Yesterday turned out to be a relatively difficult day for me. And as difficult as it may have been it made complete sense, because we use food and drugs, like sugar, caffeine, and alcohol to escape from many of the feelings we feel. Organic Whole Food is a medicine. It nourishes, cleanses and heals. If you eat a bag of grapes, it may give you a bit of a sugar rush, but overall it will have a cleansing effect. Processed Food acts as a way to numb you out. When you are cleansing you are confronted with the real you. You can no longer use food as an excuse to socialize and "Do something". I realized that I often use food to get out of my daily routine and have fun. Now, there is nothing wrong with this every once in a while, but we all use food as an escape all too often. Yesterday some painful feelings came up and I realized that my initial reaction, because I was on the road, was to eat some kind of junk food. Luckily, I have made my promise to myself that I will avoid certain foods and if I stick to my intention, there is almost nothing at a convenience store that I can eat.
Having this intention and promise to myself is part of what keeps me grounded in my pact with myself to continue on this path. I have had people suggest that they cannot imagine not having sugar or dairy or wheat and to be honest, it is challenging. But I know that this is beneficial in the long run and the longer I continue, the more I realize about myself and the foods which are our choices in the average grocery stores around the country. This is what the average american is confronted with every time they go to shop for themselves and their family. It points to a real problem when I walk into the grocery store and the ONLY food I can eat is in the produce section.
I bought a book a while ago by Richard Freeman's wife, Mary Taylor, called What Are You Hungry For?: Women, Food, and Spirituality