Tips for Living Wicca: You Are What You Eat

Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are -- Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

I used to be a junk food junkie. I didn't even know it because my family ate only junk food, so I thought Oreos for breakfast, Big Macs for lunch, mounds of pasta for dinner was normal, and soda pop (not water) was what you drank when you were thirsty. I would literally run from vegetables. If Brillat-Savarin was right, and you are what you eat, I was junk-- huge hunks of over-seasoned, over-sauced, greasy meat, mountains of simple carbohydrates, sugar and chemicals. No wonder I felt like crap. 

As I got older and realized the toll my diet was taking on my health I had to really change my way of thinking about food. But I'm actually no over-the-top health food nut but I eat way more balanced meals, healthier foods prepared in a healthier way, and have cut way back on the junk -- I don't even drink soda or eat Oreos anymore. But I'm not going to turn my nose up at a cup cake, some chips, or -- hey, even the occasional Big Mac every couple of months. All things in moderation. 

But in the spring, when the garden really begins to bloom, and when the produce markets start setting up shop with all these beautifully ripe fruits on sale, I usually realize that over winter I have backslid a bit into my old ways. I guess it starts with the holiday season, because it's so busy-crazy I opt for convenience over health, and by January old habits fit like a comfortable old slipper and I forget I'm even in them.

Then spring comes and it's a reminder all over again. That kind of reels me back in because I remember what I really want, and what I want to be.

My Tip for You Today:

Think about what you put into your body. Are you happy with it? Does it serve the purpose that food was meant to serve, or are you using it for something else (instant gratification, to fill a void, etc.)? 

I'm not suggesting that you go on a diet, I'm suggesting you re-evaluate if this is truly what you want and what you need, or have you just fallen into bad habits. Look at other foods that might not have been (taste-wise) your first choice, but think of what they can offer you-- what do they represent to you?

If you start making some small changes, great-- but for right now, just re-examine your relationship with the food you eat and how you feel about that. 

Judging by what I eat, I'm someone who tries to do the right thing, who is not perfect, and sometimes likes to be a bit 'bad' or is sometimes a bit thoughtless-- but who overall strives for balance.

If you are what you eat, what are you?