food, my frenemy

i have been thinking a lot about food & it's role in my life.  anyone who has ever had a fasting experience can attest to the how central food has become to our culture & lifestyle.  it's the hub of most of our social lives, the reward for a hard days work, a coping skill, a way to entertain.  most of my thought calories during the day are just made up of questions about food... when will i eat, what will i eat, how will i eat it, what will the kids eat, have we eaten enough.  food is important for obvious reasons.  but what is even more important is how you personally view food, which can become quite complicated.  the amount you consume, how you consume it & when you consume it are all popular topics in the news these days. i read somewhere that you can weigh 500 lbs and still be malnourished. some canadian courts have even gone as far as to mandate that persons in extreme overweight situations have their children taken away.  it certainly is a point of contention.

food & i have had long journey together.  as a child it was a form of entertainment, food fights & oddly shaped or named food where just some of the ways i enjoyed food.  as a university student & newly employed professional, it became a coping skill.  stress = consumption of disgustingly sugary or fatty food of some sort.  growing into a pregnant adult, it became my good friend the comforter, the security blanket. as a parent, it became a tool to manipulate & motivate my child's behaviour which sounds terrible, i know.  not unhealthy food in this situation, just healthy food used unhealthily.  i want my kids to want to obey because they love me not because they'd love a muffin.  bringing us up to now, where i am attempting to consciously change my previous, subconscious beliefs about food into an empowering reality for both me & my kids.  to transform food into my power source, my fuel, a means to an end, something i use to meet a need not a long list of wants.  i refuse to be mastered by you food.  you are not a friend nor are you an enemy.  you are my frenemy. to be enjoyed in a healthy, measured, responsible manner.