Just about fifteen years ago, I was not nourished. I thought I was, but I wasn’t. I would eat all day, and foods that were “healthy”, plus some that were more “play foods”, such as ice cream, cake, etc., but I still wasn’t nourished.
2010, Jazz and Rib Fest
I was still very meticulously watching what I ate, and making sure it fit into a specific “diet” that I had created in my mind. But what I thought I needed in my twenties, as an active young women, was in no way accurate. At night I would always leave extra room to be flexible, which really meant saving room for late night snacks if I desired them. At night, those snacks almost always turned into a full on “eat until I was uncomfortable” session, that I never planned for. That’s how I know I was not nourishing my body enough during the day, but I couldn’t recognize that back then.
I have worked with clients who have experienced the same thing. They find themselves binging or eating to discomfort, or eating a lot of something that is supposed to be off-limits or closely monitored, but they can’t figure out why. This is when I break out the dietitian “diet recall” and have them explain to me exactly what they eat on a typical day. I almost always notice, despite what they think, they simply aren’t eating enough. From there, we work on making snacks bigger, adding more meals, adding more protein, fat, or just foods in general, wherever possible. Eventually they notice, just like I did, the tendency to eat past fullness on a regular basis, starts to subside. It may not go away completely, and that’s ok, but with more nourishment during the day, our bodies aren’t left wanting more at the end of the night. And looking back, I just want to say to my body;
Thank you for protecting me when I wasn’t protecting you. Thank you for doing what you needed to do to help me heal, when I was neglecting you. Thank you, and I love you.
