Do You Eat To Live? Or Do You Live To Eat? 

Happy Tuesday! How is everyone doing? All is well here as we head into our next weekly weigh in! So what are your goals for this month? Which of the 3 food plans and exercise plan did you decide to adopt this month? Thankfully I’m still on target with my weekly weigh in goal of 2 pounds lost per week by being on the intermittent fasting eating pattern so I’m grateful to God for consistent progress!!! 

Today I was thinking about the obesity epidemic in our country and really the world now that we have become a global society tied together from sea to shining sea by capitalism, global communication and the internet. Although most countries’ obesity rates are not as high as ours some of the same reasons for it are the same. The primary reason is we tend to live to eat instead of eating to live. This may take on different forms but it mostly boils down to this. Many people who live in poverty experience malnutrition and are wondering where they are going to get their next meal. However most Americans & those from other countries with some exceptions have a plethora of food options, so much so that we tend to overeat. 

There are manifold reasons as to why we eat the way we eat. Some stem from how we were raised, nurture vs. nature, cultural ties, community, religious traditions, to having emotional and or psychological ties to food. Have you ever heard of comfort foods? I dare you to google it lol… It is called this because we ascribe an emotional feeling to the food we eat. Of course there are chemical reactions taking place that impact certain areas of our brain that causes endorphins to be released of which are the feel good hormones. Everytime we eat those foods like ice cream, pasta, potatoes, sugary treats, breads etc., we get that comfort feeling. The sad thing is comfort foods have become our go to foods for when we are mad, happy & sad! These are the very foods that we need to limit or completely eliminate from our diets!

So what do we do about it??? Instead of trying to feel good when we eat let’s have a paradigm shift & begin to feel good in advance about what we are eating! I think a part of what is needed to beat the obesity epidemic is to rewire/retrain our relationship with food to truly be something we eat as a means to live, as fuel per se for the journey and not something to look forward to or to overindulge in. This change must first take place in the mind & the rest my friends will follow… More to come on this… Until the next time stay hungry for change my friends. Do what is necessary to see the change you want to see in your life! ❤

Let’s get it!!! 🙌

For motivation on your diet and exercise journey follow me on my blog at http://www.monicaakerele.wordpress.com also for more motivation follow me on Twitter @MonicaAkerele