Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”  Michael Pollan

That’s pretty much what it comes down to but somehow life gets in the way.  Enter a little fireball named June with a quick wit and a way of pausing before giving you the answer to some questions you never even knew you had and you start to put things in perspective. Because yes that’s another thing it comes down to.  What is it?  One’s relationship with food of course. Because it’s never about the food and yet it’s always about the food… How the hell to get around that lovely paradox.

Agatha Christie once said “when engaged in eating, the brain should be the servant of the stomach.”  For me it was not about the eating but about the hunger recognition which led to a scene out of a Snickers commercial.  I can go until I’m shaky, sweaty and hangry so consider yourself forewarned.   The number one way to start dissecting the paradox is to reset the barometer by listening to your needs, what a concept.

There is a hunger scale that starts at you’re so hungry you’ll eat anything and goes through to you’re painfully full and may even feel sick.  Throughout our weekend at Green Mountain at Fox Run we were privy to the pendulum effect.  There is a balance to everything they give you but a recognition that you’re probably not operating in that balance.  The hunger scale is a perfect example, balance begins at you feel you’re getting hungry and it’s time to think about what to eat and ends at totally satisfied; hunger is gone and you won’t be hungry for hours.

What they provide are delicious meals, snacks, a hunger hutch, amazing well water from the tap, coffee, tea and condiments.  What they don’t provide is a list of what you should and shouldn’t eat.  People come looking to be told what to eat, to be controlled in what they think is an uncontrollable situation.  But at GMFR they are not the boss of you…you can be trusted, you know yourself better than they do, you are in charge of your own possibilities.

What they also provide is the science you need to understand your gut, your relationship with food and the food itself.  Michael Pollan also said, you are what what you eat eats.  Do you know what you’re eating eats?  Cheetos never ate anything…see what they’re saying.  A fabulous Vermont Cheddar on the other hand…

I am a foodie and a fabulous cook.  I have never been one for Cheetos or any really highly processed foods.  My sister lovingly…refers to me as Sister Nuts and Berries but even with real food you can get to that point of overeating because you’ve starved yourself albeit unknowingly.  And speaking of starving yourself, do you know what your body does when it doesn’t know when it’s going to get its next meal?  It SAVES EVERYTHING….can a sista win?

Yes, a sista can win through mindful eating:

• Tune into your hunger and appetite.
• Focus on the food and how you feel as you eat.
• Be aware of the aroma and appearance of the food. If you don’t like it stop eating it.
• Eat slowly and savor each bite chewing thoroughly and concentrate on taste, temperature and texture.
• Check your level of fullness and degree of satiety. Check for the pause, if you put your fork down check in.
• Enjoy the eating experience.

Think it’s going to happen overnight?  Ruth Reichl said in Delicious, “I am telling you that if things can change for the worse, the opposite is also true. But only if you open yourself to the possibilities.”

I am at a definite advantage in that I live alone with no others to accommodate, I love to cook so I know exactly what’s going in my food and I’m a pain in the ass if I don’t like something I simply don’t eat it.  Not everyone has that advantage.

It would be impossible to relay all the info we received on food and its benefits here in this post.  If you walk away with anything it is the balance and the pause you should be concentrating on, not the missteps.  Reichl also said in Delicious, “Change works both ways. You must accept those moments, experience them, and let them go. Because if you allow yourself to get stuck in that minute, nothing will ever change.”

Three weeks later I continue to process all the glorious information we received and put it to use as well as I can. I balance my carbs and my proteins and eat a ton more plants. Friday is still pizza night with homemade dough and organic marinara and plain ol mozzarella.  I still use butter and a touch of cream in certain things and yes I still enjoy my pinot noir each night.  But the shift has come in the timing, the amounts and the complete enjoyment.

“Life itself is the proper binge.” – Julia Child