of foods containing things like gluten, dairy and sugar, the lighter, cleaner and clearer my body and my mind felt.” I have had the same experience and its been quite an enormous change to how my body feels day-to-day. Yes my body has become even more sensitive but that is a great thing because now I am more attuned to it. If I eat anything that is not what my body needs it shouts loud and clear.
I woke this morning feeling distinctly the difference between the stillness of my essence and the physical reality of my body, and there was a difference between the two. Even though my body was super still there was a level of raciness in it, that I know is directly from the food choices I made yesterday. I could also feel how this raciness made my choice to be still a little more difficult to stay with. A new level of what my body needs for nourishment is now with me, that I no longer wish to ignore it.
” I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it” I love how you make this not only about food Bryony but also about the thoughts and emotions we choose and allow in. Everything effects how we feel which makes our responsibility on what we choose in each moment paramount.
“Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.” This is an amazing revelation and a great testimony to how we can learn from and with our body and not constantly against it. History has shown us how to ignore and abuse the body, It is time now to turn this around and live truly from our body as the marker of all truth.
The habits, images and concepts we have on what we need to eat, how much and how often get challenged when we start to truly experiment and ask the body what it wants. What gets exposed most for me is the reason behind eating. Is it for the body and my overall well-being (in the true sense) or for the comfort of my emotional state of being? Just using this question to explore my eating behaviours changes everything I thought to know about eating, food, nutrition etc
Feeling and knowing if a food was good or not so good for one´s well-being after consuming it is one thing often clearly reflected by the body through symptoms of discomfort or feeling light and nourished, knowing what to eat when we choose to eat and already having a sense of what suits my body best at the time is another ability we naturally have but may need to reawaken as our ‘taste’ and ’emotional need’ tend to override it – it´s a learning by doing not an idealistic dogma.
It’s interesting recently I’ve observed that we can not only over eat, but some people choose to under-eat and not make the effort to prepare meals or eat the amount their body needs throughout the day. There is certainly a nourishing balance of how much food and what food to eat for every person, and eating too much or too little has the same damaging effect on the body.
In bed with my body, to look at food again at the moment. To go a little deeper as to looking at what supports me and what does not. To most I have an amazing diet, but as too the world is never standing still, so too is my body ever evolving and with that so too must my food choices.
Eating by the clock and what society says on how many meals you need to eat each day to be healthy, doesn’t leave any room for feeling what our own bodies are needing or wanting to support them in a way that holds them in a lightness and readiness for the day ahead.
As the world has become more complex, speedy, individual and desensitised we are choosing to eat foods that reflect this. When we eat simply to live and not live to eat, our body is then left to feel the connection with our inner messages that support our livingness. What you say Bryony
is we have forgotten to “considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts.” Possibly the quality of thought determines what we eat… And around and around we go, until we choose to connect differently
” I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.” So the question is why are so many choosing foods that manipulate the way we feel, and could the food be a by product of not being able to deal with a deeper issue?
I’ve been noticing lately that when I choose to eat something that is numbing or dulling, I am less aware of the fact of the ways I’ve been living that are irresponsible.
It is actually common sense to stop eating certain things when we start to feel that they are very unsupportive of our body, and what a deep effect they have on the state of being we are in. It is incredible what we can discover about food when we start to be more honest and open about what food does.
I can now also taste the natural sweetness in vegetable that I was never able to detect before. What’s interesting is that gradually over the years I have simply not felt to eat certain foods anymore. It’s not been about following a diet or a set of rules, but simply observing what feels right and adapting to that.
The foods I eat have been changing over the years. I have stopped eating sugary foods and now if I do have anything too sweet it gives me an instant headache.
Let’s face it most of us would agree that chocolate tastes good in the mouth but as I have found out what tastes good in the mouth doesn’t always support my body and wellbeing but actually harms it; therefore I have to be totally honest with myself with what I put into my mouth and feel as to whether it truly supports my body or not.
Whenever I feel the urge to overeat or snack I have a choice. I can make it about self and my own little world, not care and gorge or I can take responsibility for how I am feeling and ask myself what is going on and reflect on my unwillingness to read a situation. It is simply a choice.
I have also followed the same path as you have described Bryony in rediscovering what food I put in my body and the affects it has on it. Fueling my body with what it needs rather than the old way of what my mind and mouth wanted has made me more vital and alive. This is never a static process for it is constantly evolving.
Bryony one of the things that I’ve come to understand with food is that it’s not all equal and the way we prepare our food also has a big impact on how we feel. For example when we eat to nourish rather than simply for taste, the same food and amount of food seems to fill me up, I don’t need as much and I feel great after eating. I also don’t get as hungry. Therefore there is much more around food that I cared to consider in the past.
It took me quite a while to come off all things sugary. Over time when I had had a break and then ate something with sugar I would have a film of yuck round my mouth and throat for 3 days afterwards. Eventually this feeling was the thing that supported me to say no to eating sugary foods. I would also be overwhelmed by the false intensity of the sweetness and it began to make me feel nauseous at which point I was able to say goodbye to it!
Thanks Bryony – there are lots of things I could share around food but what came to mind when I read your blog was how I felt after having gluten. I can’t really remember bloating as most people do, but what I recognised was that I became emotional and wanted to ‘pick a fight’ and go into argument. Not picking a fight in the literal sense but getting involved and almost creating problems and arguments where there were none to begin with. This happened when I hadn’t had gluten for a long time and then by accident I had something with gluten in it so I could feel a very distinct difference. If you have it all of the time I can imagine that it’s harder to feel how it’s impacting you because it becomes a part of how one is; but if you slowly let go of things like you did then you can feel the difference. It seems like food impacts us more than we might think.
Animals know what to eat and usually only eat enough to sustain them (unless they are domesticated pets fed by us), why dont we? Food and its variety has become such a big focus in our lives and with that the complication of illnesses and diseases such as diabetes, and heart disease to name only two. Seems like wakey, wakey time to me.
Society is in a conundrum. Many of the best-tasting foods are harmful to us and they are the most profitable for businesses to make as they can use very cheap ingredients and only need to get the mixture of sugar, salt and fat right to make them irresistible.
However, these foods are making us sluggish and obese. What to do?
And also, when we truly feel what to eat first, and then follow that feeling not only does our body get totally nourished but all other areas receive this nourishment too, we receive more mental clarity and most likely more stability with regards to possible emotions – all aspects of our being benefit – how awesome!
How much easier is life when we truly feel into what to eat first before we actually eat; this way is so supportive for the body when we connect and truly get that info. And how awesome does it feel when the body lets us know it truly feels nourished 🙂
I can only suggest conducting your own self-care eating experiment – there is no test of blood or bowel or skin that can give you the same deep and direct understanding and thus knowing of what is right and wrong for You, and not only is it an absolute knowing but also an impulse is activated to change for the better as the body clearly demonstrates how it feels and how it likes to feel.
Not only food contributes to a certain quality left in the body, we also eat certain foods with and for the purpose of certain qualities, e.g. eating out of an emotional need or tension will let us choose foods that can suppress or artificially calm down these emotions or we eat/drink to stimulate a particular state of being like with alcohol or coffee. There is a science to emotional eating we are all the masters of.
Giving the body opportunity to clearly show what it likes and dislikes instead of overwriting and or overwhelming it with indiscriminate food choices reveals the simplicity of what is good for us and what is harming – the body just knows.
Thanks Bryony for sharing your process and experiences with food choices, it is indeed a very personal scientific experiment everyone needs to do for themselves if they like to choose so. The result is lived experience, direct knowing, letting go of beliefs and the dos and
don’ts back to listening to the body which exactly knows what it feels supported by or not – basically putting an end to the whole righteous razzmatazz about idealized eating regimes.
What you have delivered here is a relationship with food that barely few ever consider.
“It felt like a fog I’d been living in – one that I couldn’t see even existed before – had started to lift”. I can so relate to this fog lifting Byrony and as you say, you didn’t even realise that it existed, and nor did I. It was only as it began to lift that I suddenly realised how I had been living, or more accurately had existed, for the majority of my life. Life now is fog free thanks to the choice to lovingly nourish my body, instead of feeding it the very un-nourishing food my mind continually convinced me it wanted.
My body always appreciates it when I choose foods especially to nourish myself rather than for taste or comfort. The vibrancy I feel in my body is worth every moment of consideration over what I will choose to eat. The care taken over my choice is then reflected in the way I feel, and then it supports my next choice to be loving. What is food after all if not a support to help us to live life?
If we live in a certain quality through out the day we tend to listen to our body more readily and only eat what the body needs to nourish itself.
Yes ,that is exactly what i was going to comment. Our choices during the day influence our choices in the food we want.
How much energy do we use in thinking about what we will eat, how we will cook what we eat, where and when we will buy the food, what time we will eat and how much we will eat. Then when we do eat we often eat too much or the wrong type of food that does not agree with us and feel heavy and tired after we eat. If you consider all this it would be much simpler and would save so much energy if we had a few food choices that we knew nourished our body and we ate once a day. I have been giving this a go and have so much more energy and much more space in the day to get things done.
I still notice that when people ask about my food choices and the things that I subsequently do not eat that it is so often associated to a diet and they even try to put it into one category or another, saying so it’s like a particular diet. It strikes me that we must, as a society, be so far from feeling what our bodies are telling us to turn to, diets to tell us what to eat and not eat instead of hearing and paying attention to our bodies which are constantly giving us the best advice available as to its own requirements.
For years I felt sluggish, worn out, heavy or edgy and racy, there was no balance…I got used to it and thought it was normal to have a pasta coma or a sugar high. I know now for me that is not ‘normal’ life is different now and I am finding a balance, an even keel that truly supports every day life through paying attention to how I feel when I eat something.
For years I felt sluggish, worn out, heavy or edgy and racy, there was not balance…I got used to it and thought it was normal to have a pasta coma or a sugar high. I know now for me that is not ‘normal’ life is different now and I am finding a balance, an even keel that truly supports every day life through paying attention to how I feel when I eat something.
I never was one to be strict with diets, I instead did the ‘guilts’ or the ‘rationalising like I deserved it’ after indulgence..either way, I had and still have my issues with food as many do “When I listen to my body like this, it totally removes the arduous ‘giving up’ of unhealthy foods, the battle against cravings, or strict regimes.” Learning to listen to my body has opened up the understanding that I can make choices to eat with more care and love without the struggle. A work in progress, but I am deeply feelings the benefit of the choice to honour more how my body feels.
“But as I started making different choices about what to eat, I noticed that things began to change; the way I responded to situations was changing.” I made the same experiences Bryony and therefore I only can recommend to try it out by oneself as in the moment I could feel this changes it in my body I felt that this is not only a theory and that I had a choice of how my moods are – how beautiful is that?
Bryony what an inspiration you are for choosing to see for yourself if the foods you ate made a difference to how you felt in your body. It’s a quirky way people have of labeling food choices to suit their own level of responsibility around their choices. I choose a very similar diet and have done for many years now, very largely prompted by what my body can and can’t assimilate. So very fresh simple food is what I choose. Even yesterday what I chose to eat was labeled “your special foods” by a person I was having a conversation with. Interesting that the simpler we eat is considered out of the norm.
‘It still amazes me that food can affect my body so much, because until recently I had never really considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts.’
This has been an incredible learning for me also …and am still refining as I go. Comforting myself with food does dull me and certainly changes the quality of my thoughts. I am loving this awareness around food.
A great blog on food Bryony, thank you. It is interesting how comfort eating doesn’t change a set of circumstances that we are numbing ourselves from, the relief from it is only temporary.
And I wonder if it is even relief – cause often afterwards we feel even worse, that was my experience in the past.
I like the description of gently putting aside certain foods and it got me wondering if there is actually something important in not making dietary change a big deal and instead just exploring the effects of it. We have such a capacity to dramatise introducing change and then of course defending our choices when others are gently and humbly getting on with it.
I found that too Simon, rather than making dietary changes we feel into what effect different foods have on our body and then act accordingly. I find that, when I have pinpointed a particular food to a specific feeling of maybe discomfort or restlessness or lethargy etc, then I tend to not even see these foods when shopping, as they have no attraction for me anymore. It is an effortless process and feels very supportive.
Thank you for your sharing Bryony. When I see some of the foods that are sold in Bakeries covered in all sorts of rich sugary toppings it surprises me that with all the research and information out in the world today on sugar etc. that we would even think about eating it! I’m still not perfect in my food choices, and appreciate that I have to live with those and take responsibility for those choices and what they do to my body.
‘The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.’ This is so true Bryony because I have been feeling this more and more. The effects are almost instant, when I choose foods that are not at all supportive, I feel a heaviness and my mood changes almost instantly, which affects how I interact with people. So, unloving food choices doesn’t just affect me it impacts on others too, especially in how I am with them when I have been making unloving choices.
It may seem obsessive or controlling to not eat the diet so many take for granted in western society. However from my own experience, when I eat what my body wants I actually feel free. When I allow obsessive thoughts and behaviours of snacking, eating when I am full, eating foods that delight my eyes or taste buds but dull my body, this is when I feel controlled. I almost feel myself being stood up and walked over to the fridge/cupboard. This is not the way I want to live.
I have been changing my diet consistently over the last decade. I really notice the difference in my body when I eat what it is telling me to eat rather than the nagging thoughts of wanting snacks etc. I notice that I am more alive and able to express more when I eat lightly but I hadn’t put 2 and 2 together as clearly as you have about the mental and emotional steadiness. Life used to be an emotional roller coaster and now I am fairly steady most days, with issues resolving fairly quickly. Thank you for supporting me to appreciate this.
I found it interesting that you found that people who had made the choice to stop eating certain foods and drinks were not able to clearly articulate to you why or how it made them feel. You are right that there is nothing like your own personal experience, of knowing what it feels like to wake up light and clear in body and mind. But I feel we need to be able to share something very real and tangible with people, so they can feel what they are saying ‘yes’ to when they say ‘no’ to certain foods.
“Isn’t it fussy and ungrateful to be choosy about what I’m eating?” This is one of the beliefs that stops us from eating what our body wants and makes us compromise to fit in. I hear some people, especially those who have lived through the depression, say things like, ‘you need to take what you are given’. There is something here being shown about our lack of worth and expressing what we need or feels right for us. We don’t need to make a fuss and in my experience it isn’t a fuss at all. When people can feel your genuineness and appreciation of your body, they seem to understand without words.
This is why it is so important to return us to being scientists and nutritionists of your own body. We know best and when you begin to develop a relationship with your body, you know what happens when you eat certain things and when you don’t. I love Bryony how you put yourself on this experiment and see how it felt for you. Not because someone told you too, because you witnessed something that you thought you’d like to try for yourself. This also shows the power of reflection – and a question to ask ourselves is what are we reflecting to others at the moment in the way we are in this world?
For many in today’s society, our relationship with food is more emotional than functional.
Bryony, this is something that I am experimenting with at the moment, ‘Eating to nourish my body, and how it feels afterwards, instead of just for the short-lived taste sensation, is a constant unfolding’, I have noticed that I was eating because I liked the taste of foods rather than because I was hungry, the taste would only last seconds and I would be left feeling tired and foggy for hours and so I am learning that it is not worth the short lived taste and so more recently I have stopped overeating like I was before, I feel so much lighter, clearer and more feminine as a result, my bloated stomach has gone down and my body feels lovely.
I often find it amazing that my body can ‘trick’ me into feeling hungry (or peckish) when I don’t actually need food. It may be that in a single moment I have reacted to something and want to eat something to elevate what I just felt, or in the rush of life and doing I also crave food to keep me going. By stopping and reconnecting I find that the hunger goes.
Food just doesn’t taste the same when you take away an emotional driver behind the wheel.
If we make food choices based on our wellbeing and having a sense of clarity in our days, it really is the easiest choice in the world.
If our food choices are based on what offers us comfort, stimulation and a reward in our day, it is super difficult to give up the things that taste so great in our mouth, but we know aren’t so great for us. Our food choice then is always secondary to the choice of quality in which we live.
Amazing what a difference it can make in the body to cut out foods that don’t suit us and don’t serve us. It can be as simple as cutting out junk foods or excessive sugar, and we can all feel it is to our benefit in such a short period of time.
Hear Hear Bryony, “Its not about demonising food groups, nor judging myself or anybody else for what we may choose to eat, but so much more simple: stop, feel and choose from there – is this food really supporting and nourishing my body and how do I feel after eating it?”. All we need is to be willing to be aware and honest with ourself about what we are really feeling is going on in our bodies and this can be the key ingredient of a truly nourishing diet.
It is a great to experiment with food choices and discover how they relate to different emotions. Food can be used as a distraction, a stimulation, a filler, a comfort a protector and the list goes on. When I eat to nourish my body I feel a lightness and clarity and I am more vital. This is an ever-refining process for me.
It is interesting how we can get use to feeling a certain way and consider it as normal, and it is not until we stop eating a certain food we realise how it has been affecting us. I had this with dairy where I spent many years with a runny nose and blocked sinuses. Since giving up dairy this no longer happens.
I am constantly amazed at the attention that we give food, as individuals and as a society From the growing and processing of it to the commercial aspects, advertising, shopping and preparation etc., etc. Food is ‘in our face’ so to speak all day everyday. When I feel into what my body needs, it is very simple. Why have we made food such an all-consuming part of our lives? What does food represent for us and what are the effects of this?
I love your sensible approach to food choices Bryony. It is a very personal relationship we have with our bodies that can guide our choices. If I eat something that that doesn’t agree with me or is not supportive my nose runs and I get a glaze over my eye.
‘…is this food really supporting and nourishing my body, and how do I feel after eating it?’ Great question Bryony and one that must be asked if I am to take responsibility for the state of my health and wellbeing. How responsible am I prepared to be about this?
I absolutely thought people who didn’t drink alcohol were crazy, boring, nutters, weirdos. I remember a family friend not having alcohol at her wedding because her parents were religious and it was not something they endorsed, as it was seen as utterly offensive and outrageous. Today I would not have alcohol at a wedding if I were to have one. I am no nutter of that I am sure. How can I have had such 360 degree turn around? Same as you Bryony, I started to say no a little bit at a time and say yes to developing the feeling and connection to my breath, stillness as shared by Serge Benhayon; and now that is more important than the taste of a sweet something. Not always is this true, only a few weeks ago did I eat chocolate and I felt so bad I honestly don’t feel that will happen again. The more I value myself and honour myself the less I choose to be less.
I too are amazed Bryony of the effect of food on my body, foods that I once could consume and not feel a thing leave me bouncing off the walls, or with an actual sugar hangover no different to an alcohol hangover, just not the smell or dry mouth. Incredible that we can be so numb to ourselves and food.
For me food is strongly related to tension- when I feel any tension I often eat to dull, to not feel and to not see all that I am aware of and the tension of that- so when I eat it dulls this but it makes me flat, not myself, more reactive and less able to respond to what is needed.
‘The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound’ – I agree completely Bryony, the effect of our choice… and the way we choose it.
The whole notion of ‘giving up’ is turned on it’s head when we make it about listening to our body rather than our taste-buds…we are not losing anything at all when we choose food that truly supports…in fact we are gaining everything
A huge blessing for me to read this blog today Bryony – thank you. You show me how I can bring awareness to my food choices without being hard on myself.
It never ceases to amaze me how much we can manipulate ourselves in to believing that what we eat has no bearing on the quality of our next thought or movement.
As we eat food everyday and cook food everyday it is something very ingrained in our bodies concerning the way we eat it and what we eat. There are lots of assumptions and images regarding what is healthy or not. Why not start with being honest with the body, observe if we truly feel vital or if there is any exhaustion or tiredness or raciness and from this point, look at our food choices.
I agree Bryony the choice we make as to what we put in our mouths is indeed profound and deeply felt in our bodies; if only we stop and feel it.
My food use to be so much on taste, if it taste good I would eat it, it was a bad habit I had got into. Over the last few years I have been refining my diet and more recently looking at the nutrition aspect of my food. I had not realised how important that was and how it makes us feel. Since I have been more focused on the Nutition side, I have realised how the foods either support in my energy levels or make me tired depending on what I eat.
