You are what you eat...not what you think

"Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es."  

[Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are]. Anthelme Brillat-Savarin  1826

I first heard "You are what you eat back" in the school house days, probably mid 1970's. It didn't make much of an impression on me and for good reason. 

We were not wealthy city folks.  We were humble country dwellers living off a mason's pay and a mom that stayed home and raised kids until we were all in school. So we ate whatever was economical.  We didn't eat out much at all and on the rare occasion that we did it certainly wasn't fast food. We ate off the land.  When he could my dad hunted for game around the farm. I once thought he hunted because he liked to hunt but now I realize, he was providing for us as well.  

Squirrel, rabbit, deer were often our protein source and I loved it all, dredged in flour, fried to perfection, and served with mashed potatoes and gravy.  Yum.  We also had a large garden and my mother labored over the canner all summer storing up food for the winter when bricklayers don't work as much, and therefor don't have a dependable income, due to freezing temperatures. 

So this idea of you are what you eat was of no importance to me beyond the fact that I got it.  Healthy ingestion equals healthy output.  But we ate to survive.  My mom is a wonderful cook but more than that she was a creative cook. She had to feed a family of six on a small budget and make it appear as if she had all the resources in the world.  We never knew we were "poor".  Had no idea. 

Now that I am older and my choices are broader and I am now broader the phrase resonates in my brain constantly.  Every choice I make about food affects my long term weight loss goal.  Yesterday I wrote about feelings and doing the right thing even when you don't feel like it.  Today, I want to tie that into the action of eating healthy foods at every opportunity. Doing the right thing even when I don't feel like.

A fellow blogger, Cindy, posted a thought provoking article that challenged some of my lifelong thought processes and I am still digesting that information (see link below)

http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/9-mind-blowing-epiphanies-that-turned-my-world-upside-down/


But I want and need to remind myself out loud, and maybe some folks out there feel the same way, I may have negative thinking some days but I am not defined by occasional doubt, fear, or the warring on the inside. It is not who I am though I know it affects who I am.  Who I really am is defined by the actions I take. 

I really am what I eat.  I should choose food accordingly and protect that choice as if it were the most important decision in my life...because it is.

That's all ~ Thanks y'all!