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You Eat The Way You Live

July 27, 2014 By Jo Anderson 21 Comments

 

Jo Anderson // The Luminous Kitchen

Geneen Roth is an American bestselling author and authority on compulsive eating. She believes that our relationship to food, money and love is an exact reflection of our deepest held beliefs about ourselves and the amount of joy, abundance, pain and scarcity we have ( or are allowed to have) in our lives.

She  says “You eat the way you live”

When I first heard her say it, this simple phrase took up residence in my head. It sashayed it’s way around trying to attach to memories of dark places, eating disorders and self hatred. It burrowed its way in deep and still I could not make sense of it.

Until finally I was able to unhook from my stories, detached from myself and take a good hard look under the hood that I had kept so brilliantly closed for so long and finally I understood what it meant for me.

When I live my life fully, follow the good, trust my heart, have faith, but detachment from all outcomes , I eat well. When I express my soul’s desires, I eat well. I eat to nourish and fuel myself because I am sustained by so much more.

I eat badly when I’m not living in alignment with my values and my beliefs, when I hunger for more from life, but allow fear to restrict and confine me, when I listen to the stories and ignore my calling. I eat badly when I don’t value myself.

This good or bad has nothing to do with what I am eating and everything to do with how I eat it.


I used to feel powerless like I was at the effect of life and not attracting the life I desired. Even when I thought I was creating life on my own terms I really wasn’t. I was locked into the WHEN and IF game.

“When I lose 5kg I will feel free, sexy, feminine” and  “I will be so good if I just have 3 green smoothies today”  The more I focussed out there the less in touch within I felt.

I thought the emptiness could be filled with food so I used it, like a drug, to numb the feeling and to dim my light. I used food when I wanted to escape, to leave my body, to be living a different life.

There was no pleasure in eating. I didn’t know how to savor the crisp bite of a tart apple or revel in the silkiness of just one piece of chocolate melting over my tongue. I didn’t taste food because I used it to leave the present moment, to escape for just a nanosecond.

When I wasn’t using food to escape, I devised so many rules around how I was allowed to eat that there was no room left for enjoyment.

I didn’t recognize that what I really hungered for was connection, adventure, freedom, creative release and meaningful work. Once I did I set out discovering how to bring those into my life and the most magical things began to unfold.

Today I make it a conscious, daily effort to savor and enjoy food and to not use it. I eat healthy good food most of the time, but not always …do I get it right every day?  Absolutely not, but I try and that for me is eating well.

I don’t think we take enough time to focus and direct our light within these days. We watch contrived snapshots of peoples lives on Instagram and hunger for more from our own, yet because we are so disconnected and out of touch we can’t distinguish between real hunger and wanting more from life.

So open your heart wide and fully.. listen to that whisper within because it’s gentle tugging is pulling you in the direction of your wildest dreams. Stop the sabotage, stop the numbing. Embrace nourishment of your soul, of your body and of this one precious life.

You eat the way you live… You eat the way you feel about yourself.

It is a way of being first and doing second…. a journey with no destination. This is about living your life now, in this moment and loving it because you choose to.

So tell me, because I would love to connect over this topic,  how does the way you eat reflect in your life?

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Comments

  1. Sue Larkin says

    July 27, 2014 at 10:56 pm

    Wow what great advice!

    Reply
  2. Nicole says

    July 28, 2014 at 4:16 am

    I am standing up on my chair applauding you!! LOVE this post Jo! Amazing work gorgeous one xx

    Reply
    • Jo Anderson says

      July 28, 2014 at 4:47 am

      Awe you!!! Love.

      Reply
  3. Alexandra says

    July 28, 2014 at 7:23 am

    Absolutely! Great post and a timely reminder x

    Reply
  4. Adina says

    July 29, 2014 at 11:38 am

    You are speaking from my soul. I sadly recognize my own self in your words. Wish I really knew how to change that….

    Reply
    • Jo Anderson says

      July 29, 2014 at 9:16 pm

      Adina, thank you for your comment and I am sending you so much love and light

      Reply
  5. vegeTARAian says

    July 29, 2014 at 11:48 pm

    I’m a fellow blogheart and I’m so glad I found this post as it so strongly resonates with me. I’ve never really thought about how food affects me but I too, don’t eat well when I’m not happy and fulfilled. Thank you for sharing this, I’m know your wise words will bounce around in my mind for days.