We grow up with so many traditions and habits around food that doesn’t nourish the body. What gets exposed if we really look at the energy behind it, is that we willingly train ourselves to be sick. What kind of intelligence is at play here?
It is really profound to consider the impact of food on how we feel and our outlook on life. There is intricate biochemistry at play and another whole unquantifiable aspect about our relationship with ourselves.
Thank you Bryony , there is a lot for us to consider here and bring honesty of what kind of relationship we have with food are we using food to dull our bodies and just keep on top of things or are we eating to support our bodies for what they truly need and let the universe express through our bodies as the amazing beings that we are?
“It’s not about shouting from the rooftops about how great I feel, but to just accept and allow what feels good by listening to my body”. This is such a differnet approach to food and nourishment Bryony, and one that we would all benefit from if we chose to really listen to our bodies. They are after all, our temple, and something that needs to be treated with the utmost respect. By being aware of the signals that our body sends us every moment of every day would result in a totally different approach to our health and well being in general, and the way we eat is a great place to start.
Byron, I love that you have shared that it is no different for us whether we are putting different foods or emotions into our bodies as they both affect us and how we feel in our bodies. This is quite profound really as our bodies are the receptacles of all the choices make in life and this impacts on how we feel each day.
Recently I’ve noticed that my relationship with food is a huge reflection about my relationship with myself. Many times after eating I felt an insatisfaction or wanting more food. It never was enough. I wasn’t feeling complete or enough because I was disconnected from my body. Eating just to please my mouth or to escape because I was feeling awful because my lack of self-worth. What a crazy and no ending circle. I made the choice to observe what is going on in my body, what is the quality of my thoughts…and to deal with my emotional issues everyday rather than to escape from myself to where? There is no escape and place to go outside of me, just desperation. So now when I discover to myself wanting for food by neediness I make an stop to breathe, connect with my body and choose what to eat from it. The more I honour my body the more I love and appreciate myself.
The picture of this blog looks yummy! We often think that stop to eat dairies, sugar, alcohol or gluten is a sacrifice but in truth is a blessing for our bodies. I experienced so much benefits since I gave up some substances that made me feel bloated and uncomfortable. I feel today more aware, lighter and vital than ever and so inspired to observe everyday how my body feels before, during and after eat. Thank you Bryony for sharing your experience and encourage me to keep on studying my body in all areas of my life.
I have recently found that I have developed a momentum of making particular food choices contrary to those which are truly supportive of me. Although I knew why I was doing this it was revealed to me that trying to lessen or remove these food choices alone will not truly brake the momentum I am in, for this to truly happen a new movement needs to be introduced which is truly supportive of me at that point.
In exploring how my body feels with eating certain foods recently, it has become clear that there has to be a deeper awareness with the quality of the actual chewing and how I eat. It has been amazing to feel how much fuller I feel when chewing every morsel to a very liquid pulp by putting my utensils down whilst chewing a mouthful of food. The cravings for sweet treats are diminished through this too.
Bryony you hit the nail on the head here when you share that you had not in the past made the link between what you eat and how you feel. It is so easy for us to be unaware of these things that are happening all the time. The thing is, we know exactly what food to eat when, and what it does to our bodies – but we can easily play ignorant to the fact. What you present here is the opportunity for us to consider ‘why am I eating what I am am eating’ – something that is so needed to be asked in a world where food is so easily accessible. I too was caught in the taste over nourishing role that food played, and as I have brought more understanding to food, I am starting to let this go but there are still occasions where taste overrules nourishment. It is a constantly developing relationship with food and the body.
The effects of what we put in our bodies absolutely has a profound effect on the quality of our being and how we feel. To choose to have this deeper awareness of the what is going on in the body not only when you are having food but all of the time is a forever deepening process. With this you can never have one set regime in how you eat. It is a constant in the evolution that goes side by side with the evolution of where you are and what your body needs. Alway’s applying stop, connect and feel then honouring yourself in what it is that you feel you need.
It is astounding, yet at the same time normal, that are bodies will tell us that something we have eaten does not suit us or changes our behaviour, yet how often do we ignore the signs and go ahead and eat it anyway. I know I have, and my body has paid the price. The more I refine my diet the more sensitive my body becomes until it gets to the point when I cannot ignore the signs any longer. And I have found this to be true also, my food choices reflect how I feel emotionally, so it makes sense to heal the emotional issues which then means the food choices take care of themselves without trying to be perfect.
Bryony you sum up how I feel when I eat to nourish my body; “The less I ate of foods containing things like gluten, dairy and sugar, the lighter, cleaner and clearer my body and my mind felt.” what I also now notice is when I may have an craving for such a food its always because there is something going on that I am wanting to avoid or not deal with, be it at work or at home.
“Every time I choose something – a food, drink, thought or emotion that doesn’t make me feel so good, I get to feel it – and I can choose differently next time, if I feel like it.” Throughout our day we are presented with countless opportunities to make a different choice from the ones we knowing make that no longer serve us, often we reject this level of awareness for in doing so we are called to living with greater responsibility.
“It still amazes me that food can affect my body so much, because until recently I had never really considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts.” Indeed Bryony through removing gluten/wheat /dairy I have become so much more aware of the direct impact of what I eat, I ate some bombay mix recently, it sounds weird but soon afterwards I felt exceedingly grumpy and stuck, when we give it the opportunity it is astonishing what the body has to offer.
“Back then I judged making different food choices as an obsessive eating habit – a disorder even” Its amazing how quick we are to respond to those making different food choices, often people put it down to control or discipline, which feels like a way to undermine it, and to justify their own food choices.
For me the link with not wanting to feel and overeating is huge. Food for me is a big comfort like thumb sucking, or having that blanket that young children use. By discerning how food impacts my body and by being open to feeling what is underneath the cravings helps enormously to change my patterns and behaviours.
Yup, the impact of food on how I feel still amazes me too. It is an aspect of my life that requires care and attention, whilst I also realise that food simply reflects back to me (very loud and clear) my underlying choices in my every day. If I am rushing I will crave more food and more instant gratification food (something sweet); if I am holding back doing or saying something that needs to be done or said, I use food that comforts and numbs me from responsibility; if I have got upset about something I will eat anything… So, I understand that my attention really needs to be on underlying behaviour rather than food itself.
Brilliant Matilda, I can second ALL of this, for I am beginning to see that what I thought was hunger 90% of the time is in truth the tension of my choices and underlying behaviours – astonishing!
‘It still amazes me that food can affect my body so much, because until recently I had never really considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts’.
This is such a simple way of putting it Byrony – I used to choose to not be aware of how food was affecting my body, but now I am acutely aware and can feel the affects of eating something unsupportive pretty instantly. It surprises me that this understanding is not really common knowledge amongst society and we can still blame others for our thoughts and emotions and even blame God for our illnesses. This understanding that food affects us brings a great responsibility to our choices.
It is quite incredible the lengths we can go to, to avoid feeling what our body is sharing, especially with food. Sometimes I find I have to let go of a food for a little while and then re-introduce it to really feel the effect. Otherwise it can be harder to tell because I have become so used to feeling a certain way.
Everyone eats food and so everyone has a relationship with food. But what quality is this relationship? Do we consider the food and the body and the effects on the body, for this too will have its consequences? do we eat for comfort, or eat to numb ourselves out? We might have on paper a ‘good diet’ but does that suit our body or do we overeat or undereat for our body? There are so many ways that we can reduce the quality of our relationship with food and yet fool our selves into thinking that all is fine, not wanting to go deeper. Food is a great telltale sign for how we actually are feeling about ourselves – and so we can ‘use’ that (as in observe how we eat and how we are with food) to see if we are actually feeling good about ourselves or not. This is pretty cool! So if we want to make change, then all we really need to do is to begin exploring how we are with food!
Eating foods to nourish rather than eating ‘whatever tastes good’ makes such a difference to the quality of our body throughout the day. I’ve also found that HOW we eat can have similar affects; rushing or trying to fill myself up quickly often leaves me feeling much denser than when I’ve taken the time to stop and eat food in a manner that is considerate to my body and digestive system.
Yes Susie, what I’ve experienced is that even the healthier food can be harmful if I eat it with rush or with needines to something “good” for my mouth because I’m feeling something that I don’t want to feel. After that I feel awful, slower in my movements, not clear and even more emotional than when I eat just to nourish my body.
There is so much around food that we often accept without questioning not only what we eat, but why we eat what we eat when we eat it. Food has a profound affect on not only our health but our moods and our outlook on life. Something that has so much affect on our lives should not be entered into blindly.
“The more I listen deeply to my body, the more it shares with me, and the steadier I feel. It’s amazing to feel how this has affected all areas of my life, far beyond how my body feels: from knowing what needs to be said in any given situation, to feeling clearer, having more trust in myself and knowing of what to do next, with far less need from anything outside of me.” So true Bryony, I can fully attest to that myself too – the clarity in feeling, thinking and expressing is just awesome to behold when we are truly listening to our bodies and all it shares with us.
I also find that my body tells me so much, and now that I listen (most of the time), foods that dull me or make me heavy or even racy do not have any appeal any more, as I have come to treasure the still and light feeling I now enjoy.
“But now I’d rather choose the stillness and solidness I can feel most of the time, over a sugary treat which makes me feel hyperactive and like I’m on drugs.” – yeah it sure did feel like that didn’t it, so glad these days are over for me too.
A true diet is eating according to what our body communicates with us, that which nourishes it without making it heavy, tired and sluggish, or racy and anxious. This diet is super personal and can only be found within the best personal diet coach in the world: our own body.
As a teenager I spent many years dieting and trying to change my eating habits. I was overweight and even though I did not eat that much and did a lot of sports nothing seems to really change. I now understand that overtime is was eating it came with a consciousness of either ‘now I am good’ or ‘now I am bad’ never was it about what I felt my body would need to be nourished and healthy.
The more I listen deeply to my body, the more it shares with me, and the steadier I feel. This feels like a beautiful way to be with yourself Bryony, and that steadiness is what we all want for ourselves as this would hold us in good stead through our lives, supporting us in the most beautiful way.
It’s amazing to start to observe how eating certain foods can allow thoughts in that aren’t loving or supportive. I know I often will choose certain foods because of their properties to dull me because there is an awareness I am trying to avoid. What’s funny is I already am aware of this awareness but am trying to push it away through food and the complications I get into when being dull. The awareness is there waiting for me so far simpler, more loving to begin to accept it.
This is an amazing article describing the difference between eating from what feels true from one’s body as opposed to enforcing rules based on shoulds and other people’s findings. I used to be really into caffeine but when I felt how lovely I was and accepted this was me I didn’t want to disrupt that by jolting my rhythm out through a substance that made my heart race and put me into a kind of panic. Then it became no longer a deprivation of can’t have caffeine but a yes to being me.
Thank you, Bryony, for this honest, practical and inspiring article. Our relationship with food is fundamental and huge (check out our high streets and the number of eateries on every one) and if each of us can take loving responsibility, then the grip food has over our lives and the far reaching impact of this can be diminished.
Focusing on satisfying our taste buds is usually a sign that something is going on for us… there is something we are reacting to, not wanting to feel, wanting to make ourselves feel ‘better’ with reward, etc. It can be quite surprising to not go with that feeling to eat and just feel what it is that is going on… sometimes it may be that we only need a drink, or perhaps what our body truly needs is to have a rest for 10mins.
When we eat for taste it is not necessarily what our body actually needs… our body would most likely choose something completely different and perhaps even no food at all! Eating for taste is generally for that momentary ‘feel-good’ reward or relief and not what will truly nourish and support our body.
If I was to rely on taste and what my head was thinking then I would be a diabetic or extremely obese by now. This was the way my life was headed before the presentations by Serge Benhayon. Now after slow over the last 12 years of feeling and recognising what my body was feeling like especially after eating certain foods, this has given me a map of what foods work and nurture my body and which one’s bloat my body or make it racy!
“There are no rules”…that is one of the bestest things in the world to discover. You are your own nutritionist, you are your own scientists. You dont need to no longer listen to what’s in and what’s not…it becomes what feels right in your body and what doesn’t. It is most tremendous!
As I am learning to listen more to my body than be influenced by the tricks of my eyes and mind with food, I can totally relate to this Bryony.
Having once been a very big nut snacking person and now eating very few nuts, I was amazed to find eating only 4 nuts the other day felt really sweet and cloying in my mouth and for the following couple of hours I was very sleepy!
“The less I ate of foods containing things like gluten, dairy and sugar, the lighter, cleaner and clearer my body and my mind felt”.
‘If I really wanted to know and understand why anybody would eat that way out of choice, rather than necessity, I realised I would have to give it a go for myself.’ – So true, it is impossible to fathom the enormous difference it makes to our health and wellbeing to eat this way out of choice, unless we try it ourselves.
Thank you, Bryony. There are so many people that I would love to share this blog with, because it is a down to earth accessible summary of a personal exploration with how food affects your physical, emotional and mental state of being. Until we decide to explore in this way, we cannot appreciate how certain things we consume dull us, make us feel damp inside, or racy and how even eating more than we need to can affect us for the whole day.
‘The less I ate of foods containing things like gluten, dairy and sugar, the lighter, cleaner and clearer my body and my mind felt.’ This has been my experience too Bryony, removing these things gradually from my diet has given me greater energy, vitality and all excess weight to naturally drop away and allowing for more clarity and lightness.
I love what you have shared here Bryony, there is a huge link between food and mood. What we eat and how much we eat has an instant impact on us and how we feel especially on what we call our ‘mental health’ – as a Complementary Health Clinician, I see many clients on a daily basis who are suffering from various conditions including depression and anxiety – much of this is worsened significantly by their food choices which only seem to spur on their condition. Simple changes such as cutting out junk food, reducing sugar intake and introducing quality protein and increasing vegetable intake has resulted in many cases of amazing symptomatic relief! This is so basic yet so powerful. And then we have you sharing how we can take this even deeper and have so much clearer thoughts and live lighter lives when we really nut out and study what foods support us and which ones don’t. Thank you Bryony for this wonderful insight.
What people eat is more of a sensitive subject then we may realise. It ‘stirs the pot’and gets us justifying why we don’t truly nourish our divine bodies. It shines the light on the fact that we are not yet connected to the bodies preciousness and that it houses us as living beings.
‘The less I ate of foods containing things like gluten, dairy and sugar, the lighter, cleaner and clearer my body and my mind felt.’ This seems simple enough and it makes sense doesn’t it? As the saying goes… we are what we eat. So eating food that is not heavy and sugary means that we are not dense and oscillating.
“The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.” This is so absolutely true…..and yet it can be hard to believe until we put it to the test ourselves and feel the difference in our body….the body talks loudly, and lightness, vitality and oodles of energy, are welcome outcomes, that are hard to dismiss.
‘ It still amazes me that food can affect my body so much, because until recently I had never really considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts.’ – I know in the past I did not have any idea how much my food choices would affect my health and wellbeing. It is crazy that this is not more commonly known as the effects of what we put into our mouths are so huge and potentially very damaging, as you say even down to the quality of our thoughts.
Our relationship with food makes an incredible difference with our quality of life – in all ways. And we tend to by-pass and disregard much of what our body tells us about what we consume.
“The more I listen deeply to my body, the more it shares with me”
Thankyou Bryony, this is indeed the key, listening deeply and then being honest with what we hear. Food is our biggest relationship and we use it for many reasons other than nourishment. So the understanding of why we eat the way we do and what we choose to eat and how much etc. is also key to being able to eat in a way that truly supports us. I am always changing and refining these choices around food and your blog is very inspiring for me right now.
Yes Willem, what I’ve realized is that every kind of food can be tricky if I’m seeking distraction, relieving or seeking comfort in some way. A simple advocado can be addictive if I’m not present in my body. So it’s a constant learning and unfolding for me. The beautiful thing is, as well said Bryony “There is no rules”. Being open to feel what our body needs and honest we can develop a true healthy relationship with food.
I used to eat without feeling anything just putting food in my mouth for pleasure and having “happy moments” where I haven’t never enough. I never questioned this behaviour as I’ve learnt from my family that eating “good food” is a wonderful experience, something that makes live “better”. My body suffered so much the consequences of my unconscious way of eating. I had my face and throat full of spots and many skin problems. In my teenage years and after I was quite angry with everyone. I was quite sad and unsatisfied with my life. But rather than to deal with my emotional stuff or make an stop because it was obvious that something was not right I denied how I felt and I choosed to “live the life”. After many years of drinking alcohol non stop in parties, relieving my sadness with chocolate, ice-creams and finding the happiness in food I get depressed. I couldn’t sleep at night and I was so anxious. Then I understood that I needed a true change in my life. My body was shouting me “Heeey! I’m here…” I understood that was the moment to do something new that I’ve never did before “Being honest with myself and change all of the habits that were not supportive for me” I started to read about Universal medicine and I felt inspired to stop gluten, dairies and alcohol. I did it and I could feel joyful, clearer, lighter and sensitive. In two weeks the spots on my face disappeared. For me it was a huge confirmation about that my body experiences all my choices. A new beggining to me to feel first and eat later.
We seem to have a long way to go in understanding the effects of food are having on our body, including even the way we eat food. It is quite common to see people walking down the street, eating their lunch on the go, without realising how delicate our digestive system is and that eating in this way could contribute to not feeling as well as we could.
Absolutely Vicky, fast foods, take away foods, snacks, coffee, etc. are all packaged to eat on the run or while driving!
“The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.” Following some healing sessions, workshops and retreats with Universal Medicine, I developed, or should I say reclaimed the sensitivity to understand this statement. Before that, there were so many ways I would dull myself to what my body was feeling. For example commonly after overeating, I would get into activity in a manic way, to not feel the heaviness in my body. I have learned that to dull my natural sensitivity is not only my loss but all others who could benefit by the qualities I can offer when feeling sharp and vital and of course I lose out doubly because I miss out feeling others unique qualities too.
‘It’s not about demonising food groups nor judging myself nor anybody else for what we choose to eat, but so much more simple: stop, feel, and choose from there – is this food really supporting and nourishing my body, and how do I feel after eating it.’
This is so simple, I love it, Bryony, just listen to the body and appreciate what it communicates to me.
“Every time I choose something – a food, drink, thought or emotion that doesn’t make me feel so good, I get to feel it – and I can choose differently next time, if I feel like it.”- Yes, absolutely. Our body speaks loud and clear when a food, drink or thought is harmful or unloving to the body. The key is honouring the feeling, and appreciating the next step that it can bring, by going deeper in our foundation of a body of love, and reconnection to God.
I used to think that going gluten free was nothing but a fad and like you, I had to give it a go in order to feel the benefits in daily life – I feel much lighter, much clearer and focussed, need less sleep and don’t tire so easily anymore. It’s a great way to live and the rewards are endless; and as to deprivation? Well, I have to say that I have never eaten better or yummier food in my whole life. It sure beats grabbing another slice of bread at any and all occasions.
I have also found that if I do slip up and eat something that perhaps is not that good for me, rather than bashing myself up about it, it is easier to observe and work back to what it was that made me react in such a way.
When I ate chocolate recently I was amazed at how irritable and short tempered I became. I definitely was badly affected by it and what always amazes me is how something I ate relatively regularly can be having such a negative affect on my body but I was numb to the effect.
Thank you Bryony. I love the way you describe observing others as the starting point for your ‘experiment’. Nothing can take the place of observing another and what works for them. I was similarly inspired by people that were making truly nurturing food choices, these people showed me that paying attention to how foods make me feel and why I eat them in the first place supports me to let go of the comfort and protection that I seek through my food choices.
Thanks, Bryony, this is a beautiful article – many of us are completely unaware of how certain foods can affect our thoughts: ‘It makes it easy for my mind to slip into a quicksand of circuitous and dull negative thinking and I start to feel lethargic and bored. Instead of focusing on what I can contribute to a situation and bring to others around me, I make it all about me and my life. My self-obsessed thoughts turn into a distraction and I forget about my responsibility to live fully and truly.’ This is perhaps something for us all to ponder on – are we self obsessed or are we focused on what we can contribute?
