Sometimes people ask me: Katie, what is your end goal? What do you hope people will achieve with their eating?
So here it is: I want you to eat in a way that serves all parts of you.
I want you to eat in a way that furthers your health as a whole person: your physical health, emotional health, mental health, and spiritual health.
I want you to eat in a way that serves your physical needs, but also your other needs: needs for pleasure or comfort or adventure or convenience or frugality.
Eating in a way that serves all parts of you is inherently complex, nuanced, and variable. Oatmeal for breakfast might be the best choice on one day, but pizza or chocolate cake might be the best choice on a different day.
When I describe it like this, “eating in a way that serves all parts of you” might sound squishy or vague. But it doesn’t have to be. In fact, a big part of my work is helping my clients (in groups or one-on-one) develop a personal methodology for figuring out how to eat in a way that serves them.
In that way, eating in a way that serves all parts of you is kind of like life as a whole. One day it makes sense to stay up late, another day it makes sense to go to bed early. One day we stay late at work, another day we leave early to see a friend. We will all be happiest if we know our values, if we are skillful at moving towards what we value and balancing competing values, and if we are able to understand when and why we are sometimes blocked from moving towards what we value.
So here’s some questions that you might mull over this weekend:
Are you currently eating in a way that serves all parts of you?
If not, what parts of you are currently getting prioritized, and which parts are getting neglected?
What small action could you take to better move towards eating in a way that serves all parts of you?