    Reply
    • Jo Anderson says

      July 30, 2014 at 11:25 am

      hey Tara, I’m so glad my post resonated with you. xxx

      Reply
  6. Katherine - The Beauty Of Life says

    July 30, 2014 at 6:01 am

    This is such a beautiful post and such an incredible mindset shift. Great work! Look forward to reading more x

    Reply
    • Jo Anderson says

      July 30, 2014 at 11:25 am

      Thanks Katherine xxx

      Reply
  7. Tracy says

    July 30, 2014 at 9:53 am

    Giving you the slow clap, Jo. Seriously. Thank you for that post.
    P.S. I am a fellow African – from Zim. x

    Reply
    • Jo Anderson says

      July 30, 2014 at 11:23 am

      Hey Tracy how awesome to have a Zimbabwean here. I have cousins that live in Harare still.. Honeydew farm is their business. I love Zim and went back 2 years ago to see them. ow long have you been in Australia for ? I also love a good slow clap so thank you kindly 🙂

      Reply
  8. Lisa Hatherly says

    July 30, 2014 at 10:07 am

    Love this Jo – what a great way to look at it. My food issues have just sat with me for so many years now- but this is shining a great light into those corners – thanks for your post.

    Reply
    • Jo Anderson says

      July 30, 2014 at 11:27 am

      Hey Lisa so great to “see” you here and I’m looking forward to connecting more at the next Bloghearted meet up.

      Reply
  9. Lila says

    July 30, 2014 at 11:09 am

    Such a true and beautiful post, I also find what I eat can affect my emotions so it can be such a vicious cycle if we aren’t aware of the why and how of eating!

    Reply
    • Jo Anderson says

      July 30, 2014 at 11:19 am

      I SO agree with you Lila!! I know too much sugar for me sends my emotions on a roller coaster! Even natural sugars.

      Reply
  10. Leah Davies - Paper Planes Connect says

    July 30, 2014 at 12:50 pm

    I love this post. My relationship with food has changed the last couple of months. I’ve been eating big portions, but not really enjoying the food. When I tune in, I know it’s because I am feeling anxious about money and change, and am getting more comfortable with sitting with these feelings and asking my body what it needs, and most of the time, it’s healthy well-proportioned meals. Thank you again for this! xx

    Reply
  11. Lauren says

    July 30, 2014 at 1:05 pm

    It took me a LONG time to learn this lesson. For so long, I was trying to “fix” things by just changing my diet again or tweaking things. When I realized that I can’t satisfy my emotional, spiritual, social, etc. needs with food, things changed. I addressed the real problem, and of course, then, my relationship with food started to change with ease. Thanks for the wonderful post!

    Reply
  12. Lyndsey says

    July 31, 2014 at 6:08 pm

    Oh Miss lovely Jo, this hit so close to home. I have pretty much gone through all of the above emotions when it comes to food and eating, such a roller coaster and not a fun one.

    Everything changed for me when I started becoming more in tune with what I was actually craving and hungry for (and it was not the pastry’s)…When I started yoga (game changer), started connecting with my inner self and when I started eating intuitively. Just like you I am not perfect all the time, and still have some inner battles of they never said the road was short or easy.

    Thanks for sharing this post, I loved it xx

    Reply
  13. Tara Caetano says

    July 31, 2014 at 10:44 pm

    Oh Jo!! I absolutely adore this post!! It needs to be shared far and wide! Thank you for giving me some thoughts to ponder today and even more motivation to go out and get Geneen Roth’s book! xxx

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. July Favorites: Free Anti Dieting Challenge, lessons from an Eating Disorder says:
    August 1, 2014 at 12:58 pm

    […] You Eat the Way you Live from The Luminous Kitchen –> Inspiration from this lovely blogger + the oh-so-wise Geneen Roth. […]

    Reply

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Welcome

Hi I'm Jo, former yacht chef, now I style and take pretty pictures of food. Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, I now live in Australia with my husband, Corey and our baby girl. Next to them my favorite things include my camera and cheese. We like real, uncomplicated food and letting nature be our muse.
 

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