Absolutely Carmel! My relationship with food has changed completely since I’ve become aware that my wellbeing is so important to be all of me with my family, friends and with everyone. When I eat what my body needs I can be active, aware, vital and do all my work joyfully. Rather than to seek distractions and pleasures with food that just feed my thoughts and emotions.
The choices of food what we eat and how we live are all related and effect our livingness awareness and the quality of life we live . The inspiration you offer here is a gift to realise and know in our lives and is felt in our bodies and makes so much sense.
The fact is after a while you don’t miss food such as cake etc. Tastebuds change and adapt. But more importantly, the key to making healthy food choices is understanding in the first place why you eat – you eat to mask what you feel. Your eating patterns change when you are stressed, or sad, or anxious, compared to when you might be truly content or fulfilled. Once you understand this, you understand why dieting is so hard and simply does not work, why discipline does not work, nor will power. You desire to mask what you are feeling will always overrule discipline. That is why vulnerability is such in important stepping stone.
I feel like in a way I have tried it all with food. When I was younger I did not pay much attention to the quality of the food I was eating and just saw it as fuel without any real regard for what I was eating. As a result I was exhausted and malnourished most of the time. I did not put much care into the way I bought and prepared my food or ate it. Then in my mid-twenties when I moved to Europe I discovered a whole new world of food and taste sensations and ways of cooking and preparing food and became very indulgent in gourmet and beautifully prepared and tasting food. This looked better on the surface but was still not nourishing for my body and my soul as it created a lot of bloating and sluggishness in my body. I now have a different relationship with food that is based on a connection with a stillness within first which feels divine and then observing and feeling whether foods support that connection or take me a way from it. My diet is super simple these days but prepared and eaten in a way that supports me and my connection.
“The links between my body and my emotional and mental state have become much more obvious.”. This is something that is well behind in understanding the link between these. I realise that there are studies and research, but it is still not completely integrated into medical assessment and the real impact that it has on the body. It is as if emotions are an intangible grey area that has varying boundaries with people responding differently in the same situations. The effect however on the body is quite devastating.
I really like the points you raise in this article around “shouting from the rooftops about how great you feel”. The reality is I have tried shouting because I undoubtably feel great but all this does is invoke reaction. What has been an amazing unfolding with me for food was I took my own experiment and began to play with it, checking in with how I felt and in that sense building a relationship with food for myself. It continues, but what is interesting is how it has become an inward focused project rather than something I must impose on others to feel normal. With that my rhythm and lifestyle has truly changed and I am living in a way that sees food as a simple necessity to keep moving in the grandness of how I want to live rather than become a struggling issue or focal point to try and do the right thing. Great sharing Bryony, always good to get a taste of some of your fresh wisdom.
Mankind really does need to stop here and take note of a brilliant article like this, the amount of crap that we shovel down our throats to keep us dull and unaware is unbelievable. How that food is mass produced filled with additives preservatives, salt and sugar, all stuff that our bodies don’t need and far from nourishing and that is not even to mention the energy or consciousness held by the companies pumping out this rot.
When you think about it, surely we were placed here with all we needed in terms of what nature provides for nourishment. To set about creating more and more crazy (so-called) foods only further cements the problem of food abuse. Do we really need jam donuts stuffed with ice-cream – especially when you consider the health implications of such a ‘food’?
I’ve found eating less, or should I say eating in line with what my body truly needs, has brought a greater clarity to my thinking and ability to feel. I can definitely feel the shift and it’s a very positive and empowering one, as is the increased sense of mastery. Our capacity to bring all elements into balance feels like an important aspect of life on Earth.
“stop, feel, and choose from there – is this food really supporting and nourishing my body, and how do I feel after eating it?” I love this comment it is so simple yet expresses so much wisdom.
Thank you for sharing your experiences Bryony, your blog is a timely reminder around food choices.
In dealing with my own food issues I’ve recently decided to experiment with eating less. It’s been astounding to see how often ‘hunger’ pangs can arise but my response has been to wait them out rather than reach for food. Interestingly, they always subside. I am working on the premise that my body only really needs a certain amount of food and beyond that, it’s a trick of the spirit that loves to manipulate the body and doesn’t want to give up its previous king-pin status. This method is working well.
I have definitely had a life-long issue with food. It would have been my first comfort as a baby, and my ‘go to’ ever-after. As a result I’ve had a very distorted and rocky relationship with food, over-eating, over-weight and body image. This kind of relationship takes up a lot of energy and space in one’s life and is certainly something to master.
To break through the consciousness of food (that is, the stranglehold it has over us) takes an enormous amount of clarity, and more often than not, someone to show us how it’s done. Thank you Serge Benhayon for being that someone.
And to continue… you can see the food industry ‘tapping’ (ha ha!) into this by creating all sorts of flavoured, enhanced water-based drinks. There is such an insidious cleverness there – they know exactly how to get us.
Actually, that should have read ‘…the ways we MISUSE food is multi-faceted’. It has become a so much more than intended. To put it into perspective: we need water and food (though I suspect much less than we think of the latter) to nourish our bodies. Now few if any of us are addicted to water. But imagine if we used water to distract, dull and numb ourselves, and looked forward to our next watery treat and scheduled events around its consumption. Sounds ludicrous? Well that’s exactly what we do with food!
Great blog Bryony. More discussion is needed, more awareness, on the ways we use food for everything but nourishment and restoration. That is, it’s not only taste we go for – that pleasure and stimulation – but comfort, indulgence, entertainment, self-medication and probably more. The ways we use food is multi-faceted!
Like yourself Bryony, I was amazed at the effects that certain foods had on my body and once I had tried not consuming them, it became a very easy choice to not allow them back in, and when I did cave in a eat them again, the answers were even clearer again as the body could talk even louder.
I have over the years come to the awareness that body shape, weight is not just in direct relationship with the foods we eat but equally about the images we hold and the hurts we carry, feeling into what our body requires to nourish is part of a bigger picture of connection to our essence which when given the opportunity by that connection, is our loving guiding light in life.
The body is given an opportunity to change once we tune in to the foods and fluids that nourish rather that the foods that fulfil our cravings and fuel our addictions. It is a totally different way of responding to a feeling from within, and once we take responsibility in that area we are then clearer to see other behaviours in our lives that do not support us either. The body is so willing to guide us when we take a moment to connect.
“Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.” This is so true for me also I am finding the more I connect with my body and listen the clearer it becomes that my body knows what it needs to develop a forever deepening relationship with my essence.
I never entertained the ‘thought of no cake’ but at some point cake felt terrible in my body so I had to stop eating cake! Today I was part of a team who made gluten, dairy and sugar free orange cakes. I was told these cakes tasted extremely yummy. Six years ago was the last time I ate cake and it devastated my body and took me days to recover. Feeling what cake has done to me lets me help prepare loved filed cakes that are a real treat, and you could ask why? My answer would be because they are going to eat cake like I did until each person feels the effect that cake has. So at least truly yummy everything-free cakes have less affect on whom-ever chooses to eat them.
It’s quite amazing how many reasons we have to eat without one of them the reason to nourish ourselves. Food has become a comfort, a quick fix, a way to numb ourselves so we don’t have to deal with life. The supermarkets give us many food choices of which only a few truly supports our body. It feels we need to get honest about our relationship with food and the impact all of our choices have on our body.
“But now I’d rather choose the stillness and solidness I can feel most of the time, over a sugary treat which makes me feel hyperactive and like I’m on drugs.” I can relate to this very much. It is since I am appreciating more and more the clarity and stillness in my body and feeling the connection with myself that I do not choose so easily foods anymore that numb me or make me feel racy. In the past I would not even notice that foods had those effects on me and sort of feel like it was my right to treat myself with chocolate and candies, thinking it did not affect me as I did not gain weight. Now I know food affects us in more ways than gaining weight it plays enormously on our emotions and feeling of vitality (or not) in our life.
These days, when I do have a craving for something sweet or hot chips for example, I stop and wonder what is it that I am trying not to feel. I know that I can use food to stuff myself and not feel. Similar to how one can use a glass of wine to not feel at the end of the day, I can use a bag of chips.
Food really does have such a big effect on our bodies that is for sure. I used to eat any thing and everything and not care but the more and more aware I have become, and the more I feel the effects, the more I refine what I put into this body of mine.
‘The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound’
Having felt the effects of food on my body (thank you Serge Benhayon for your presentations) I have more awareness and thus made more discerning food choices according to what works actually with my body.
From being a chronic ‘chocoholic’ and caught in the addictive sugar and carbohydrate cycle prior to meeting Serge Benhayon 8 years ago, I have experimented with eating gluten, dairy and sugar free over thine and truly feeling the difference this has made to the relationship with my body and changes is numbness as the roller coster ride of emotional stuff has ceased to be.
Once the choice was made to eat to heal and support my body, these foods began to literally ‘drop away’ from me with now sense of having to suffer and go without. The benefit to my body and well being has been enormous and emotions no longer control my life.
It’s so true that food has a massive effect on how we feel and also the quality of our thoughts. I have experienced feeling beautifully light in my body and clear in my head, but this changed in an instant when I chose to eat something that was not what my body needed at that time. It’s so important to really feel what is needed by our body at any given time.
Wow Bryony, great article, I love this, ‘It’s not about shouting from the rooftops about how great I feel, but to just accept and allow what feels good by listening to my body, There are no rules’, after spending many years eating what I thought I should be eating – reading about what was ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for my body, I love now eating what feels good for me in my body, this is a very playful and fun way to nourish myself compared to the hard regime of really wanting to eat something and trying really hard to resist it.
“…. I’m operating on battery-saving mode.” What a beautiful and accurate description of the difference of how it feels to eat foods that do not support and nurture one as to when you do. The only way to know the difference between the two is that one has to make the choice and decision to have a go at eating differently, then you can decide for yourself whether it is true or not for yourself.
‘Eating to nourish my body, and how it feels afterwards…’ This was a new experience for me a couple of years ago when I was in Vietnam. I was eating much less than usual and realised that I could feel much more after eating and that I felt more nourished this way than when I ate to feel full. This exposes that need to feel full as not being based on nourishment and that feeling lighter after eating is a sign of having chosen according to what our bodies truly need.
I am currently letting myself feel what it is like to not eat the moment I feel peckish as I know these moments are ones of just wanting to dull myself, but to eat when I feel hungry and then to not overeat. It’s easy to turn to food as a filler and to not deal with my day or my reactions to the day. It’s a challenge, but I know just how much more vital my body feels when I take the care.
There is such a difference between when we eat for taste – what tantalises our taste buds to eating what our body best needs to support it. There are such huge emotions around food, it is easy to get lost and caught up in them. One thing I know for sure is when I truly eat to nourish my body I do not feel tired, lethargic, racy, dull, wanting more, etc.. afterwards – all of which I generally feel when I’m eating based on taste and desire. Sure I can have sugar but is it worth the effects on my body for atleast the next few days afterwards?
‘ I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.’ Thank you Bryony for this great wisdom you have shared, it makes perfect sense to me that the foods I eat affect the quality of my life, my thoughts and moods etc. Like you I also experimented with the foods I ate to see if there was a difference, it was very obvious what foods supported my body and what ones made me feel tired or dull.
‘The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound’
Yes Bryony, I cannot read this sentence often enough and to deeply embrace and understand what I am doing with myslf in overeating or even how I eat the food or how I have prepared the food what I am going to eat in the first place.
If I eat the wrong foods, everything moves from the outside in: I want more food, things for myself and my body contracts. If I eat the right amount of the right foods, everything moves from the inside out: my body expands and I enjoy expressing more of who I am in the world.
So true. When I feel in my body how awful a food makes me feel, it is never difficult to resist it or be tempted. No need to follow an ‘expert’ or diet.
Alternatively when I start to feel really connected with myself, I can often eat heavy or dulling foods because I dont want to hold it.
Thankyou Bryony, food is more than just food groups, vitamins, minerals, calories etc. What I have learned is food can make my body feel racy, heavy, make me feel dull and switched off, or even emotional. All it takes is consistent observation and a kind of testing out of foods to see what they do to my body. Feeling still, energised, connected to me and nourished is better than any temporary taste.
I so agree – there is no compromise either, it is what it is and feeling the stilliness and clarity outweighs any momentary pleasure a tastebud can have…
So what happens when life is more satisfying than any food we can eat?
Food stops becoming something we need to fulfill us on a deeper level; and simply offers the delicious & needed nourishment for our bodies; no more, and no less.
At one point I realised that while we can take drugs to make us feel a certain way, whether that is bad or good, food it the same. It is basically chemicals that our body reacts to in the same way as a prescription or any other thing we put into our body. This can mean we are either drugging ourselves, or we are supporting ourselves with medicine.
Feeling to what to eat and how much to eat is clearly communicated by the body at all times , all that is required is our commitment to connect and move in a way that honours this and also to be willing to let go of old pictures we hold about food, our bodies that will always tell us what is true or not.
“Eating in a way that truly nourishes me becomes easy because my body just isn’t interested in foods that don’t make me feel good.” – in these simple words lie the Wisdom and in fact all answers on life we could possibly have. We’re to turn inside to find our own answers. But to be able to do so we’re to re-connect and re-establish a caring and nurturing way of being with our body. We’re to develop a relationship with our body that’s very appreciative as our body’s by nature taking very deep care of itself. If it had a voice it would never eat gluten, suger, dairy and so much more. But the (Beautiful) thing is that we are the ones that have the final say. Our body will keep communicating, but it’s up to us if we choose to listen.
Over the last 2 months I have been experimenting with eating one meal a day. It would get to 12.00 pm and I would think I was really hungry because I had this sensation in my stomach which was most disconcerting and all I wanted to do was eat. After investigating further I realized that it was my self acceptance chakra pumping away and since nominating this and committing to addressing the lack of self acceptance interesting enough I do not have what I thought were hunger pains and can easily get through the day on one meal.
My experience is much like your Bryony, going from being caught with the ideas about what I should and shouldn’t eat to taking a simpler and less dogmatic approach and listening to how my body responds as the main criteria.
Bryony thank you for sharing your experience with changing the foods you eat. I too have changed what I eat and my relationship with food . I have experienced more clarity and vitality for choosing foods that support me. So it is not what I am depriving me of eating but the diminished quality I would physically have to endure for eating the foods that are not nourishing to my body.
The more present I am with myself, the more I realize how little food I need to eat. When I am present I feel so filled up by my own divinity that I do not need food to fill me up. I am then able to know what food I need to eat to nourish my body, rather then what food I normally reach for to fill the emptiness.
“It still amazes me that food can affect my body so much, because until recently I had never really considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts.” This is so true and even though knowing this, I can find it hard sometimes to give up certain foods. Refining my diet is an ongoing work in progress.
It is actually so cool to understand the effect that food has on our bodies, because we can make life a lot easier and flowing by connecting to this wisdom from our bodies. It knows exactly what it needs and is very clear in what it doesn’t. I did discover that a bit of ‘detoxing’ is very handy in discovering what numbs my body. For instance when I notice that I eat a certain food in specific moments, then cutting it our my diet for a few days and then letting it back in gives me a clearer feel of the effect it truly has. And I also discovered that in my monthly cycle what I feel to have also changes depending on where I am at in my cycle.
I completely agree “But now I’d rather choose the stillness and solidness I can feel most of the time, over a sugary treat which makes me feel hyperactive and like I’m on drugs.” An ice-cream on the beach with me, or me with me any where I go…that steady knowing and feeling still is divine and it is something that I know really appreciate. I can go deeper, but the depth I have felt is enough to know that sugar etc can not offer what I feel now.
This is how I felt and there is no deprivation. Having a clear mind and body is deeply enriching “The less I ate of foods containing things like gluten, dairy and sugar, the lighter, cleaner and clearer my body and my mind felt.” It feels like an awesome gift I offer myself and I feel so much more alive than I ever have.
There are so many times when I have eaten something, or eaten too much of something, for fear of being ‘fussy or ungrateful’. And each time I walk away asking myself if that was really worth it, and to what purpose did that just serve? Slowly slowly I am coming to terms with the fact that saying yes to what I want to say no, really has an impact on not only myself but everyone around me, who perhaps are also saying yes when they want to say no.
Bryony, reading your blog has made me realise how much has changed for me since giving up gluten, dairy, sugar and alcohol. I rarely react to situations, certainly not in any extreme way and I can’t remember the last time I had an argument with anyone. That is not to say my life is perfect but from where I was before with my diet to where I am now it is obvious it has many profound effects. Listening to what my body needs, it really is worth considering what it is we need ourselves and not just saying, well the world eats it so it must be ok.
‘Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it ‘
Yes, I understand this very well, Bryony. What I observe in me is when I eat the wrong things or too much it is like I loose the lightness in my body or I get nervous or even anxious. It shows me that disregarding food choices or the amount of food has a deeper effect on my body as I like to admit.
Food is such a contencious subject as it is of course something that we all need, and all do on average at least 3 times a day. So when the idea of cutting out certain foods from your diet, or giving up things like dairy, gluten and alcohol are introduced it can trigger a lot of emotions in others. For most of us our day revolves around food, whether it’s buying it, preparing it, cooking it or eating it, and can be hard to accept that what has been so normal for us can in fact change so drastically and that we can actually feel better if we cut out certain foods or even some meals altogether. What has changed for me is that I allowed myself to feel how different foods were affecting me and from there I was able to make changes to my diet that have improved my qualtiy of life, thanks to the presentations of Serge Benhayon and the Ageless Wisdom.
‘The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.’ Too right Bryony. When we begin to see food in terms of the effects of it on our body after we’ve eaten it instead of the moment-on-the-lips thrill, that’s when our vitality stands a real chance. And that’s all simply down to our choices – in every mouthful.
“I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.” This is indeed an amazing revelation Byrony. Food can either dull our awareness or support and heighten it. The choice to honour our awareness is deeply nurturing and healing in itself. Then to put that choice into action through the foods we eat, multiplies this effect. What this looks like for each of us can vary and where this is where experimentation is helpful and essential. It’s a constant area of learning for me. But as you say, with every nurturing choice I make, the benefits can be felt in all areas of my life.
“I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.” I agree it does reflect back with either vitality and clarity or a sluggish dull experience. Or more simply do things feel they are going to plan with inner confidence or is anxiety, stress or exhaustion running the show? How we nourish is directly related to all these in my experience.
I reckon we all have our weaknesses when it comes to food. You’re spot on about not judging ourselves, however we do need to raise our awareness about what we are putting into our bodies that isn’t supporting our bodies. Instances of obesity and diabetes are on the increase. It is sad to see so many struggling and suffering due to poor education and awareness of how our relationship with our bodies are something to be deeply treasured.
“I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.” This is such a crucial equation Bryony and to heed the answer is evolutionary.
Great blog Bryony. Food is a minefield of a topic as there are so many ideals, beliefs and judgments on what is right and what is wrong, along with huge differences worldwide, in various cultures. Having experienced being a ‘serial dieter ‘ since my mid teens and probably tried every known recommended diet on the planet to control my weight, in order to subscribe to look and conform to what society apparently deemed as acceptable. On looking back, I can see how utterly abusive this was to my body, wellbeing and the emotional roller-coaster it created for many years. Listening to my body brought true change and a return to a slender body without a diet in sight!
The way and what I eat can support me – or not. If I choose to eat in a way that does not support me -and I mean by ‘me’ to be in connection, be aware and able to bring understanding, coming from a inner stillness and so on – than ‘something else’ will be supported, namely the opposite of what I call ‘me’. Simple choices on our way….
Are those who make care-full choices about what foods and drinks they put in their mouths really ‘fussy’ or are they just being self loving?
I know in the past I actually used to pride myself on being able to eat almost anything and there was almost no food I disliked and I used to judge what I would have called ‘fussy eaters.’ However I come around to the idea that what I put in my mouth does affect how I feel everyday and since I have paid more attention to this and made different choices about what I eat and drink and do not eat and drink, a lot of the ailments and mild conditions that I was putting up with believing they were normal have disappeared.
