We All Eat

 I went out to dinner once with a good guy friend at home, and found myself ordering one of the best steak -onion-and-pepper sandwiches I have ever had. I'm telling you this because I remember after I ordered my friend looked right at me and said "You really aren't the type of girl who orders a salad when you are out to dinner, are you?" 

At the time I was a bit offended, was I the chunky type to eat whatever she wanted? Should I be ordering salad?  I am sure, being a dude, this friend had no idea the sh*tstorm of negative self talk that comment stirred up.

I remember saying something about just loving food and not wanting to "waste" a night out to eat on salad. Truth be told, at the time I wasn't eating a whole lot of salads. I wasn't eating terribly, but I wasn't nearly as conscious then as I am now about what I put into my mouth. 

Just today I received another salad comment from a friend. We were sitting in the graduate student work room waiting for various meetings to start, when she looked at me and said, "I'm eating the food of your people." It took me a moment to really process what she was saying. She was eating a salad for lunch and was telling me about her plan to incorporate more fruits/veggies in order to help cleanse her diet. When did I become the "healthy" salad person?!!?! 

'

A quick review of my phone's picture gallery not only proves that I still love food, but also indicates my friend is right. I've become one of "those" people. With weird healthy food tastes. Weird.

Brown rice pasta shells stuffed with tofu and spinach.

Home popped popcorn with nutritional yeast and cheese. 

Coconut flour breaded chicken strips. 

Cottage Cheese "frosting" topped pancakes. 

I recently had a fella over for dinner. I was excited to make him one of my favorites - grilled chicken sandwiches using a coconut flour pancake as the bread. Toppings = spinach, avocado, onion and salsa. Baked sweet potato fries and broccoli rounded out the field. I was a bit nervous to share this food with him, as it is not so very normal. 

He was clearly less than impressed. 

My food choices might seem weird to some, but that's just it - there will always be someone who may see what you eat with a critical eye - no matter what your dietary habits. 

There is also always room for your own negative self talk. That doesn't mean it needs to be invited to the table! Instead, define what it means to eat well for yourself and be confident with your ability to stick to that definition. 

xoxo Sweat&Sparkle