Re: Honor your Health

[Guest guest]

What your post triggered in me was to remind myself that honoring my

'health' means to me staying as focused and directed towards what is

best for ME, not 'suggested shoulds', which is where the label 'bad

stuff' comes from for me. Re-tuning back into feedback from MY body

instead of attempting to meet some external ideal is what I find IE to

be all about.

I greatly suspect that most 'scientific documentation' regarding our

'health' are too often single focused studies AND probably financed by

diet industry and/or drug companies hoping to find A FACTOR to zero in

on. They then make a 'product' to sell to us who have been led to

feel like lambs gone astray. PHOOEY! on that!! Triple-creme cheese

won't kill you just by eating it!! Its what our bodies do inside with

what we put in, eating even though the body's feedback says - UGH!

that is 'bad'. Heck it could be an apple really :)

, I say honor your body as best you can and the rest will take

care of itself. And if it takes plugging my ears and going 'la la la

la' to drown out the drum beat of diet mentality, I will do that too.

Time to return the care of my body back to ME. That is honoring my

health as best as I can figure it.

ehugs, Katcha

IEing since March 2007

>

> I would like to ask the group what you think about the idea " honor

your health " ? Isn't that just another way of getting in the idea that

we have to eat healthy foods and STAY AWAY from that " bad " stuff? Or

is it gentler than that? Is it more about thinking, " how will this

food make my body feel " ? I know there is documentation that rich

triple-creme cheese is bad for my heart, but isn't there also

documentation to the contrary? With scientists arguing all the time,

how do I decide how to " honor my health " ?

>

[Guest guest]

wrote:

> I would like to ask the group what you think about the idea " honor your

> health " ? Isn't that just another way of getting in the idea that we have

> to eat healthy foods and STAY AWAY from that " bad " stuff?

I think this is a big problem, especially in the beginning. It's all too

easy to fall into the " health trap " . I haven't figured out how not to

fall into that trap yet.

Regards

s.

[Guest guest]

Thanks Latoya, and others who addressed this issue. I have to agree that the conflicting "scientific" studies regarding what is good/bad for you are so frustrating as to be ridiculous...remember the Joe song called "Cancer"? The chorus was, "Everything gives you cancer"...the idea being that so much is out of our control, and essentially unknowable, you might as well suit yourself and listen to your own heart. I think that can apply here too! I think I will "honor my health" with exercise (which makes me feel good...always) and thoughtful food/drink consumption. I will make health a consideration in my choices, but not the only consideration regarding food.

Re: Honor your Health

,I've thought alot about the question of "honor your health". When Ifirst read IE, I wasn't sure what this would mean to me. I hold "honoryour health" in the second more gentler way...by recognizing how mybody responds to different food, movement, etc. I believe that ourbodies are relatively resilient and can handle a variety of foods. After reading your post, I went and found some different definitionsof "health" and I didn't really like any of them. One definitionstated health as "a combination of the absence of illness, the abilityto cope with everyday activities, physical fitness and a high qualityof life." Our individuals lives are so much more complex than thisdefinition.. .some people are chronically "ill" from birth and yetmanage to find joy in life. "Honor your health", I'd like to interpret that statement in a waythat I recognize that "health" is not a given...that I

have certainchoices and influence on my health...whatever way that I define it. IfI really loved/liked triple-creme cheese, I would not go the rest ofmy life without it simply because some "scientist" says that it's badfor my health. Being "healthy" doesn't really mean anything to meanymore...I agree with Katcha on the point that I've started to feelthat most of these studies are meant to manipulate us and result in usabandoning the most true wisdom...our own direct experience and bodilyresponses. In fact, the stress of reading and paying attention tooften conflicting studies seems to have a negative impact on myoverall health. Fundamentally, one of the issues that I think we all face is aquestion of whether we can trust ourselves or not? I'm choosing to putmore faith in my own responses by practicing the IE principles. Forme, "honoring my health" is the practice and result of working

withthese principles.. .rejecting the diet mentality... honoring myhunger...feeling my fullness...coping with emotions without dealingwith food...exercising/ movement. ..etc.Latoya >> I would like to ask the group what you think about the idea "honoryour health"? Isn't that just another way of getting in the idea thatwe have to eat healthy foods and STAY AWAY from that "bad" stuff? Oris it gentler than that? Is it more about thinking, "how will thisfood make my body feel"? I know there is documentation that richtriple-creme cheese is bad for my heart, but isn't there alsodocumentation to the contrary? With scientists arguing all the time,how do I

decide how to "honor my health"?>

[Guest guest]

, to me it is very much about thinking how a food will make me

feel. Once everything is allowed and I view foods simply as foods,

not " good " or " bad " , it becomes a question of how the food I choose

satisfies my body and makes me feel. For example, while I like the

taste of fried foods such as chips, it's usually only the first few

bites I really enjoy - after that, the greasiness, saltiness and

tongue-coating who-knows-what-that-is-ness aren't so great, if I

really think about it and let myself experience it fully, so that's

when I decide I've had enough (hopefully, if I'm listening to my

intuition).

I want to feel energetic, lively and strong. From past experience,

I've found that certain foods, even though I love the taste of them,

sit better with me if only eaten in small amounts or on infrequent

occasions. I enjoy them more, and my body thanks me for it.