I have noticed that there is a big difference between how a food tastes in my mouth versus how it feels in my body and more and more I have decided that the heaviness, lethargy, moodiness or raciness that I feel in my body after eating certain foods (which can hang around for days) is just not worth the 30 secs of taste sensation that I get when eating them.
This a great funny insightful piece of writing that I really enjoyed. Thank you. I love not eating gluten and dairy anymore and enjoy a much steadier relationship with my body and it feels much steadier as well. I love how we can be scientists of our own bodies – eating something, see how you feel, eating more or less of something and see how the body reacts. It’s fascinating.
” It was me who was making a big deal about what they chose to eat, not them.” I like this. How often do we project that what we find difficult to grasp and do onto the ones that have an easy go with it. And to understand and see that opens a huge opportunity to be more honest with ourselves and start making different choices, choices that are for us and not because of anybody else.
“The more I listen deeply to my body, the more it shares with me, and the steadier I feel.” It is quite an amazing moment when we realise that all the answers we need in life actually reside within our bodies. Building an intimate relationship with our bodies, listening to and honouring what we feel forms the foundation for all our relationships, teaching us how to be truly tender, respectful and caring for our selves and one another.
Most of my life i ate for reward or to not feel what was going on around me, not read situations too clearly or connect to what I had already felt was true – the override button if you like. Take the edge of this tension or that tension, distract me from what was going on and my feelings.
This lead to misery, bloating and very unsupportive eating patterns, not dealing with my hurts, sadness or issues and turning to food instead, indulging rather than feeling and taking responsibility and was a pattern that was modelled to my children from young.
Food was to abuse in my life or a dictated meal.
It was not until I was able to re-connect to my body and allow myself to feel my body and listen to its wisdom that i was able to shift this life-long pattern.
How freeing it is live our body’s knowing – to recognise that our body knows when to eat, how much to eat and what to eat in any one day; that our body becomes clearer and lighter and more aware the more we heed it’s wisdom; to experience food as healing, supportive and nourishing for our body is precious and to be deeply appreciated in every moment as too, the preciousness of me that can now unencumbered, shine forth.
How often we turn to food to dull us, reward us, escape us and recognise us, in a flash, often on autopilot – servicing our immediate senses and need and a short-term fix yet seldom do we consider our bodies with the grace and tenderness we could. When we deeply appreciate and revere the sacredness of our body and being, it is no longer possible to eat at the expense of the body and to negate the body’s loud wisdom.
What we eat has such an enormous impact on our bodies and our lives – more than we may care to realise. Food can support us too, or it can be used to self-abuse.
To not have sugar in the body is a treatment of respect for the body. A loving gesture is not to move the body in a rush.
The point you have made here Bryony, that ‘there are no rules’, is hugely significant here. How often do we make changes in diet and food choices that are based upon adhering to ‘rules’ – rules that someone else has set or determined are the ‘right’ or ‘best’ thing for us.
Your approach of truly letting your body and the way you feel be what informs you as to truly supportive choices here makes absolute sense. My, how we’ve negated the wisdom of the body and just how constantly it actually speaks to us and lets us know what’s truly going on. Sometimes it shouts at us (indigestion, a hang over…) and still we can refuse to listen.
What you’ve shared here Bryony IS truly profound. And I love the way you approached making such changes – just trying things out and seeing how they felt with such honest appraisal. It seems that such honesty in regards to what we consume is something that, as a whole, we’ve not been so ‘good at’ – revealing that there have to be inner factors and motivators going on that lead us to make many (if not all) of the food choices that we do. The thing is, we can only truly come to know what makes a difference for and within ourselves, can’t we…
“Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it” – yes agree Bryony, totally, and what I’m finding is that when this happens and you feel the effects of treating the body with love through food, the sense of regard, expansion of space and a real lightness within….you want to keep that feeling, and get back to it as soon as possible when you fall off ; ) Making the body as the foundation and how it feels is worth it.
“Isn’t it fussy and ungrateful to be choosy about what I’m eating?” – such a great question Bryony, and one that’s acceptable or deemed ‘not fussy, but loving’ when a person’s got some sort of disease or illness recovery and less when they don’t. Sometimes I still get a couple of people thinking of such ‘fussiness’ when going for team/work lunches for example….where I’d call beforehand to make sure the restaurant we’re attending does cater for food choices. The thing is, I used to pass this and myself off as being fussy and could feel slightly embarrassed about it, yet the times when I have given in just to fit in, creates the most discomfort in my body that these days what I feel in my body carries the greater importance… over caring what people may (and do) think of how I eat/what I eat. The proof is in my vitality… and these days more people are asking me for recipes, and changing the way they eat, because deep down we all know what’s truly good for us, or not, and that some of us have a bit more knowing of this at the time, that’s all!
Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it. This is something that I had to learn also Bryony, starting off going by what I took on that I was not to eat, to really feeling what I am choosing to eat in my body and then to to naturally let go of those foods that do not support me anymore, and this is ongoing. But doing it in this way, nothing is forced or coming from a feeling of having to, its just a beautifully supportive choice to make for your body.
“Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.”- Yes, so true and important Bryony. I find when I make food about rules, perfection or deprivation to attain a goal, such as losing weight or feeling healthier and more energised, I find myself giving up and being tempted to eat certain foods e.g. comfort foods. However, I am learning that if I allow my body to determine what foods feel nourishing and supportive and what foods feel heavy, dulling and bloating I am less likely to eat them and then it becomes my truth around food, and not someone else’s.
‘I also noticed that people who’d made what I would have called ‘unconventional’ food choices, based on how different foods made their body feel, didn’t seem to be wallowing in a world of deprivation and self-pity’. This is a great observation and my feeling on this is because they made those choices for themselves and have gone against the grain in terms of just accepting what they’ve been taught is normal…There is so much inner power in making a choice because we feel it to be true as opposed to making it because we think or have been told it is right.
Additionally to what I have shared above, it’s important to note, that whilst I used to believe that not eating gluten and dairy was a crazy idea and that all the flavour was stripped from the table, I no longer believe this. It did not take me long to get creative in the kitchen and there is sooooo much on offer. Bread and cheese, it’s a convenience thing more than anything. Yes, not eating bread and cheese does require a little more preparation, but the choices are most definitely not limited and you are certainly not going to be missing out. If anything your choices expand because you start to look at ingredients you would have never considered previously.
I’ve known many people that have eliminated gluten, dairy and sugar from their diet and claimed that they have felt amazing within the first few weeks, months of giving it up. This has not been my experience, despite being off these foods for approximately 6/7 years.
What I have experienced is an increased awareness of where my body is at, and more than anything it’s the exhaustion that has been presenting itself more and more. Particularly once sugar is taken out of the picture…then I really get an opportunity to feel how tired I am without the prop every few hours in one form or another.
What this less than exciting experience has offered me, is an opportunity to further investigate what is actually going on inside. I’ve since discovered an array of ‘malfunctions’ if you like, that have all contributed to my lack of vitality and exhaustion. From here I am able to address what needs to be addressed and begin rebuilding my immune system.
It’s not always rainbows and unicorns…but I’m grateful for the choices I’ve made that have exposed what’s really going on with my health. Had I not eliminated those food groups, I would be far less sensitive to my body and it would have taken far longer for me to have the health issues diagnosed.
I have also experienced this Elodie. I gave up dairy and gluten many years ago, and at first I felt a little difference but then many other digestive symptoms started to appear and their consequences elsewhere in the body. Like you I have become more aware of the exhaustion and also the behaviours around eating that reveal many unresolved issues inside of me that I have been ignoring. Now I am at a place where it is very clear that it is overeating and stuffing myself that is the real reason for all the huge bloating I now have been experiencing for two years. Until I actually access this fully it will continue to present the message to me.
What I feel from this article is a freedom, all to often when food is a topic of conversation there is an underlying current of control. What’s different about this article people might ask? Well, as the reader you are left alone and with that space you feel the freedom too. My relationship with food is forever changing and sometimes when a food is not serving anymore but I can’t seem to let go of it out of an idea that my life will become too boring if I do, I will remember that my life has never been better and I haven’t had a Mojito in 12 years!! Often the idea of letting go of food and drink is very different to the reality.
I felt the exact same way as you Bryony when I was first presented with the concept of eating to nourish your body. With a French mother and Egyptian father, I had every excuse under the sun to reject this concept, because food was the centre of my world. I was so arrogant about it as I’d grown up spoilt for choice and believed that life’s pleasures were found in my mum’s amazing baking and pastry cooking.
It took some reading and many conversations with a friend who had embarked on eliminating certain food groups before I started to understand that food did in fact have an impact on our health, aside from the really obvious stuff like don’t drink too much and don’t eat too much junk food.
When I learnt about the affects gluten had on a persons mental state, that rang alarm bells for me because I was prone to depression and all of a sudden this link had me considering eliminating it.
I also started to become aware of when I went for cheesy or creamy foods, and I noticed it was always when I was in need of comfort food, when I was down and less so when I was up.
It took a couple of years to process but I slowly started to wean myself off gluten and dairy while observing all the times I have the cravings and understanding where I am emotionally when I have the cravings.
More than anything cutting these things out has increased my awareness around what I eat and opened me up to feeling how my body responds whereas before I just ate without feeling or thinking.
Yes, having a clean diet makes you feel better – physically. The body responds. However, what most people are not ready for is how a clean diet actually allows you to feel more – and for many that can be overwhelming. For the most part, we eat according to our emotional state, and we choose foods that help to relieve the tension of what we are feeling. Thus why cake, alcohol, chocolate, sugar etc make up such a large part of so many people’s lives. We use food as medication. So the real choice is not about wanting to be healthy, as so many people say, or losing weight, but about being honest about whether one is willing to deal with all that they feel. After that decision is made, the dietary side of things gets a little bit easier.
When I choose to eat something heavy and dulling, my body feels lethargic and my mind becomes bored and restless. I also find it difficult to concentrate or focus on my tasks but feel to go and eat some more unsupportive food. So, it’s like a viscous cycle from one unloving choice it often leads to more unloving choices. So, the key is to be aware of what is going on and I can then choose to break this cycle. I find it super powerful to first choose to be aware, feel what is going on in my body and then nominate what choices I have made that have led me to feeling a certain way. Our body constantly communicates to us, reminding us of our choices and by listening to it we are more able to care and nourish it to its optimum capacity of intelligence.
“I still have ideas that pop into my head about my choices around food and how I ‘should’ be living. How come nearly the entire world eats gluten and dairy and drinks alcohol – surely it can’t be that ‘bad,’ if everyone does it? Isn’t it fussy and ungrateful to be choosy about what I’m eating?”
Even when we know that a certain food will make us feel bloated, heavy or just plain unwell, we still can get the thought to eat it, so its worth contemplating where do these un-supportive or even self destructive thoughts come from, as we know how it feels when we choose the thoughts that support us.
I love how you came to make different choices about what you eat and drink Bryony, seeing others who had made supportive choices about what they ate, and then deciding to try it out, or give it a test run. When we have this attitude in life much benediction and support is available for us.
When I overeat in the evening, as I often do, I feel tired, heavy and lethargic in my body, I also don’t feel like relating or being open with my family, so what I eat impacts on how loving and open I am with others.
“It makes it easy for my mind to slip into a quicksand of circuitous and dull negative thinking and I start to feel lethargic and bored. Instead of focusing on what I can contribute to a situation and bring to others around me, I make it all about me and my life. My self-obsessed thoughts turn into a distraction and I forget about my responsibility to live fully and truly.” Wow this is beautifully explained Bryony, when we dull or make our bodies racy or eat to much etc. eating foods that don’t support it, we then become very self obsessed with our thoughts and bodies in a unhealthy way, and cant be clear and present for ourselves or for others, therefore making ourselves separate and individual from others and humanity.
Our bodies being the vehicle that we drive every day and night, so to speak, it then makes absolute sense to invest in them, by building a connection and relationship, in that we learn to respect, honor and nourish our bodies so they can serve us in return, and therefore serve all others to a higher level of service.
Bryony I really enjoyed the light hearted and humorous way you wrote about food and making healthy choices, as for a lot of us this can be a rather serious or dull subject, in the sense that we would like to eat I a more healthy way, but it feels to hard to even contemplate, let alone make changes to what we eat. But the lightness and honesty you have expressed in and saying there are no rules, but more its about feeling our bodies and allowing them to guide us, feel much more manageable to do.
We often or mostly choose foods that effect our bodies in a way that prevents us being all of who we are, that make us feel less expanded, or from bringing our full clarity to a situation. This is also how much we choose to eat, and how present we are when we eat and when we eat to stop ourselves from feeling something we don’t want to feel, we actually know exactly how and what to eat to do all of the above.
“What has been amazing is that I rarely crave any of the stuff I used to. I’ve had a sweet tooth since I was a small child and used to love cakes and biscuits. But now I’d rather choose the stillness and solidness I can feel most of the time, over a sugary treat which makes me feel hyperactive and like I’m on drugs.”
I have experienced this Bryony, I used to lots of biscuits, cakes and sweet foods and thought the intensity of my emotions and racy energy was just normal, or the dull heaviness or tiredness after the effects of the rush the sugar in my blood gave me was normal. Not choosing to eat these foods now, and feeling much more steady and consistent in my energy levels, my ability to concentrate and not having the emotional highs and lows, I realize the effects the sugar was having on me.
Its interesting how quickly our bodies adapt, when we stop eating sweet and sugary foods, after the initial cravings our bodies change, and then if we go back and revisit the sweet foods that we used to eat, and try them again, our body rejects them as way to sweet.
What I noticed when I choose to not eat certain foods, that I was more patience and much clearer on detail.
“Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.” What I have observed is that all diets, health regimes and lose weight programs most of the time don’t seem to work for people, they stick to it for a period of time then go back to their old ways and feel bad about the whole experience and either try again at a later time or don’t re-visit the diet again as they feel like its just to hard and wont work. The way you are describing or listening and connecting to ones body Bryony, makes a lot more sense, having a feeling of what it feels like when we eat different foods, and then choosing to eat from what we experience, rather than a set diet or picture of how we should eat.
When we deeply consider the expression, ”food for thought”, it makes perfect sense as what foods and drinks we choose to put in our bodies directly affect our thoughts, behaviors, moods Etc. This has been clearly shown in tests with children who have learning difficulties or find it impossible to sit still and study.
“The links between my body and my emotional and mental state have become much more obvious. When I eat lots of heavy food or too much food, I feel heavy, weighed down and foggy – like I’m operating on battery-saving mode.”
If we think of our body’s like our vehicle or car, we notice the difference when we put in premium high octane petrol, as to the regular petrol, our car ha more ‘get up and go’, runs smoother with more steady more consistent power, and less hiccups. We wouldn’t dream of putting in in the wrong fuel or oil in our cars, but when it comes to our own bodies we sometimes knowingly put in fuel (foods) that don’t support and nourish it, and that we know are actually harmful.
Great subject you raise here Bryony, we are confronted many times a day with food. And apart from the fact that most of the people are raised with the idea that you have to eat at least three times a day, there are also lots of foods that are labelled healthy and necessary when in fact they are not. I am experimenting with: ‘ do I really feel hungry when I want to eat or is it my mind that tells me it is lunch or dinner time?’ What I had noticed is that allot of the time I am not hungry but still eat because it was lunch time or diner “time”. When I choose to eat only when I feel hungry I felt a lot lighter and less tired.
“Every time I choose something – a food, drink, thought or emotion that doesn’t make me feel so good, I get to feel it”. I love this comment — it provides simplicity for change in truth. If something does not feel right change it, when there is something more to feel do not change it feel it.
“stop, feel, and choose from there – is this food really supporting and nourishing my body, and how do I feel after eating it?” I find food the most challenging thing to conquer – only because I am not simply honouring the above – my responsibility to honour what I innately feel. “There are no rules” from the mind’s creation just feelings to explore and accept from the body.
I absolutely agree Bryony, food has a massive impact, not only on our body and wellbeing, but on our thoughts, the way we move and what we choose for ourselves. I was never very attached to food or had big cravings I didn’t care too much about it, but when I started leaving food and drinks away I realized how they silently had made me dependent on them. What most shocked me was the state of being that came with the food or drink that I had accepted and wasn’t even aware of it. I constantly altered my state of being. By not consuming certain foods and drinks anymore I became aware of how much I actually changed by my food choices. What was the most revealing thing for me was to experience that there is no innocence in food and that we choose to consume things regularly and call them normal that actually are not made for the human body.
I had a similar experience Bryony when I was introduced to the fact that certain foods didn’t actually support my body but actually had an effect on me that I hadn’t realised. I experienced bloating, sluggishness, tiredness and raciness to name but a few of the symptoms after eating certain foods and one by one started to cut things like dairy, gluten, sugar and salt out of my diet. The difference has been profound and I now take great care with what I eat and how I prepare it. I eat less, my body feels clearer, and I have more energy. Its as the old saying goes: ‘you are what you eat’.
We can either eat to numb or dull ourselves, or eat with an awareness that what we eat, how much and when is constantly affecting our evolution. When we eat in respect to our evolution we are choosing to eat in a way where we honour the connection to our body and its stillness and choose to eat in a way that supports this quality.
It is an amazing relationship to explore between us and what we consume and it brings new meaning to the saying – ‘you are what you eat’.
Food like everything else is first of all energy. With every food comes a consciousness attached and we are first of all consuming the image we have attached to the food, which is the lifestyle, the mood, the comfort, the dulling, the excitement, etc. So most of the time it is not only the ingredients that causes the negative effects on our body, but the image and ideal we are swallowing with it.
A lot of what we are digesting is done through our eyes, ears and touch also. There are images and taste sensations that can be very alluring although if I am not taken by these and I let myself truly feel, either the food or the music for example, my body will let me know the truth of how supportive these choices really are.
It never occurred to me how important the effects of food can have on our bodies, and how it can dull us. On many occasions I have noticed that when I eat certain foods my head becomes foggy and I no longer feel clear or my body reacts maybe with a stomach ache or a headache – these are the true messages form the body which we should be listening to not manmade diets.
Who would think that eating differently would increase our trust in ourselves but when you consider that what you are saying here is actually not following a regime but carefully feeling what food our body is asking at any given time to nurture and nourish us it brings a completely different perspective.
When I was a little child I was made to eat everything on the plate set before me. The plates of food were huge to me as I was very tiny and eating seemed like an endless chore. What made it worst was nobody was allowed to leave the table until I had finished so my brothers and sisters would be resenting me as I slowly tried to eat what was not truly for me. If I had been left to feel what I needed it would have been a fraction of what I was made to eat. It felt like a great imposition at the time. We were told we had to eat everything as there were children starving in other countries. As a child I never understood how that added up. It was held over us like a guilt trip. Knowing what to eat and what not to eat has been quite a learning over the years . . . great to have the common sense that you are bringing here Bryony and simply feel what to eat and the amount of food that is needed at any given time. . . that, I have come to the conclusion, is a very small amount for me.
What I’ve noticed in workplaces (but also homes), is how when someone wants to eat something that they know is going to affect them after (like high sugar treats) they will bring it under the guise of something for the whole office. And it’s really interesting to watch how it all plays out thereafter, no judgement it’s just like watching a real life experiment of bees to honey, as the ‘treat’ is put in a spot that every single person needs to walk by, and if they are feeling tired, unhappy, stressed, overwhelmed and just not feeling themselves… their radar of what is supportive for them at that time or not is obscured. Many reasons are expressed as something is selected from the treat table, like ‘oh I love these!’ or ‘I just can’t say no to these’.
What I’ve found is sometimes I’ve gone to the utmost extreme of eating something that fully hits me in the face before I will admit it is detrimental to my being… and then other times be super clear that no way am I eating that because it hurts me. We play and indulge in so many games when it comes to food… and as this blog highlights, there is so much more going on behind the scenes as to why we choose this or that.
Bryony, what you have portrayed is such a simple example of the relationships that I have had with all foods you describe. When you give up any of these foods for over 3 months then I have found that if I return to the food it has a massive disruption to the way my body feels. ‘The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound’, and in no way would I consider changing back to eating sugar and dairy etc. because of how much these foods destroy the relationship I have developed with myself.
