Foodie Life Lessons for the Middle Aged

I write this at the time during which I am expected to have some sort of crisis. Yes, my name is Kari and I just turned 35. While some ladies never tell their age, others say that if you are proud of your age, you don't mind shouting it out for the world to hear. The truth, though, is that I am not proud of my age. My age is a blessing that I have no control over. I am, however, proud of the wisdom I have sought to acquire during my life on this earth. Here are some things I have come to find useful about food in my own life:

Enjoy your food
If food was meant to be tasteless, we would all only eat flour and water through the ages. The fact that we have taste buds, sensitive to different tastes, is testimony to how sacred the gift of taste is. When we spot dishes that we know to be tasty or that simply look tasty, our salivary glands secrete saliva in anticipation of a mouth-watering feast. This is why every meal should be a sacred act. It does not have to be lavish, but it should be important enough for you to mindfully sit and eat and notice how wonderful your meal is and what great things it will do for your body, mind and spirit.
Every calorie counts!
It really does add up, and the less active you are, excess calories tend to make significant deposits on our bodies in the form of body fat. I know some diets - like the low-carb, ketogenic ones - actually make it easier to eat way more food than you would with other diets; low fat diets often end up leaving you perpetually hungry but, at the end of the day, the energy expenditure is where it all settles. If you want to maintain weight, eat as much as you burn; if you want to lose, eat less and burn more.
Find out what you are hungry for
In this age of foodie bragging rights, we have to be careful not to confuse physical hunger with spiritual and psychological hunger. You need to know what you are hungry for. Eating is not a cure for boredom; activity is. Food cannot fill a spiritual vacuum; prayer and meditation do. No amount of doughnuts or chocolates can cure loneliness or stress; however, spending time in fellowship with friends and finding healthy outlets for stress, like exercise, can fill those needs.
It is not all or nothing
Almost 10 years ago, a certified personal trainer gave me what proved to be really bad advice. A few years ago, a neurosurgeon did the same thing. The personal trainer told me that since my life had become way too busy and I was struggling with so many things on my plate, I should put fitness on pause and get around to it whenever things normalised. The neurosurgeon told me that I should do absolutely no exercise for my cervical spondylitis (neck pain). During my coaching course, as part of my own development, I had a session which revealed to me that life is not about 'all or nothing'. It is about being flexible and doing the best each day. All or nothing meant that the perfectionist in me strayed further away from the balance that I craved. If I could not devote all, I did nothing. If you have a diet or fitness goal, or any goal in life, as much as you earnestly work towards it, you have to learn to be flexible. In fitness, you weight train to build muscles and strength, but you stretch to increase your flexibility and adaptability, which prevents injuries during major activities. Flexibility is why a rubber band can stretch and still bounce back.
If you cannot give all, give something
Give as much as you can, as consistently as you can and recognise yourself for your efforts. Be committed to the goals and keep moving forward. You may have to start small by serving yourself less food or going for a short stroll on the days you are not swamped with work. Eventually, you will start to feel better and crave more. Then you will start to carve out ways to improve your diet and get more active even as you pursue your other life goals. Life is absolutely not about all or nothing. It is simply about showing up to the kitchen every day and making the best meal out of what you ?have got.
 

• When Hunger Strikes