And what is " being healthy " anyway? Being obsessed with ensuring

everything I put in my mouth is pure and natural and nutritionist-

approved isn't a healthy way of living, in my view. Thoroughly

enjoying the occasional deliciously decadent dessert in an amount

which makes me feel good (not overstuffed or sick), and thus having a

positive and intuitive eating experience, sounds more healthy to me.

Cheers

Sig

>

> I would like to ask the group what you think about the idea " honor

your health " ? Isn't that just another way of getting in the idea that

we have to eat healthy foods and STAY AWAY from that " bad " stuff? Or

is it gentler than that? Is it more about thinking, " how will this

food make my body feel " ?

[Guest guest]

,

I was thinking this morning that I might have been a little bit hard

on the " scientists " . I've tried to not get caught up in the

different studies cause it can be really crazy-making...everything

does seem to cause cancer. From the work of scientists, I have

gained an " overall " perspective from reading or learning about

different studies. Basically, our bodies have a more difficult time

digesting and deriving nutrients as foods get more and more

processed...this makes common sense to me...and yet we've seemed to

need science to prove that it's easier for our bodies to digest and

process a banana or any other whole food because as some point we

began to believe and many still believe that humans can engineer

food better than nature can. Most of us have the opportunity to

select from foods provided by nature and those engineered by

technology. Nature has done some marvelous things in the food

department and I want to honor the health of nature along with my

own health...so I believe in eating more whole foods...and I still

dabble in processes foods daily. We all do the best that we can!

Latoya:)

[Guest guest]

I'm with you 100% on that Sig!! I just realized that myself when I

fully pay attention as sometimes the first few bites my mind wanders

thinking of something else then I snap back where I once used to just

keep eating on auto pilot, however, once I truly started tasting

foods - all foods I was paying more attention to how they make me

feel at a certain point and I'm able to stop as I like feeling good

after I eat and not over stuffed, ill or tired.

Thanks,

J.

> >

> > I would like to ask the group what you think about the

idea " honor

> your health " ? Isn't that just another way of getting in the idea

that

> we have to eat healthy foods and STAY AWAY from that " bad " stuff?

Or

> is it gentler than that? Is it more about thinking, " how will this

> food make my body feel " ?

>

[Guest guest]

It depends! When you say that " you don't mind " using that cheese,

what do you mean? It tastes ok to you? What does honoring your health

mean to you? The answer to that question may change over time. Though

with that understanding, I think you'll be able to judge what's

" healthy " enough or not for you.

I've tried fat free milk, 1% milk, 2% milk, and whole milk. Whole milk

is way too heavy for me and I like the taste that a little fat adds.

So, I usually buy 2% or 1% milk and cheese. I tried a 2% brand of my

snack cheese and hated it...so I went back to full fat snack cheese.

I'm honoring my health by eating foods that I enjoy and typically do

not yield negative responses. I eat a variety of whole foods and

partake of processed foods (they're very convenient). I also try to

buy organic products more. The book supports eating a variety of foods

and I agree with this. What's interesting is that humans are geared

with different taste buds...sweet, bitter, salty, sour, and savory. I

know that cheese yields a nice savory taste. I have a massive sweet

and savory preference, so I try to get more bitters and sours as a way

to balance myself.

For me, it's about what makes sense for my life...how much energy I

can and want to devote to thinking about food while keeping my sanity.

I've heard of the book that you mentioned. Books like that usually

provide more worries about food that aren't helpful for me. Again,

what I get from most studies and most books like that is that

whole/natural foods are easier for our bodies to process and derive

nutrients and I respect that. I believe that my body will take what it

can from the foods that I eat and discard anything that it doesn't

need or can't process. I can't/won't know how my internal system is

responding to certain foods overtime...I can only do the best for

myself right now.

Latoya

>

> Yes! I was just raising that issue in another post, in a different

way. It was about engineered, fat-free cheese. I actually don't mind

it in a certain breakfast I make all the time. Is it still OK to eat

it? If it's a pointless and potentially negative influence? Is ff

cheese honoring my health?

>

> Has anyone else read Real Food by Nina Planck? I am in the middle of

it, and this is what's raising my concerns....

>

>

>

>

> Re: Honor your Health

>

>

> ,

>

> I was thinking this morning that I might have been a little bit hard

> on the " scientists " . I've tried to not get caught up in the

> different studies cause it can be really crazy-making. ..everything

> does seem to cause cancer. From the work of scientists, I have

> gained an " overall " perspective from reading or learning about

> different studies. Basically, our bodies have a more difficult time

> digesting and deriving nutrients as foods get more and more

> processed... this makes common sense to me...and yet we've seemed to

> need science to prove that it's easier for our bodies to digest and

> process a banana or any other whole food because as some point we

> began to believe and many still believe that humans can engineer

> food better than nature can. Most of us have the opportunity to

> select from foods provided by nature and those engineered by

> technology. Nature has done some marvelous things in the food

> department and I want to honor the health of nature along with my

> own health...so I believe in eating more whole foods...and I still

> dabble in processes foods daily. We all do the best that we can!

>

> Latoya:)

>