And the other great thing about it is, that there are no cravings for any of those foods as my body has showed me how awesome it feels and so the cravings don’t come, it’s just great.
All I can really say is the lightness and vitality in my body is too awesome to ever going back to foods that really would put a stop to all of that.
Quite some time ago now, I have also gone to experiment with leaving out certain foods for 3 months to see if it would make a difference to how I feel -, and that food was gluten. And the difference my body showed me was so great, that I never even considered going back to eating gluten again. also in the eighties I stopped eating dairy products – and again, my health improved tremendously, no more colds, no more days off sick – it was a very obvious marker for me too.
This is so true Bryony – “The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.” If we choose to listen and tune in to our bodies after we have eaten, it is really difficult to not receive the body’s message. How strong the mind at times wants to override that communication is truly incredible…
Bryony – this is one super powerful article – even the title shares so much. We all have the choice to either eat for taste – just considering one part of our body, our mouths, or we can eat in consideration of the whole, to nourish.
Everything that we eat impacts how we feel, hence we can either alter or confirm what we feel with each meal.
It’s beautiful to feel how I can affect my whole life through a few simple choices. When I began to change my diet I did it because those around me felt different and and more present and their lives inspired me to see how it would be if I changed. It has been a long and interesting journey and one that is still – and will continue to evolve for as long as I live.
Ah yes, the idea of healthy eating being boring, that somehow by eating right for the body we will be missing out on all the tasty unhealthy food out there! But what are we really missing out on, when those foods are harmful to the body – the taste maybe, but what do we get from those foods we can’t get from healthy food? Stimulation, dulling, comfort – you can’t get these things so easily from from fish, a salad and a glass of water.
It is only when I am missing something in me that I begin to miss the taste of something I know doesn’t feel good in my body. What better an indicator than that that I need to look elsewhere to fill the gap in me.
When my children were small there were lots of birthday parties they got invited to. There was one particular parent that did not allow her children to eat sugar. At the time I thought her poor children were missing out and that she was being over fussy and obsessive. Having said that I do remember noticing the effect sugar had on my children and I knew it wasn’t good from the way they behaved afterwards. I too was eating lots of sugar at the time and didn’t want to consider giving up what I now realise was an addiction. The food we eat is so crucial to our wellbeing, and there are many foods that have a negative effect on our health.
Rules we impose on anything leads to a feeling of duty and restraint of our natural sense of what is needed to be supportive of our own life and everyone else, whereas truly sensing and feeling what is appropriate in any given moment brings a joy and confirmation. What better way to eat our food than with joy, without it we are swallowing with an energy that does not nourish us. The joy comes through true choice, not to fill up or indulge or stay with old habits, but to know where the choice is coming from, our needs or our love.
Absolutely Bryony, no wallowing in a world of deprivation and self-pity. Quite the contrary! I’ve found shopping for ingredients, cooking, and eating, far far more enjoyable and nourishing since I’ve switched to a diet free of Gluten and dairy.
‘The less I ate of foods containing things like gluten, dairy and sugar, the lighter, cleaner and clearer my body and my mind felt.’ – I am having this experience too, the difference is amazing. Today I can clearly feel that if I accidently eat any of these foods, even if it is a tiny amount hidden in a dish that is supposed to be ‘free from’, I get sluggish or racy – and with a weird feeling of having a hangover.
I prided myself on being a good and easy eater. I ate a little bit of everything. However I was getting more tired, I was gaining weight and feeling very sluggish. Like you Bryony once I started changing my diet by way of an experiment. I observed what happened and my body began to be less tired, less weight and much more vital. If anyone looked at my diet, it was the ideal diet but my body was actually saying something else. Now I understand that I was using food as a way to medicate myself through life.
I notice food brings up a lot of emotional reaction in virtually us all. I think its a curiosity that someone would be so offended or agitated that I don’t eat a certain food type. As Bryony says so honestly it was the reaction in herself that was occurring, others making the choice to avoid certain food were getting on with their days, and feeling great. A great observation and so true, we only miss certain foods if we are using them as a comfort from dealing with emotional hurts, smothering the pain in a food item that gives temporary relief. I admire what Bryony shares as it is living proof of someone honest enough to look at what food is really for and what certain foods do to us.
I have been resisting refining my diet in certain areas for some time but now that I am making that commitment I am feeling more clarity, lightness and vitality. It really does make a huge difference.
Bryony, This is a great article, I love what you have shared here, ‘Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.’ I can feel how in the past I made eating about rules, about what was ‘good’ and ‘bad’, this felt hard work sometimes as I really wanted certain foods on my ‘bad’ list and it would be a battle resisting them, it feels very different now because I am actually listening to my body; to what makes me feel well and what makes me feel drowsy or gives me a stomach ache, this way of eating is so simple and easy and I am really enjoying experimenting with different foods and how much food my body actually needs.
I am aware that I have some very ingrained habits and behaviours around food. I still hold the residue of the belief that eating will give me energy. When I am tired I tend to want to eat because I think that it will ‘pick me up’. However it doesn’t. I am also aware that I tend to want to eat when I feel sorry for myself (particularly when I’m tired). If I have to work late then I want to eat to commiserate with myself. Although I have held these ideas for a long time I am finding that as I deepen the care that I take with myself then these habits are losing their grip and I am more able to change my behaviour around them.
Food is such a big thing in our society, the focus is more and more about food – there is a coffee shop or a bakery on every street corner nowadays – it seems like our whole life started to revolve around food, what to eat next, what flavors we like and the variety to choose from increases daily. It really makes you wonder, isn’t there more to life than food?
“I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.”
I found this sentence to be very true and it does not only relate to food but also to the thoughts I choose to let in and the emotions I allow to overtake me and the stuff I choose to take on from others, by indulging into their stories.
I agree Judith and food and emotional dramas are some of the best ways I know to dull my awareness. When I am going for them it is a give away that there is something I do not want to be aware of or something I do not want to feel.
Food has become so entwined in our lives that we have no real understanding of what it does to us. Sure we talk a lot about food and weight but we don’t really go much deeper than that. I am coming to feel that our bodies when harmonious need very little food, in fact they actually balk at food as they instinctively know that food will deaden the natural vibration and vibrancy of the body. We have created so many myths, beliefs and lies around food that it’s going to take a long time to return to the truth of it but when we do it will support us immeasurably because eating and drinking has become something that we do almost constantly.
Bryony having been someone that watched lots of TV cooking shows and frequented lots of restaurants I would certainly say I loved food. But the reality is that I was never eating to nourish myself, just the excitement, the taste sensation or the reward and pat on the back for getting through life. I am now really enjoying a new relationship with food, one that has a long way to go but where I can see what your blog speaks about, the possibility that food can be used to nourish and not simply excite the taste buds. Imagine a restaurant that is truly about nourishing ourselves first, or the difference this would make to family lives if it were part of education?
I’d ask the same question “How come nearly the entire world eats gluten and dairy and drinks alcohol?” when it does not support or nourish the body – it poisons. It’s even more weird that most do not choose to acknowledge this. This behavior explains how other choices can be made constantly against our feelings.
I have spent most of this life eating what tasted good. There was a TV commercial years ago that its tagline was ‘bet you can’t eat just one’. The manufacturers had found the Bliss factor of the perfect combination of sugar, fat and salt that disables our ‘I am full’ off switch. You could eat a whole bag of this product. The world is moving faster every day and so is our choice of even faster food. We consume these items with little care of what in them. The Twinkie cake invented in 1930 in the US will scare you if you read what is in them today. A few years ago they made a change to them so they now have a shelf life of 45 days. Could because there is no food product to go off in them? We need to un-numb ourselves from what we have been putting in our bodies and begin to feel what our body needs and not what our mouth wants; our waists will thank us.
I used to eat a full on, full English breakfast almost everyday,as my belief was that because I do a physical job and it had been drummed into me over the years that breakfast was the most important meal of the day this was necessary for me to do, even though if I stopped to feel it would have noticed how lethargic and dull it made me feel and seemed to sap my energy instead of give it to me.
“It goes without saying that it’s pretty challenging to experience what it’s like to be in someone else’s body.” Interesting comment – when truth is felt like it has been presented by Serge Benhayon I have not needed anything else to look for or seek – I can feel it in my body.
Bryony you wrote: “Every time I choose something – a food, drink, thought or emotion that doesn’t make me feel so good, I get to feel it – and I can choose differently next time, if I feel like it.” That is so true. If we allow ourself to feel what is really going on in our bodies then we also have the responsibility to deal with our choice. I have to admit that in the past I did not like to be so responsible it was much more easier to blame e.g. life and how frustrating it was.
I have observed how quickly I turn to food for comfort and dull what I don’t want to feel. There is a vast difference between eating to nourish my body and to wanting to numb it.
“The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound”. It sure is and as you Bryony there are no rules with regards to diet or what to eat or drink. As soon as it becomes about rules it becomes about will power rather than what is loving and supportive for the body.
This is absolutely brilliant. It’s so not about rules but the quality of our bodies and our thoughts. It is about feeling like the true me, the clear me and why would I want to eat something that clearly takes me away from that? There is really no competition or question.
Great article Bryony, it is amazing the effects that food can have on us, just recently I am realising the way I eat dramatically effects me, if I eat rushed, racy and not present then this impacts my day negatively. The whole way I am with myself and others is affected.
We can focus on having a problem with food and either overeating, undereating or eating foods that are not healthy or we can choose to look at the underlying issues that make us do these things. If I tend to focus on beating myself for these things I can loose the point and feel more shame or bad about myself which leads to more ill choices.
With all the cooking and lifestyle shows on TV comes such a focus on the flavours, looks and nourishment that food can provide and yet we can overlook whether what we are eating truly support us. What you describe Bryony is a totally different way to view and interact with food, with presence and awareness of what we may need for the day we are having.
A very informative blog offering real understanding to our eating behaviours “It still amazes me that food can affect my body so much, because until recently I had never really considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts.” What we eat really does make a massive difference to our lives in so many ways and how we feel. and is well worth making loving changes to support us .
My ideals around food choices have certainly been challenged over the past five years and the way I eat now has completely turned around. There were certain foods that I thought that I needed to eat to be able maintain good health. I have since discovered that my good health comes from my quality of being and how I live each day within this quality. Food and the way I eat and cook can either support me to be more of myself or it can distract, numb and take me away from being me.
The best way to turn knowledge into wisdom is to live it and experience the effects for ourselves. If we don’t it is purely a mental activity which holds no real understanding.
Thank you Bryony for opening this discussion. Food has always been a issue for me and I have adhered to many rules over the last 60 years. I have labeled myself everything from a vegetarian, a vegan, a raw food sprout eater, to a gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, vinegar and fermented foods free, meat eater I feel my obsession with getting the food thing right may have been a reaction to being made to eat certain foods as a child. It is a huge relief to leave all those self imposed rules, ideals and beliefs about food behind and feel what to eat . . . feel what suits my body instead. Nowadays it is a much simpler streamline way of eating. And eating what I feel to eat always tastes good.
“Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.” A perfect example of how simple the answer really is to all our crazy ideals and beliefs around food and diets.
I was having a lovely conversation with my hairdresser and she remarked how trim and slim I was and asked me about my diet. She was okay with the no gluten and no diary but when I said no sugar and no alcohol she was shocked, but mainly with the no sugar. I said that we are always looking for sweetness outside of ourselves but sugar is a very poor substitute in comparison to the natural sweetness we all carry inside. It was beautiful to see and feel how she instantly connected to what I had said – a truly sweet moment!
“The links between my body and my emotional and mental state have become much more obvious. When I eat lots of heavy food or too much food, I feel heavy, weighed down and foggy – like I’m operating on battery-saving mode” – earlier this week at a corporate lunch conference, i had exactly this experience Bryony, I got back to the office and work took second place, with procrastination and an unusual lack of attention to tasks. I felt absolutely awful and ‘bulked’ in my body, and knew the reason of course for it was the food, but also what pre-seeded the choice to actually eat what i ate – food that was although was ‘in line’ with my dietary requirements, was being influenced by the particular state and expectation I had come to the conference in. It’s not only what we eat, but the energy we eat food in that either buries ‘states’ to dense the body, or allows the body its natural quality of lightness that brings greater awareness.
I too had similar thoughts and image around food and around giving up certain foods. I have been aware throughout my life how food affects my mood, my energy levels and how I interact with others but I was still choosing foods that weren’t supportive and I was choosing to ignore what my body was communicating to me. It was in recent years that I realised these message were a blessing, it was my body’s way of communicating to me about my choices and my relationship with food. Now I am learning to choose foods that are nourishing and supports me to feel lighter, to be more aware, have more clarity and allows me to be more myself. The difference in how I feel now compared to 3 years ago when I let go of heavy clogging foods is massive. Some of my food choices can take me away from feeling and being myself. Your blog confirms this and we seem to experience similar feelings and behaviours, it is a matter of whether we want to be aware of the effects of food or not. The quality of the food (fuel) we choose to put into our body (vehicle) affects how it runs and how it makes us feel, it can support us to grow or stunts us. The choice is always ours.
I actually enjoyed making these changes to my diet – it was fun and interesting discovering new foods and recipes or making simple adjustments to some of my favourite dishes. What I enjoyed about the process most was that I was not invested in an outcome – in the past, I would try different diets to either lose weight or because I believed it was going to make me healthier.
Thank you Bryony for a great article I used to eat food from what I thought was good for me, all coming from my mind. It is so different to relate to the body and how it is feeling after certain foods are eaten, and great to realise that one size, in eating food does not fit all. It is such an individual choice. The effects of food on our bodies is huge. ” I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.”
Food can be good medicine or it can be used just like a drug can – that choice is ours.
When I eat for comfort, boredom, something to do or because it’s ‘dinner time’, I can eat so called healthy food but it will affect me in some way – I will feel sleepy, not a sharp in my thinking, get distracted easily and will want to eat more. When I eat to nourish and because I genuinely feel I need something, not only does food taste so much better, but I don’t have any of these affects – even if it is the same food. This confirms for me that it is the intention and the energy I’m in when I choose what and when to eat that impacts me just as much, if not more than the food itself.
In the days not long after I started to experiment with not eating certain foods due to a growing awareness of how they affected me, including sugar, whilst at work I ate some sweets which a colleague was passing round. I was staggered at the effect they had on my and as it says in this blog, it was just like taking drugs. I came to realise just how desensitised and accustomed to the effect we have become and therefore ignorant to the fact of how hard our bodies have to work to process these types of food and then bring back our normal state of homeostasis from the harm and disrupted they bring.
“If I really wanted to know and understand why anybody would eat that way out of choice, rather than necessity, I realised I would have to give it a go for myself.” That is exactly what I did and the first change I noticed in my body was not feeling bloated. Even though I was very healthy and trim and had a very healthy diet I often felt bloated after eating – my daily bread had to go!
” It was me who was making a big deal about what they chose to eat, not them.” So true Bryony, people have a lot to defend and justify when others reflect to them different food choices and I totally agree those new choices can be about simply getting on with life, except in a way which is building of quality and vitality and not using food to cope or prop themselves up.
It is quite amazing that over the years I have heard so many conversations where people discuss recipes, food products and restaurants according to the best taste or presentation of foods, yet very rarely until I came across Universal Medicine was there talk about food according to its impact on the body and how you feel after you have eaten it. It never even occurred to me to ask that question – this is how disregarding we can be of our own bodies. I feel so much lighter and more vital since I started to pay attention.
A person that I know was tested to be very sensitive to gluten years ago and, although I was then still eating gluten containing breads, I sometimes used breads made from other types of flour for a change. Because of my slight knowledge of these items, my help was sought to find some of these items, as well as other replacements for gluten free foods. For quite a time she found a great benefit from eating no gluten and was looking particularly well. Then some years later I found that she was no longer following that path, just said it was far too hard, and not worthwhile to her. But the person concerned has had quite a number of health issues the past years, particularly including a large weight gain which has resulted in many leg and ankle problems. When I suggested maybe it would be good to try cutting out the gluten again, I encountered a very defensive attack about how difficult I am with my ‘diet’. I don’t regard not eating gluten and dairy a diet, for me it is a self-loving way to live. We all have choices to make in our lives, they are ours to make, and the repercussions are ours to experience. To me self care is uppermost and includes considering how my body feels with what I put into my body, but we all have different preferences and choices that we make.
I have noticed that the foods I craved most were the ones that made me feel the worst, I also knew this but overrode the ‘knowing’, going for the rush or the momentary pleasure (which always led to headaches, body aches,fogginess and bloated tummy) over feeling truly great. I now realise that there was a lack of self worth and very little care or love for myself. Since I have brought attention to building that, listening to my body and noticing what leads to wanting to numb or dull or get racy and out of control, those craved for foods have naturally dropped away out of my diet. I don’t even think about them or notice them on the supermarket shelves anymore.
“In fact, they seemed more alive and fulfilled than most, and just getting on with their lives. It was me who was making a big deal about what they chose to eat, not them.” I too gave up eating gluten and dairy quite a number of years ago. I was tested to be sensitive to gluten especially and advised to remove it from my diet. It was also suggested that I cut down on the amount of dairy I was consuming, as the testing showed a low degree of sensitivity to that too. I started with buying gluten free breads and found it no problem at all. It was all a gradual process and I no longer eat any breads, find my body just does not want it any more. I then removed the dairy from my diet completely, and since I cut out both I find that I have far more energy for my day, am up and working far longer hours than ever before. And yet I find I am the focus of much judgment from others who do not eat this way. I am regarded as being difficult, impossible to feed, and unwilling to compromise. But why should I do this when I feel so great? It is not worth the horrible way that my body would feel if I were to again eat these products.
Thank you Bryony for sharing such a simple yet profound experience around foods – I love how you talk about no rules, yet at the same time you make it all about the body and how the body feels.
Food comes with so many beliefs and ideals. I’m feeling that what I choose to eat not only comes with the energy of the food consumed but the energy of what’s behind the choice itself – so if I eat to numb myself I’m dealing with the heavy food I’ve chosen to do this but also it’s lie I’m doubly consuming the energy of wanting to be unaware. So choosing to eat to remain as aware as one can is bound to feel light and lovely.
Eating for taste is a constant vicious cycle – there is momentary satisfaction of the taste buds but then we feel how that food has affected our body (whether we are aware of it or not) and react to this by craving more of the same type of food. Circumstances and or the food are blamed for how we feel rather than taking responsibility for our choices. However if we eat to nourish our bodies the whole intention behind why, when, how and what we eat becomes one of loving responsibility, and feeling the positive effects on our bodies inspires us to continue in this way.
This is so true Bryony… “The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.” And the effect depends on the energy we are in when we go to eat… if we are emotional/in reaction then we will ignore our bodies messages and choose different foods to when we want to lovingly support our body by feeling what food it needs and preparing and eating it in a loving way.
It’s so true Bryony, food affects us in so many ways. It is well worth starting to observe just how so and adjust our diets to be in tune with our bodies needs, adjust the to truly support and nourish us rather than distract, comfort, stimulate or dull ourselves.
Bryony, your blog so lovingly expresses what I feel is our true relationship with food. Years ago I would never have accepted that what I eat changes my thoughts, emotions, and how I react to the world around me. But the more I allowed myself to feel what was going on in my body when I ate something, and how amazing I felt – clearer, steadier, lighter – when I ate what truly supported me, the harder it was to deny this truth. The simple fact is that I enjoyed being with me more when I gave up gluten, dairy, caffeine, sugar.
Due to symptoms I was having it was suggested I try a low fructose diet – I decided to give it a go for one month and see how my body felt at the end of that time. Within a week the symptoms had gone, and the unexpected bonus was that I felt so much lighter and clearer in my body and my mind that I knew I wouldnt be going back to the way I used to eat. Some say I’m a fussy eater or it must be tricky eating with limited foods but it isn’t. It is a loving way of supporting my body and there are so many different ways you can use the same ingredients – the limitation is only in the mind.
There is a huge difference when we choose to do something based on what we are told e.g. the latest diets and what should and shouldn’t be eaten, and when we make a food choice that comes from us, from our bodies feedback. It is a lived personal experience that cant be denied, and when you feel so much lighter and clearer in your body and in your thoughts and emotions, how can you ever go back to old ways.
“It was me who was making a big deal about what they chose to eat, not them.”. This is very honest Bryony. What I recognize in these words is how so many of us are extremely busy with other people’s (food) choices. When I changed my diet I wanted (imposed) them to ‘follow me’ and change their diet too. Now after years, I regret that very much and can see how scared I was too lose them and that I couldn’t put into words why I wanted them to change. Today I talked with a 12 year old boy and we shared that we can’t say for anyone what to eat, when to eat, how to eat and how much to eat. We’ve got all different bodies and we’re to all respect our bodies and listen to what our body is telling us. If we are prepared to listen, it is communicating very loudly and clearly. Food… Not for pleasure, but for enabling us to share our Love in expression. There’s much to learn and discover about food and food choices.
We give a lot of airspace to ‘giving up’ food and the battle with eating ‘healthy’ to be slim. Yet what if this struggle and fight is part of exactly the same malaise as eating junk food? What if this constant judgement and critique is equally bad for our health, to the point we may as well be eating the chocolate cake? Your words here Bryony remind us all that yes food is powerful but so is our ability to playfully experiment with how things feel, free from rules. There is a great opportunity for us to develop a yumminess inside of us and a new relationship with our food and our body.
‘The more I listen deeply to my body, the more it shares with me, and the steadier My body feels solid and tender at the same time when I allow myself to listen to the innate wisdom in our body, why would we want to not feel this, we avoid something here, a loving relationship with our body.
Dear Bryony your amazing blog is such an inspiration. Every experience you have made with your food choice I can feel in my body too as I made the same experiences. So the question what came to me was: why did I once chose to eat in a way to be not aware? Answer – I did not like to feel what I then started to feel.
Food, like any other consumables can be used in a number of ways. The simplicity of food is this, we should just eat what feels true! Our body reacts to certain foods, no doubt. Every food choice is a giveaway to the type of energy we are choosing for ourselves for which to live.
Thank you Bryony. Recently I have started getting very sick whenever I overeat in order to numb myself. The choice of food does not seem to matter as much as the way and reason I choose to eat it. My body has finally had enough and it sure has my attention. Your blog supports me to feel the blessing of this and connect to the way my body helps me to be true to myself.
If you start to truly listen to peoples experiences with food, it is a scary number that have or have had issues around food – it being anything ranging from digestive discomforts, various cravings for foods that make us racy or falsely ‘pick us up’ and comfort us, fear of never having enough, fear of taste/look, or the more severe conditions like overeating, bulimia or anorexia just to name a few. Healthwise humanity finds itself in a position that cries out for help and true change. Are we open to accept that there is another way?
The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound as you say. How I eat has a huge impact on how I feel. A few years ago as a bit of an experiment I decided to cut out sugar from my diet for one week. The first three days I was very strict and didn’t even eat complex carbohydrates or fruit. On the last day I saw myself in a mirror and thought ‘you’re gorgeous’.. in this moment I realised that I had never naturally felt this way about myself before.
Thank you Bryony for so clearly expressing the connection between the food we eat and the effects it has on how we feel in our body. As you state there are no rules, perfection or deprivation….it is a totally personal journey of listening to/feeling your body and emotional and mental state and choosing the foods that allow you to feel alive, vital, light and clear headed.
‘The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.’ – This simple line is one that most people would benefit hugely from, if it was truly understood and applied in their lives.
Love this blog Bryony – true health begins with listening to our bodies and a conscious awareness of what truly supports us.
Hear hear – conscious presence in all we do, including food will fully support a true loving way of being with ourselves and in that, with others.
I have had what has seemed like an issue with food for 50 years, started with anorexia, then bulimia, binging, dieting, fasting, consistent obsessive thoughts about food, picking at food all day, only eating raw food, etc. Food was never the root issue. Since me loving and nurturing me and having purpose in my life my food issues no longer exist.
Food brings up such a reaction in people a lot of the time and I feel this is because we all do innately know what does support us in our food choices whilst we contine to eat what we know does not.
It is incredible how the choice to self love supports every single one of us to deal with and change the behaviours that we may have been choosing for years. There is no longer any excuse or any chance to be the victim of our ailments and diseases as we ultimately have the power to precipitate change.
It’s one thing to feel the effects of food on our body and another to commit to honouring it by not eating or drinking it as a lifestyle choice.
Listening to my body and it’s response to food has been far more powerful and supportive than any diet or health kick I’ve ever been on – having spent a large portion of my life making food choices I can certainly vouch for making food choices based on the inside out in preference to the outside in (ie diets, friends, magazines etc).
Thank you for a great reminder Bryony of the difference of eating for taste (which I still often do)and the truth of eating for nourishment and the need to listen to our bodies.
‘It still amazes me that food can affect my body so much, because until recently I had never really considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts.’ – this still amazes me to, but when you consider scientifically that your body takes from the food the things it needs to run the body, what you eat becomes assimilated as part of you, and therefore it will affect you, and so you have to stop and consider what it is you are eating.
‘What has been amazing is that I rarely crave any of the stuff I used to’ – Bryony, your blog is an honest wonderland of new discovery that feeds the body with the nourishment it has been asking for. All the things that are celebrated as the ‘Good Life’ e.g. sweet tasting, rich culinary delights are no longer missed but replaced by a sense of re-connecting and giving power to a little voice that has been unwavering in its love and dedicated truth. I love how you found your way through the miasma surrounding food and found what could be claimed as your holy grail. Great blog.
Bryony what you have shared in total gives us all the opportunity to bring our awareness about food and our relationship with it to a whole new level. When you touched upon the links between what you are eating and your emotional and mental state – it got me thinking about the whole concept of “emotional eating” and how crazy it is that we go to food for comfort or to “deal” with an emotion or situation we don’t want to feel, yet that very action actually makes us more introverted, and less able to deal with whatever it is that is going on.
What l’ve discovered over the years working with Universal Medicine practitioners, is that sustainable change happens through first changing what’s held in the body. Attempting to cut out a food we think is bad for us through sheer will power rarely, if ever works in the long term. Once the energetic state in the body is changed, the craving or need for the food that otherwise sustained it’s state, is no longer desired. When this is understood more universally, it will change everything about the diet and the healthcare industry.
Thanks Bryony, the impact of food on how we feel, on our ability to think clearly, know what is true for us and to make choices that are truly loving is enormous, far greater than we give credit to.
“But now I’d rather choose the stillness and solidness I can feel most of the time, over a sugary treat”, Bryony I too am feeling the same way and it really is a wonderful way to be, rather than how I used to be, which was wanting to eat to take me away from how I was feeling.
In the last couple of months I have really been examining in my body the feeling of being hungry and whether or not it is true hunger. What I have found is that when I feel suddenly very hungry and want to stuff a piece of food into my mouth really quickly, then if I don’t give into that urge then the feeling of being hungry goes very quickly. My supposed ‘hunger’ is really just an impulse designed to bring a wedge in between me and my self.
To add to that list Marika
4) My nose runs as soon as I eat a food that doesn’t agree with me
5) My stomach hurts if I have over eaten
6) I become numb and want to check out
7) My nervous system races if I have eaten sugar or a food that stimulates me
Bryony you have taken the conversation about the effects of food to a whole other level. Brilliantly done.
I now value so much more how I feel in every moment over the fleeting taste bud sensation that certain foods use to offer me. As an example, I use to eat at least a bar of chocolate every single day. It has been over 5 years since I touched chocolate and it doesn’t tempt me one little bit, because I know the effects of how I would feel if I ate it and it wouldn’t be good. Therefore it is now very easy to choose foods that support me and not eat those that make me feel heavy, racy or bloated.
I am going to observe when I eat to avoid responsibility. I know I eat or overeat when I don’t want to feel something, but could it also be that I eat because I don’t want to feel that I did not take responsibility for something that I should have?
Interestingly, because I currently have braces fitted on my teeth for the next six months, I am finding that eating is taking on a whole new dimension – it is no longer such an easy and delicious experience, so I am really feeling into the ‘need’ to eat and snacking has stopped, I am down to two meals a day, and being very careful what I try to eat. It is helping me to be much more aware of exactly what I am feeling in my body and to discern if it is hunger or an emotional emptiness.
‘Eating in a way that truly nourishes me becomes easy because my body just isn’t interested in foods that don’t make me feel good.’ I have found this too, that foods I previously craved, like sugar and fruit, which made me racy, I can simply ignore, because I am enjoying the stillness more.
Bryony, you have mastered something that very few people master without very strong discipline and you have mastered it with what seems little effort. That is amazing!
Yes and not an ounce of WILL POWER necessary. This is the secret behind true health care of the future… understanding that change must come from the body first and not the mind directing the body. We’ve been doing the latter for decades, if not eons and it doesn’t work. Sustainable change comes from changing what’s held in the body first, allowing for the body to be impulsed differently.
I find that when I take the time to truly feel what my body needs to eat the food then tastes so much better and I really enjoy it. Eating to numb or distract myself or eating simply out of habit creates a dullness even in my taste buds. The choice to make conscious choices with food opens up a whole new world of taste!
‘It still amazes me that food can affect my body so much, because until recently I had never really considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts.’ I am with you on this too Bryony but have had such a resistance to accepting it even though my body was telling me loud and clear. This resistance was based on my unwillingness to make responsible choices, going for the momentary pleasure factor rather than the longterm benefits. This has been a slow process for me with lots of starts and stops but as I commit more and more to eat according to my body’s messages, every part of my life benefits from it, not just my body.
The one that is always interesting is sugar. The intense headache that can take only minutes to inform you. The best part or worst depending on how you look at it, what was ok to eat last time is now off the list. The body just keeps evolving as we re-instate our natural abilities for it to communicate with us for what it requires.
Being one of those who made this ‘unconventional food choices’ I can say I used food to numb what I feel and to deny the responsibility of my choices. I ‘thought’ I use food to celebrate or reward myself – but far from this! The beauty with ‘The Livingness’ is that I do not force myself to for example eat differently but bring a change into my way of living, for example start to honor myself in the way I accept and appreciate who I am and what I bring to life and so my food choices get a natural change.
If I do appreciate me and that I am a sensitive being, if I take responsibility about my preciousness, I do not have to numb myself with food or what ever and tell me (and others) that this is a great way of being and ‘all good’. Food choices are important and have an result but they are not the root cause of our dilemma, they are a result. But these results are a great reflection and entry point to look behind the scenes of my own creation.
Bryony, what you are sharing here feels absolutely true to me, ‘It makes it easy for my mind to slip into a quicksand of circuitous and dull negative thinking and I start to feel lethargic and bored’. I experience this if I have overeaten or eaten a dulling food, I feel less clear and vital and just feel dull and lethargic instead. I am really enjoying experimenting with food and how much I eat, I am now eating about 1/3 of what I was eating before and i feel so much lighter in my body, I feel more feminine and delicate and not heavy and bloated like I did before.
Thank you, Bryony. I can relate to what you are sharing about in the past having no idea that what we eat affects our physical, emotional and mental state of being so much. Now that I am more aware of the effects of my food choices and listen to my body more intently, the messages are loud and clear, so I wonder – where was I to not be able to feel them? We can be overloaded with food, stimulants, stress, anger etc and so it feels super important to regularly stop and take stock of what is really going on in our bodies.
Your last line really says it all Bryony, ‘The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound’. It’s so true – what we eat and the way that we eat can both support or damage our bodies, and you’ve suggested (through sharing your experiences) a great way we can begin to register what foods do indeed agree with us and which foods make us tired, bloated, heavy, racy and so forth, through developing a relationship with our body.
“Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.” Thank you Bryony for describing so well what happens when we eat foods that don’t agree with our bodies and why taking the time to truly feel the effects of what we consume can be quite miraculous. I never realised just how crummy ice cream, cake and champagne made me feel until I took the time to abstain a little and then try them again. What happened shocked me and clearly demonstrated that the lethargy and dullness I had so readily accepted feeling was largely coming from what I was eating. Once I really got this, making choices based on effect rather than taste has been easy and has completely changed my life. I have no feelings of deprivation AT ALL. Feeling well, vital, healthy far outweighs the very short-term pleasure of eating ice cream, indulging in cake or swigging Champagne. The same applies to chocolate, coffee, alcohol, sugar and all gluten and diary products – I just don’t need the headache.
I have also performed the experiment of abstaining from different food groups. At first, it was destined to fail for I had just substituted bread with gluten free bread and energetically it felt the same in my body, and it was laced with more sugar to make it more palatable. Coffee became Decaf with honey, and the substitutions go on and on. But a funny thing happens over time I no longer had a need or craving for coffee, sugar and gluten and dairy was the last to go. There was a documentary years ago debunking the hype of organically grown food. There were all of these scientific tests that could not find any molecular difference between the two. Could it be, Science has just not found a test for it yet? The only way we prove that what input in our bodies is good for us is to show the world our before and after photos, they will always speak volumes.
Food food food – programs on tv, diets in the papers…makes you wonder sometimes why we are so obsessed with food. Usually this kind of behaviour shows there’s something else behind the scene cooking. Clearly we use it for other reasons than just to nourish the body.
When I came across the idea that gluten and dairy could be harmful and life would be better and more enjoyable without them seemed inconceivable. However, those I met who were living without these foods did not appear to be feeling deprived but in fact the complete opposite. Like you, Bryony, I decided I had to give it a go and I have had the same results as you. What a joy and I have not looked back since.
‘The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.’
I agree, Bryony. And a deep inner wisdom has already shown to me what feels true and not in my body, before even knowing about the harming effects of gluten and diary on the body. But at this time I overrode it and chose to become ill, until I met somebody who confirmed what I already had felt., gluten and diary is poisoning the body. This confirmation was a blessing and changed my life.
It is profound the impact our food choices have on everyday reactions and choices….”The way I responded to situations was changing. Difficult conversations, although still difficult, became less intense. The internal emotional whirlwinds that I’d created (and blamed on others) took less time to dissipate. It felt like a fog I’d been living in – one that I couldn’t see even existed before – had started to lift.”
I couldn’t agree with you any more Bryony, what we eat is profound and it certainly has been a process that i have been and will always be going through. It is not like we get to the end and go “yeah I have made it, I am eating healthy now’. When we are coming from a place of stop, connect and feel this always brings awareness to every given moment and depending on where we are at will determine what our bodies feel like. The fact that our relationship with ourselves is a forever deepening one is the exact relationship that we are having with what we choose to nourish our bodies with also. A for ever deepening relationship with our bodies and our food.
The whole concept of eating to nourish ourselves vs eating for taste is completely alien to the majority of the restaurants, shops and homes around the world. This has been especially true in my life, the food has been there in order to make me feel better after what ever period of time has gone on. I love how you’ve shared the importance of listening to the body and food and the way this affects everything about our body.
What a great article Bryony, your writing has the flow of someone that is not bogged down by heavy, gluey or cheesy foods and the clarity of someone clear of alcohol or sugary stimulants flowing though their veins. I love the no rules thing or just leaving it up to the body to call the shots. My experiment with food had instant results with the loss of 13kgs with just cutting out gluten and dairy even before I cut out alcohol and cut down the sugar intake.
Great photo Emilia, I would like to eat that plate of food right now, whether it is what my body needs or not. All commitment is out the window looking at your photo !!!!!!
Hahaha – love your comment Mary-Louise – heartfelt comment indeed 🙂
It’s amazing the steadiness, confidence and assurance listening, that is truly listening with openness and honesty, to our body can give us. It’s far far better than any satisfaction in the mouth any day.
It is such an important observation, Bryony, that before giving up certain foods, we are not aware of how much foods affect us. As you say, it is like a fog we don’t even know we are in. So until we try, we cannot say wow I would much prefer, clarity, fieriness in my body, tenderness, vitality, because those words do not mean anything or can be reinterpreted to mean anything. I agree it is only through the reflection our bodies bring that we can really gauge any changes we make. and only if we are prepared to introduce changes and trust what we feel.
True Bryony- all my life from when I was a young child centred around craving food, thinking about food and eating food especially sweet foods. This would leave me bloated, tired, emotional and heavy. Choosing to eat more supportive foods means I have more energy. When I now lean to the sugary snacks- I feel like I have been hit by a freight train- my body is sluggish and I can’t get moving.
Amazing it is Bryony, that when we take responsibility for what we eat we become more consciously aware of how our bodies feel and where we are at as a society. I love what you say about having rules and that there are not any with respect to food, as the connection with our body determines the choices that we make on food and how much it supports our body in living a vital and healthy life.
You’ve described the effects of gluten so well Byrony, and I can relate to them hugely. I used to wonder why it seemed I saw life through a fogged lens. Nothing was clear and I would constantly be squinting and blinking to try correct the haze I saw. I tried to ‘give up’ gluten for a long time, but it never really worked until I brought my whole body into it and started to feel the enormous and damaging effects of it to my entire vitality.
Thank you, Byrony, for sharing your very playful and scientific approach to feeling what foods support and what does not. To me, it proves why diets don’t work because when we come at food from a mental ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’ way, like a rulebook, it’s a drag to follow and no fun. And trying to fix ourselves or focus on weight isn’t it either – it’s all about the body and what it feels. When we make it about the body, it’s like a science experiment and we are the professors.
I love the no rules Bryony — that’s the best way to be with food. I don’t put a rule into my mouth, I choose to put nourishment in it and yummy, delicious often spicy love ☺️
Great expression – ” I don’t put a rule into my mouth, I choose to put nourishment in it …” Once people understand that this is not a dictated rule or a ‘going without’ but and realise how awesome it actually feels to be eating this way, many will be able to turn a corner quickly I feel.
Thank you Bryony… I myself have had an amazing journey with food. Ever since I was little sweets, pastries, desserts and what have you were my bosom buddies, and I still can look at them and go oh, how yummy does that look. But as much as I would love the fleeting bliss of my taste buds going to town, I know how good I feel not eating these things. And it’s not about moderation either, and neither is it a harsh discipline. I love how I feel in my body moment by moment more than the elation of sweetness from a sugar hit. And when I do crave something sweet these days — because it can happen — I know that what I’m actually craving is the sweetness of me, my own inner connection that I can then choose to rekindle, and which is sweeter than any puff cream pastry that money and disconnection can buy.
A fascinating read that evokes massive contemplation. I would guess that very few people consider the correlation between what you eat and how that then affects the way you feel and the level of awareness this supports, let alone the profound effects that are clearly possible. A truly great sharing.
I too feel the links between what I eat, how much I eat, and when I eat heavily affect my moods and thoughts. My mind knows exactly which foods to choose to dampen an emotional discomfort that I don’t want to feel and deal with. Over-eating, even of foods that normally digest well, causes mental fogginess and lethargy leaving me feeling drugged and needing to ‘sleep it off’. Once it would take alcohol and a tub of ice cream or a packet of sweet biscuits to cause this effect, but now it is much clearer exactly what I am choosing for myself and why.
“It’s not about demonising food groups nor judging myself nor anybody else for what we choose to eat, but so much more simple: stop, feel, and choose from there – is this food really supporting and nourishing my body, and how do I feel after eating it?” – this is such an important point. There are many who swear by various types of food choices they subscribe to and claim that they feel great because of that. For some stimulation is what they seek to feel good, numbing is what makes them feel better – we really need to be very honest about the way we truly feel to come to a point of acceptance that the ‘good’ we are seeking is actually not it, but instead is actually what is stopping us from feeling and living the grandness of who we truly are.
yes this is so simple – “Stop, feel, and choose from there – is this food really supporting and nourishing my body, and how do I feel after eating it?” It is quite astonishing how many people will totally override how they feel after eating certain foods, and do it again and again…
A wonderful example of how choosing to eat according to how it feels to our body feeds our trust and love for ourselves, which then feeds back to the choices to keep eating that way, rather than using food to numb/stimulate/reward ourselves – we start learning to feed ourselves with and taste love – which translates in our body as joy, harmony, stillness and truth.
Bryony I agree that the big thing about food is that it is not about rules, nor deprivation, it’s about how it feels in the body. Food that delights the eye and gives the taste buds a rush does not always deliver a nourished, light and lovely feeling body. I am not a person who is disciplined around food (quite the opposite in fact), however I found that once I had removed the main foods that were upsetting my body balance (gluten, dairy and excess sugar or salt) I simply didn’t crave them anymore, they just dropped away and there was, for example, no longer a pull to the gluten free dairy free section of the biscuit aisle. It was a gradual process, but I never once felt deprived because it was self-directed from by own body, not my mind.
Yes me too and this is such a liberating process when we arrive at the point where there is no pull towards those foods anymore.
The one thing I find amazing is the craving for certain foods that I once would have had with every meal has mostly disappeared, which to me shows the addictive nature of these so called ‘natural’ foods like gluten and sugar. Yet it’s added to just about every processed food and drink on the shelves in supermarkets. So once I was over the addiction I realised the body functions quite differently with more vitality, even moods, clarity and all round well being , eating to nourish has a whole new responsibility of choice now as the old addicted me was not who I wanted or chose to be.
“Every time I choose something – a food, drink, thought or emotion that doesn’t make me feel so good, I get to feel it – and I can choose differently next time, if I feel like it” – foods are the same as thoughts…everything is digested by the body, and so to feel the effects of thoughts and intentions on the body, is really the same as eating a piece of food. Living with such awareness is living with responsibility…because of thoughts leading to actions/decisions. Thus keeping a clear body through the use of foods that support clear (no perfection) thoughts, is eating responsibly, and evolving of oneself.
Insightful post Bryony, food is such a huge topic and affects us on so many levels, and for most of my life since around age 16 or so, have been, and continue to find myself today refining foods and what sorts of things i eat… as a teenager i used to be quite certain and regimented, cutting out ‘fats’ for body shape and paid absolutely no real attention or rather more, rarely responded even when i did feel bloated or stuffed etc., to how foods were feeling inside my body — to then instigate change. Today, similar to yourself, i find that attention on how a food feels inside my body/digestion, is the best way for me to eat.. and since i feel different on different days, i’m going to eat differently and not formulaic or like another person. In diet there’s no one best size fits all. Our bodies are changing every moment, and how we listen to them and adjust or respond, is the best diet.
Having gone down a similiar path with food choices as you Byrony, it’s incredible how the body does not require a treat or reward, or be relaxed by alcohol, or fueled by carbs, or fortified by dairy. Those ideas and beliefs have been subtly introduced, and in convincing us these are natural foods, that the body needs. I also have found the body protests very loudly now when I don’t listen and think I can just have a moment of indulgence. Yes my behaviour, moods and movements change and not in a good way and the body lets me know, so how powerful is the body in communicating what fuel it runs on!
“It still amazes me that food can affect my body so much, because until recently I had never really considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts.”
I love everything you have shared here Bryony. This line in particular is pure revelation for we are yet to truly understand as a society that there is a vital link between body and mind. That is, what we eat and how that makes us feel will directly affect and influence the quality of the thoughts in our head.
I remember when I made the choice to stop eating gluten – it was only in an effort to eliminate a harmful parasite that had been building a kingdom for itself within my body and I had become host to its blossoming colony. This left me with endless nausea, stomach cramps and intense digestive upset for years until I could take no more. A naturopath suggested that the only thing left in my diet that could possibly be feeding this colony of microorganisms was my ‘beloved’ gluten. This I did not want to hear because not only had I eliminated sugar, dairy alcohol and caffeine over the years due to their bludgeoning or arousing affect on me, I had also cut down to only the ‘good gluten’, those fashioned from the ‘ancient grains’ like spelt, kamut etc. I was not ready to let go of these (which was merely me not wanting to let go of the ensuing comfort i.e. numbing affect they had on me) and so I decided that I would stop eating them for 3 months to eliminate the harmful organisms and after that I would simply resume again. Needless to say I never went back for in all honesty I had to admit that the clarity and vitality I was able to experience far surpassed any momentary pleasure I gained from eating something that made me feel dense, put me to sleep and opened me up to playing host to a million little critters!
What we eat impacts the quality of our choices; and the quality of our choices determines what we eat.
Yes and these choices are delivered through the thoughts we are given which in turn are again based on the food we eat. Round and round we go…
We think we ‘love’ certain foods, yet, when we love ourselves, our choice of foods and ‘favourite foods’ can drastically change to ones that actually love our body back.
There were days when I NEVER imagined living without my coffee, or life without my favourite foods; and yet, these do not even occur as thoughts, options, or cravings for me in the slightest these days.
It’s absolutely fascinating to me how old cravings can completely fall away and never return; and shows that when something greater is connected to, foods not in line with that greater sense of vitality just don’t hold up anymore.
For example, a few years ago I chose to eat something that I used to love, after not having eaten it for a brief period; and what I found was that I did not even enjoy the taste of it in my mouth anymore; it just tasted far too sweet and wasn’t enjoyable in the slightest – it didn’t match up to how I felt, as I no longer needed sweet ‘treats’ or pick me ups in life.
“I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.” I can completely resonate with this the more I take care with what I eat the more awareness I have.
Yes me too Amita, I love the reflections the body offers us, all we have to do is tune in and stay present to what it is telling.
It’s great what you share, making food choices by listening to what our bodies want from a nourishing point since I have started to look at food from this angle I have felt more alert and a live, not so heavy and tired.
This is super true Bryony. I’ve found that my choice of foods and way of eating is forever changing and being adjusted; and yet, I always feel like the way I eat is more enriching, satisfying and expanding – and never is it less because i have refined or am no longer eating certain foods. It goes against the logic of the mind; but is certainly in line with the wisdom of my body!
I can still use food as a vice, to not feel tension inside me. Eating too much or eating something that dulls me is a very familiar way to not be aware of what I feel and also not take responsibility for it.
I am giving a 2 days training in a hotel at the moment and I can be so surprised how much food and alcohol the participants get offered and especially the amount of sugar with cakes, biscuits and soda. I can really see and feel the difference in the group and the effect all this food has on them. They first feel aroused and then get tired. It would be also for the effect of the workshop much better if we wouldn’t offered so much food. Easier to connect to themselves and others and stay with themselves.
A very beautiful revelation Byrony – ‘I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.’ – thank you, this is so true. When we are willing to connect to our bodies and be honest with how we are feeling we then develop our awareness to guide us to make choices that support us to live in a way that honors who we are in truth. I am experiencing more and more that this is without a doubt, a beautiful way to live.
Hello Bryony and I am sure this would have been said before but, ‘hands off my food’. I’m kidding but also highlighting what you are saying of the fact that not often do we link food to things like you have. I don’t know you but what you have described is my experience. This is how it works for me, I don’t ‘give up’ food but more choose a feeling, “What has been amazing is that I rarely crave any of the stuff I used to. I’ve had a sweet tooth since I was a small child and used to love cakes and biscuits. But now I’d rather choose the stillness and solidness I can feel most of the time, over a sugary treat which makes me feel hyperactive and like I’m on drugs.”
It seems that we have lost touch with what the purpose of what food truly is and why we have food to eat; to nourish our bodies so our bodies can support us to live in connection to our Soul. Instead we have chosen to seek comfort in food, to indulge in a way that distracts us from feeling the choices we have made away from living in our power. We have glorified food to be the deliverer of instant self-gratification, pleasure and happiness, a glorified distraction, which it is only so very momentarily on the surface, yet what remains underneath is a restlessness that will never be satiated regardless of how much we eat. We are more powerful than a sponge cake, that what any sponge cake could ever offer us and it is living with this power that we miss when we choose to ignore what our bodies are constantly calling us to take notice of.
It reminds me of how important it is to eat in correspondence to what our body needs at that certain time. And that by eating less or non gluten, diary and or sugar – actually support our body to feel indeed more lighter, clear and steady and so being able to feel more, and also what we are needing to eat. It is like giving our body a say again! Super profound and worth discovering!
Once I decide to give up a food because I know it is not good for me, I do not even consider having it again.
For example nuts, I have not eaten a nut for over 6 months and I have no desire to eat one as I remember how heavy and dull I felt when I did eat them. As long as I feel it in my own body, it is easy to stop eating what ever food no longer supports me as this is the obvious responsible thing to do, given it effects not only me, but my service to humanity. When I stop eating a certain food type because some- one has told me to it never works. I stop for a time then go back to it. Best way to do it is experiment with food yourself, as we are masters of our own body.
I grew up in a country where it was normal for people to have siestas after lunch, and once I stopped living there and caught on to the fact that I actually felt sleepy after my meals I just explained it away by thinking your stomach needs energy to do its digestion so you have less energy to do anything else, so you became sluggish. It was not until I was inspired to have a go at reducing the gluten in my diet that I realised the fallacy of this assumption. Like you I have started to observe and listen to my body more closely and adjusting things accordingly when I feel ready, and feel much more healthy and vital as a result.
I love your suggestion: “stop, feel, and choose from there – is this food really supporting and nourishing my body, and how do I feel after eating it?” That is the only way for each of us to assess if you feel more expanded and nourished afterwards that food or drink supports you and if you feel heavy, stuck or lethargic that is not something you would want to eat or drink again.
Bryony thank you for sharing as you make a valid point. We need to break the idea that eating healthy is arduous, difficult and boring. That making healthy choices can only come from willpower and will forever be an effort. The way we get to feel when we start to listen to our body and the changes that occur when we make different choices is so great that instead of saying no to food the choice is now saying yes to feeling great. It is a flip in thinking but one that makes healthy eating effortless and a joy.
Byrony this is a brilliant blog. You have covered so many aspects of our relationship with food that calls us to reflect on what is our relationship based. I once thought that I would be missing out on life if I cut out the food that thought I loved to indulge on. But when I did begin to cut them out, as I could feel that I felt either comatosed, bloated, over stimulated from consuming them, I felt as clarity and vitality that I sensed was possible but had seldom felt. I agree that this process of refining what foods support me best is constantly unfolding, it is this unfolding that I love being dedicated to and would never want to miss out on as more and more I am feeling the quality of who I am in essence and have the vitality to live it.
It is at least interesting if not intriguing that we have made living healthy some thing for ‘freaks’ or ‘the obsessive’ . Of course there are those that approach their food in this way but would it not make much more sense to see those that choose to abuse their bodies with what they consume as the ones that are on the wrong track? It seems we champion cake, alcohol and eating whatever we like over eating with awareness of what the effect on our body, health and wellbeing is.
It is amazing how we have come to simply accept a way of eating and drinking that is so completely against what our body needs and thrives on. The general consciousness does not allow us to register the fact that our body responds to everything we give it and that it communicates so clearly what the effect is of our choices. We have allowed our food and drinking habits to dull and dumb us to what is truly healthy. Only when we stat to make different choices will we become more and more aware again and in this way we can work with our body to find what is truly healthy.
“The links between my body and my emotional and mental state have become much more obvious. When I eat lots of heavy food or too much food, I feel heavy, weighed down and foggy – like I’m operating on battery-saving mode.” If I don’t want to face something, something that I don’t WANT to know, then I can find myself overeating, snacking all day, but when I do that, it feels so awful, my body feels awful, and is so dulled down, I can no longer think straight. Then I come to realise that it has been my choice, to let myself fall into this state, and I can ignore the old pattern of going into judgment of myself, and make the new choice to reconnect to my body and again listen to what foods it needs at that point to support my coming back to myself. It is not worth eating for comfort in that way, I lose my connection to the divine that is within me.
I agree Bryony since listening to my body and eating accordingly my health has improved tenfold. I have lost loads of weight and my body has changed shape. I do not tire as easily, I feel light, exercising is easier and my level of awareness has improved immensely. Food is over rated when you consider the benefits of really being conscious of what you eat and when.
Yes I can attest to all of that too and it feels just awesome and very liberating to not be slave to cravings anymore but to be in the fullness of consciousness around food choices etc.
Bryony, we are such funny creatures aren’t we. We have this amazing body that knows everything about us, and yet we pretend that we don’t have any real control over it, or the choices that we make with it. Your blog beautifully highlights that we are in total control over what we choose for the body and how we really do trick ourselves about food because it is really super simple. Eat what your body feels to eat, not what your head/emotions tells you to eat, and feel how amazingly supportive that loving choice is for yourself is.
So true Julie – we pretend to not know and to not have choices – it makes no sense as we have all the choices in the world but are so good at passing the buck of self-responsibility just so that we can continue to indulge in comfort …
It is really as simple as you described it, Bryony: “The less I ate of foods containing things like gluten, dairy and sugar, the lighter, cleaner and clearer my body and my mind felt.” This is exactly as I describe it to other people how I felt since stopping eating foods with gluten, dairy and sugar. A often asked question is whether I am allergic or if this is medically diagnosed. Why would there be a difference? My body is loud and clear when it comes to food and my awareness, clarity of thoughts and type of choices reflect the huge effect food has on it.
Bryony when we fuel up our body, with gluten and dairy free foods, and drop alcohol too, it’s really no different to fuelling up our car, and if you put the wrong kind of fuel in the performance will be compromised, and when we fill it up with the correct fuel we get the ultimate performance from it, even when we put it under preasure because it has something there to rely on.
We are never satisfied when we look outside of ourselves and compare what we are doing to what everyone else is doing. It is only when we look within and trust the wisdom of my inner heart that we know we are making the right choices.
“When I listen to my body like this, it totally removes the arduous ‘giving up’ of unhealthy foods, the battle against cravings, or strict regimes. Eating in a way that truly nourishes me becomes easy because my body just isn’t interested in foods that don’t make me feel good.”Absolutely Bryony, how simple it is when we eat according to how our body feels. It takes all the complication out of it, there are no rules, no need to try to lose weight, all looks after itself when we trust what the body is telling us. What amazing wisdom our body holds when we realise this and just let ourselves feel the messages.
Wow Bryony, your blog has got me thinking about food. Since I stopped eating gluten for example I no longer get the afternoon slump I used to get and I know without question that when I drink decafinated coffee it makes my heart race like I have taken drugs but I have never really gone beyond this and considered the relationship between the food I eat and the thoughts I have. When I eat foods that stimulate me for example my thoughts completely change and I have no doubt that this then also applies when I dull myself. Time for a little observation I feel.
I so recognize the difficulty to explain why I don’t eat gluten, dairy, sugar, vinegar and many more foods and drinks. There’s a profound difference within my own body depending on the choices of food. If I choose to eat foods that come from my body, they always support me to be clear, vital, Joyful, caring and loving. If I eat foods that do not come from my body then they’ve got the opposite effect. And those effects can even lasts for days! Food and drinks aren’t as innocent as we might think they are. We’re fooling ourselves until we choose (!!) to stop fooling ourselves. Because we know! We all know what’s supportive for us and especially what’s not. And indeed, the majority uses the excuse of ‘others do it to’. But after all, we can only be responsible for our own choices. I’d rather be the white sheep between many black sheep, even though it might be seen as the black sheep by all the others.
Food can be such a controversial conversation – and yet, its affect on us is huge and can’t be contested. There is this idea that having a choice over your food, like choosing not to eat certain things is somehow selfish or silly, but it is so much more than that, it is a personal decision to support yourself.
When we experience comments like selfish or silly or makes no sense with regards to what we choose to put in our body, as long as we can just stay with our self and don’t buy into the judgement but gently just live by example, these comments tend to become less and less. I found that eventually people get intrigued, especially when they notice the difference it has made for me and my body.
This is a fantastic presentation of what it is like to start to bring awareness to what we put in our body. I can relate to so much of this. Thank you for this, Bryony.
It really is all about our connection with our bodies and then lovingly nourishing this connection with the choices we make -whether it be food choices, choices about sleep and relaxation or the thought we may choose to hold onto.
I love what you have shared, Byrony.
Connection with ourself is so important – and our food choices show exactly where we are at with that connection …
I notice with how many concepts I have been brought up around food, especially about what is healthy. What for a long time I thought was healthy because others told me so, I now realize that most of these things are not healthy for my body. It just shows the importance of truly listening what works for you and your body and what you truly need, in every moment.
I have to agree with Bryony how important it is to not judge ourselves if we choose to eat something that was not supportive of our body and approach our food choices from the basis of how it makes us feel afterwards, rather than a strict diet where if you slip up it’s considered failure. I have slipped into that latter approach at times, but now realise how when I am simply easier on myself I can just make the more supportive choice the next time and build on these choices to make a foundation of eating food that is going to allow me to feel the most vital, clear, and still, without needing to be perfect about it.
It is difficult to comprehend what it might feel like in our bodies to not eat certain foods like dairy gluten and sugar until we are willing to give it a go for ourselves, and feel how the body becomes less heavy and our thoughts less foggy. Humanity is obsessed with food and it is this addiction that makes it harder to bring an awareness that certain foods are actually a poison to the body…. just because we don’t become sick immediately we think they are ok
What I love about this Bryony is how even though you had certain thoughts coming in to undermine the healthy food choices others were making… you didn’t knock it and dismiss it but questioned it and gave it a go yourself. This is beautiful because most the time, many allow their own issues to get in the way of them seeing something for what it is, and aggressively or manipulatively cut it down and make it something it is not. Much of the food industry how it is, is built on many false truths and lies when it comes to what our bodies truly need and championing what is being manufactured for our indulgence and comfort or to make money off.
A great article on type of relationship with food that isn’t discussed enough. I have found it so hard to move from eating from discipline which only leads to “cheating” and “breaking and bending rules” to just really listening to my body. If I am craving chocolate it is because I am exhausted and want the caffeine form the cocoa and the sugar hit as well of the comfort of the soft creamy texture in my mouth. Rather than filling up on a block of chocolate to keep me going I have the option to rest, or if I am at work there is an opportunity to look at what choices I have made leading up to the point where i am feeling exhausted.
Learning to eat in a way that is loving and respectful to our bodies = true diet.
Super inspiring the way your relationship with food and your body has developed Bryony – not with rules but with curiosity and a willingness to experiment and find what works for you.
“Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.” Thats the best way to do it. I still often try and follow ‘rules’ I place on myself and ideals about what and when I should be eating. What a nightmare though, everything is simple when you listen to your body.
“The less I ate of foods containing things like gluten, dairy and sugar, the lighter, cleaner and clearer my body and my mind felt.” I have found this too! and I couldn’t believe how much clearer things can be, the difference is quite astounding. Now, it’s even had to be refined, as my body becomes more detailed in what’s supportive and not supportive. We live in an amazing body.
It really is amazing once you do away with certain foods how they no longer have a hold over you. I never thought I’d not be eating chocolate as it was something I looked forward to every day and yet I was aware it didn’t make me feel that great after the initial satisfaction in the mouth but the clarity that comes from not consuming certain foods is not worth sacrificing and I knew that I was on an emotional roller coaster with the amount of sugar I was consuming. There is a lot of damage that can be done to relationships including the one with ourself and indeed food can and does have an enormous impact on how we are.
What we put in our body is a very important choice to make, as it is affecting us deeply as you describe so beautifully here. It is a great knowing to have and feel my body in the moment I eat and there after, if it doesn’t feel like the clarity I know well than I can choose differently next time.
“The more I listen deeply to my body, the more it shares with me, and the steadier I feel.” – I too have found this to be true and while this happens what also comes up and out of the body are ways in which I have chosen to not listen to this vast, constantly up to date source of wisdom on life. But over time and with repetition of connecting to the body I am finding the layers of this resistance falling away and exposing more pockets in my life where these ignoring patterns and habits have remained unhealed. The steadiness remains underneath the whole time and to feel that this steadiness can handle and hold itself in the face of every single choice made or is being made is something worth building a relationship with over keeping the avoidance game going with stimulating foods and behaviours.
Nothing is fun when we get all rulesy about it.. and judgement just makes the situation worse. No one is making us make loving and supportive choices, or not.. although if we are not making loving choices it does beg a natural inclination to investigate why that is.
it’s true Bryony – there are no rules around food but simply noting and responding to how our body feels after eating and deciding how we wish to feel and be which will then determine our choices.
Thank you Bryony for this Much needed article! The science of eating is a great part of every day! I love how you have mentioned that its not so much about ‘right and wrong’ foods but rather ones that are supportive or not, evidenced by how you feel. When I too went on a gluten and dairy free diet, my whole life was changed forever and I wondered why I didn’t do it sooner! When true change comes from our body, the choices are sustainable, but trying to concoct our best recipes from the mind keeps us from knowing what is truly good.
I find I still often eat when I don’t really need to, but what I’m discovering is that when I do let myself get hungry and eat when I need to for nourishment rather than taste, I know what to eat and it tastes amazing.
Great blog Bryony, really great. As you said “The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound”, and I would add that it is profoundly simple if we give it a go. My body had to yell at me to stop eating gluten…I was literally falling asleep after eating it until I twigged and stopped eating it.
As you have stated Bryony, there are no rules as to what to eat its just a matter of feeling what feels right for the body at any given time
I can completely relate to the connection between the food I choose to eat and my ability to handle a situation I am in. It’s as though, with food in my body that isn’t truly supporting me or wasn’t chosen in honour of who I am leaves me ‘far less equipped’ to be further true to myself and express this in the situation presented. This only ever serves to leave me feeling frustrated, held-back, un-heard or in some form of reaction when the reaction itself is really about my previous choice to not support myself fully. I love the simplicity you bring in this blog, reminding us gently that it is our responsibility to just take care of ourselves and from here everything else takes care of itself.
“I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.”
Byrony, I love the simple truth of this statement, a truth we all know, though one few are prepared to honor.
The food industry is massive and because we do need to eat, food has also been marketed to us in a way that puts it at the forefront of our lives. We have lost our sensibility about food in terms of what nourishes and just what tastes good. Until we learn how to appreciate and listen to our body, this is not going to change. Great exposé here Bryony!
Hi Bryony, when reading your great blog, I realised at a deeper level that my body is willing and ready to support me always. Then the obvious question arose – am I always ready to support my body?
It took me a while, but once I really began to understand the “the link between what I eat and how I feel”, like you Byrony, my life started to change. I realised that so much of the food I was eating was not what my body wanted and it struggled to assimilate, what was like a foreign substance to it, into its complex digestive system. Sadly I had over the years accepted my body’s response as normal, but it wasn’t until I began to slowly remove some of these foods, gluten, dairy and sugar, from my diet that all the symptoms I had been living with began to disappear while at the same time my energy levels began to rise. Today I eat to nourish my body and not just to please my taste buds for a few seconds, and my body shows me constantly how it appreciates the change.
Bryony, the clarity and awareness that is allowed and supported by what you put into your body is very clear in this beautifully articulated article. I love what you have shared and it makes so much sense – you cannot fully understand another’s experience unless you choose to go there yourself. Great blog and it certainly does raise lots of questions about the way we choose to eat and also answers lots of questions about why we eat the way we eat – the gluten, dairy, sugar diet traps many and does block a deeper awareness whilst also becoming incredibly addictive.
It’s an interconnected circle:
What we put into our mouths affects
our thoughts and way of being affect
what we put into our mouths.
What we choose is our way of being.
This is great Bryony. One of a handful of articles and blogs out there about food that is actually real, down to earth and very practical. All felt from the experience of someone living it from the bodies, not some theoretical diet that we are trying to live up to. That never works because the only true diet can come from feeling and honouring what our body truly needs.
Applying self-will or rules does not work in the long term I find, rather than feeling and building awareness around what I am eating for.
This is a gorgeous read Byrony. I recognise all of it. It’s so easy to go into ‘shoulds’ and ‘should nots’ when it comes to food. But if we simply tune into what our body needs and what truly supports it then it takes away the ‘shoulds’ and ‘should nots’.
Reading your blog I realised how so many of us make eating about rules – we may stick to the rules for a time, perhaps choosing ‘heathier foods’ then react to the self imposed rules and binge out on the ‘unhealthy foods’. In contrast when we choose to eat from an awareness of what supports our body, there is no reaction, for the feeling of our body loving us back is greater than any momentary taste pleasure.
This is a brilliant blog , thank you Bryony. It celebrates the wisdom of our body and its willingness to let us know what does and does not support us in our food choices. Now that needs to hit the front page of every health, wellbeing, diet and weight loss magazine around the world.
It is interesting that not only do we eat heavy or stimulating foods to dull our awareness we can also eat this way because we cannot actually handle how good and awesome we feel at times. In essence eating to hide or protect what we actually want to share with the world.
Bryony, your blog is such a refreshing way to look at what and how we eat. It would be great to get your article into a deitary magazine or website to bring the awareness of the fact that its not just about what we eat but how we are eating that has such an impact on our bodies. “The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.” It is indeed profound, and the more I pay attention to how much body feels when I eat something, the more I am able to refine my diet, and the more I get to feel what supports me and what doesn’t, and my body very easily and natrually loses weight. It blows all dieting methods out of the water.
Thank you Bryony this is such a clear and profound understanding of how the choices we make regarding food affect so many aspects of our lives. Especially eating heavy foods like gluten to dull our awareness. It makes me start to think what do I want to ignore, gloss over and pretend that I have not already felt.
Bryony, this is just an amazing article about food and the options we have to choose depending on where we want to go with our body and how much we are ready to listen to it. The accuracy is pretty spot on “I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life”, and sometimes the awareness become so great, responsibilities come with it, then we choose to indulge again to not feel it and minimise responsibilities… How crazy is that?
It is easy to see how eating certain foods can be labelled as being bad for you but in my experience abstaining by using will power never works as it is only a matter of time before we have a bad day and cave in. What you have described here Bryony about feeling the effects of certain foods have on the body and feeling it for yourself makes a lot more sense than abstaining from foods because someone else has – this is why diets don’t work.
Bryony thanks for your honesty, it’s great to hear an account like this where you’ve put yourself to the test, discovering what works for you and what doesn’t, no rules, no regimes… just you in relationship with your body and what works for it so that you feel yourself. That’s the key in my view to the whole dietary dilemma about this diet or that one, how much carb vs protein vs fat, how many calories. All that goes out the window with the simplicity of eating to nourish your body AND the being within it. If you don’t retain a lovely connection to yourself after eating something, then no matter how good, bad or otherwise that food is deemed to be, it is not for you. Beautiful!
‘…until recently I had never really considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts’ – This is so key Bryony, and is the relationship we as a society have developed with food. Instead of eating what feels true to our particular bodies, and evaluating the effects that food has on our body (thus cutting out ones that make us feel not-so-good), we often eat whatever is available, given to us, tastes good or is the ‘normal’ thing to eat. What you’ve shared in your blog is inspiring as it offers such a different relationship with food, where you eat to nourish rather than to taste or as a filler.
‘The less I ate of foods containing things like gluten, dairy and sugar, the lighter, cleaner and clearer my body and my mind felt.’ Absolutely Bryony I have had the same experience, and what is so lovely too is that our sensing and knowing gets stronger so we naturally choose foods or drinks that support our bodies and if we don’t, if we let our minds choose something that is not so nourishing or nurturing our body quickly tells us so . This means that it is a natural long term detox of the body and an awakening and steadying of the mind gradually bringing more clarity and joy.
Food is such a massive topic and everyone has an opinion, what I am learning is that it is not only the type of food but the quantity that affects my life hugely. I have had that same experience with my thoughts where if I eat less I am so much clearer and more engaged whereas if I eat too much then I am cloudy and heavy and not that great to be around. Things changed for me when I stopped listening to the advice that was out there and took control of my diet. Gluten and diary had to go as they were making my body feel rotten, and from there it is just an unfolding of more and more choices that support my health. I love what you have shared here Bryony, such a great experience that I am sure many people can learn from.
Thank you for sharing Bryony. I completely agree with your description of letting go of foods in your diet that you knew weren’t agreeing with you, ‘It felt like a fog I’d been living in – one that I couldn’t see even existed before – had started to lift.’ I have always very heavily reacted to sugary foods and they altered my moods, made me bloat, gave me rashes and I always felt super exhausted about 30 minutes after eating them! Thus when I chose to reduce and then cut out these foods from my diet, the reason being that I was finally open to seeing how damaging they were to my body, it felt like a fog had been lifted as you’ve described.
Food greatly affects my body and consequently my choices thereafter. Before I came across Universal Medicine I began experimenting with food and drink and how they affected me so that I had already chosen not to drink alcohol, eat dairy, and nearly completely given up gluten other than occasionally. What was presented to me was just a confirmation of what I already knew to be true. There is so much to be gained from waking up vital, and remaining not drained, stimulated or bloated, etc throughout the day, not just for ourselves but for others too.
Bryony, its great for me to read this article, I can relate to what you have written as I have been experimenting with foods and how much I eat lately, I have become aware of how I have been overeating and so for the last couple of weeks I have chosen not to and this has been amazing, I no longer feel sluggish and tired like I used to, I feel much lighter and clearer and am able to go the whole day feeling well, whereas before when I was overeating I would snack a lot early evening and then be very drowsy until bedtime.
Growing up I used to eat loads of sugary foods too. I would love anything with chocolate on it, ice cream and biscuits. If you asked me when I was younger I would never have thought there would be a time when I wouldn’t eat chocolates or sweets! But I haven’t done so for a few years now and don’t miss it one bit which is pretty amazing. The Sacred Esoteric Healing modalities really supported me with this in helping me re-connect with the true love I am. On reflection I can now feel and know the reason I wanted so much sugar is because I didn’t want to feel what I could feel about the world, how essentially we are dis-connected from our true selves and living a lie. I was also replacing feeling and loving my natural sweetness with sugar .. it sounds crazy writing this now though … why would we not want to feel and be our natural sweetness .. well if no one else around you is (adults) you kind of follow suit! I am learning that food and drink is definietly something we need to experiment with and feel for ourselves. What you say here is so true ‘I had never really considered the link between what I eat to how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts.’ This should be spoken about more. This is still very much a work in progress for me and where the self-love button needs to be turned up loads, as what I am currently feeling is how I eat when I am not hungry or do not eat the foods that will completely support my body and in turn feel like you described … operating on battery saving mode!
Bryony it also amazes me just how much of an impact food has on our bodies, yet at the same time, how much of an indulgence we’ve made it. Ironic really that it has become so easy to get into food culture and really use food as a way to indulge. When there is so much potential in a food’s ability to nourish and support our bodies. I love how you have come to the awareness that it can be very simple to let go of habits we have with food when we start to look at what supports us first and foremost, then it isn’t even about the food but how are we willing to live? With more awareness, lightness and sensitivity, or with a dullness and comfort. It is from that choice first that the food then comes in.
This is fabulous, Bryony. Such a clear informative article of the benefits of choosing the foods that you eat. As you say, “The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.”
‘I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it, and it gets reflected back to me in all areas of my life.’ It never occurred to me that this would be the case – that is until I too experimented with eating as far as possible the foods that my body was asking for, not what I wanted to eat. The knock-on effect to all areas of life is huge. Yes my body is lighter and healthier, but I am also more committed to life, have far greater clarity, deeper relationships, a greater connection and relationship with myself….. I can still use food for emotional needs – to cover up what I’m feeling that might be painful or uncomfortable, and when I do I very clearly feel the effects in my body – which I don’t like and therefore this gives me an incentive to make a different choice next time I am faced with a challenging situation or something i don’t want to feel.
“The idea of not drinking alcohol or caffeine and giving up gluten and dairy sounded ultra-healthy, but the thought of no cake or mojitos ever again?” I can so relate to this Bryony. My parents started at some point eating a gluten and dairy free diet and my first response was that that was so boring! What about the delicious bread, cheese and pizza? Anyway I knew there was something in me that wanted to give it a go too, as I could feel there was something about it.. I committed to it saying I could have one more pizza after a couple of weeks of eating gluten and dairy free. Yet I never had the pizza as after feeling the great effects on my body there was no way I wanted to go back.
Bryony when I look back before I made changes to my diet, which was in my case forced upon me by IBS, I also had no consideration that what I ate affected by body to the extent it does. However it had not even crossed my mind that food affects my thoughts, my mind and how emotional I am. The approach to Eating food therefore becomes a whole different matter when we consider its purpose.
Reading your blog made me realize how many beliefs and ideals we all have around food. Going back to the simplicity of feeling what feels right in our body makes so much sense. What is right for me to eat certainly may not be right for another.
I like the analogy of how certain foods can dull you to the point where you feel like you are running on battery saving mode. I have definitely experienced that dulling feeling when I eat heavy foods or too much. I recently read an article published on a medical website where gluten was linked to mental illness.
I know this dulling feeling Debra… I call it Christmas!!! and Easter.. and Sunday roast.. and dinner.. hahaha. Seriously though I have lost count of the number of times I have stuffed myself silly. I have eaten until I felt so sick I almost wanted to throw up just for the relief. So – yeah it doesn’t surprise me that certain foods and how we eat them can affect ones state of mental health.
I love blogs like yours that open up the discussion on how food impacts on the way we feel. Looking back I have always been aware about how certain foods affect me. As a teenager I new there was a certain cereal that caused me to break out in pimples. When I first drank alcohol the message from my body was loud and clear, however I forced myself to keep drinking, because that’s what everyone else was doing and I didn’t want to look odd. I love doing experiments so I started by cutting out gluten, which I had observed used to make me feel sleepy. Since then I have been paying attention and slowly removing things from my diet that don’t leave me feeling great.
I am also observing my relationship with food at the moment and changing some things here and there and what I notice is that in the end it is not about food, but about the relationship I have with myself. I need less food and snacking when I am with myself. So the more I focus on me, naturally my food choices change.
Eating for nourishment rather than taste is so much more all encompassing, not about individual satisfaction but supporting the body to be of service. Love how you demonstrate this so powerfully and I totally agree that ‘The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.’
Thank you, Bryony, this is a cracker of a blog, and this sentence says it all for me – ” I can choose the level of awareness that I want to feel in my body by choosing what I put into it”. We intrinsically know what is supportive for our body and what is not, so the question is – what do we not want to feel or be aware of? Food is a very powerful tool to dampen, dull, numb or make us racy. When we look at it in this way, we can feel beyond what our taste buds are momentarily desiring.
You make food choices very simple and straightforward – no rules or guilt trips, just common sense and the willingness to explore what is outside the so-called ‘normal’.
Exactly and to explore how our body anticipates, experiences and processes the food.
Thank you Bryony what you have described here is pure science in action. . . “Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.”. . Nobody can argue with the results of this scientific experiment.
I agree Kathleen – deprivation, rules and perfection are just traps around food, but don’t actually support the body in truth. It’s just a mind game. Listening to the body is a totally different and deeply self-loving approach. And as you say Kathleen, totally scientific, as the results are very clear for us to feel, if we choose to.
“The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.” I too shared your doubts about what I perceived as an unusual diet but decided to give it a go to find out for myself and my body gave a resounding ‘thank you’. As you say, ‘there are no rules’ and I have gradually refined my diet in response to how I feel and how I feel is so much more alive and aware.
It is so true Bryony, the more we pay attention to our body the more it shares its wisdom with us, and considering how much food we eat, and how it affects our bodies, then it makes sense to listen to it. I have also stopped eating dairy, gluten, sugar and no longer drink alcohol and caffeine, not because of rules, but because of the affect on my body and I feel much clearer and lighter for it. It certainly is not boring, because what is more beautiful, a bowl of ice-cream or that connection with yourself, and once that connection is felt I would not want to go back to dulling, numbing or distracting myself with foods that my body does not like.
‘ The links between my body and my emotional and mental state have become much more obvious. When I eat lots of heavy food or too much food, I feel heavy, weighed down and foggy – like I’m operating on battery-saving mode’. When I eat heavy comfort food, it just makes me sleepy and bloated, and it is just not worth it to feel that way. I prefer to feel light and clear.
Same here Bryony, I also had a very sweet tooth, and became very dependent on sugary products which dulled my awareness. It was quite a challenge for me to give it up, but when my body clearly told me that sugar had to go, I listened, and went sugar free. Did not happen overnight, I did it lovingly, and 5 years later I am still sugar free, also dairy free and gluten free, and I love how my body communicates with me all the time.
Bryony, the title of this blog says it all ‘From eating for taste to Eating to Nourish’. The seductive nature of food, and our focus on taste and sensations often leads to dependency and addiction. It is revolutionary to choose food to nourish and heal our bodies. You describe well the highs and lows of food consumption when based on taste alone. Eating to nourish supports our bodies to be still and is more sustaining.
For years I used to try not to eat certain foods because I wanted to lose weight or thought I shouldn’t eat them, but it never worked for long and then I would feel even worse in that I not only had the horrible effect of the food but felt bad about myself too. Things completely changed when I started not eating certain food from a position of self-love rather than “shoulds” or ideals. When I started to connect to how awful those foods made me feel and in reverse how great I felt when I didn’t eat them, then it just became a question of choosing to feel great over feeling awful and was quite simple to eat to support my body. These days I have very few issues in terms of what I eat, but do at times eat more than I need – I am still looking at that!
Another thing I observed was the food that I craved were generally the ones that were most harmful for me. Also food that supports me satisfies and food that does not has me wanting more.
Ahh Nicola this is so true making me think about what is the energy that we are aligned to when we do not feel satisfied or enough.
Great point jennym – I am pondering that too when I have eaten and then ‘think’ I need something else to finish with…
The addictive nature of unsupportive foods is such that they leave us craving for more, whereas foods that truly nourish leave us feeling full, whole and complete. There is a lot said in that observation…
Beautiful Liane, so so simple….
Yes what is it about us that craves for things that harm us!?
‘Also food that supports me satisfies and food that does not has me wanting more’ Great observation Nicola and one I fully understand..
It’s a whole different ball game when we purely decide what to eat based on how our body feels and the effect of food on our energy quality after consuming foods.
Seemingly it may look difficult to convey decision made towards food in this way because there is so much literature at there telling us what and how we should eat. I.e. Recommended dietary goals for macro nutrients, vitamins and minerals.
To the average person it may seem a bit confronting that the answers to all the questions about how to eat can be determined by the way our body feels.
It makes it so much clearer and simpler when we take the reins and work with our bodies in this way, I agree. There are so many ‘do’s’ out there it’s hard to know which one to pick and so it would seem the only choice is to ask ourselves. As Bryony is saying, ” It still amazes me that food can affect my body so much, because until recently I had never really considered the link between what I eat and how I feel, and even the quality of my thoughts.” As we know it’s always our choice but when you bring awareness to just experimenting with how things feel instead of just doing what you have always done this is already a big change.
I agree Ray, or just following a ‘diet’ because that’s the latest fad, the latest ‘have to’. When we start to listen simply to how our body feels before, whilst and after we have eaten something, we can easily know which food was supportive and which food was making us tired or heavy. We are our own scientists, and nobody else can be a better expert on what our body likes to receive in nourishment, than us.
Bryony I totally agree, “The effects of what we choose to put into our bodies is profound.” and I have also found that how we choose to move our bodies has an equally profound effect.
“Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.”- Great advice Bryony. I’ve tried so many diets that never worked, and lived by rules around food re what you should and shouldn’t eat, that I lost sight of and overrode what my body was really telling me about foods that really supported me and those that didn’t. Since doing esoteric yoga and the gentle breath meditation taught by Serge Benhayon I have reconnected to my inner stillness and can feel the consequences of my food choices in my body. I now have more awareness and choose to make more loving food choices.
It is quite surprising, but our body knows best what food to eat. All we need to do is ask…
This is the truth Christoph. Well said.
“Now what I choose to eat isn’t about rules, perfection or deprivation, but about learning to listen to my body and feeling the effects of what I put into it.” It’s like a forever deepening relationship with food and ourselves which is a fun way to explore what works for our bodies. Also what I am finding is what may have worked awhile ago no longer serves me so it is something that will refine and develop overtime and that’s what makes it so great. Food can be our constant companion if we listen to what our bodies require. Thank you Bryony.