Fine, let’s talk food.

Quick note: As you know, I’m on a social media vacation, and let’s just say I’m loving the landscape. But, let’s face it, I’ve now got even less ability to put the word out about my work, so…here’s a quick ask: please forward these posts, share my YouTube channel, recommend my books to any like-minded folks you know. You know, word of mouth and all that.

Incidentally, by “like-minded” I 100% DON’T mean people who automatically agree with me, but instead who are about ideas and are willing to get behind the veil. 

Thanks for your support, and now on to our regularly scheduled programming…

~

Anyone who has followed me for any period of time knows this:

I’m tired of talking about food. Actually, I’ve been tired of the subject for a long time. Oddly enough, I became so soon after becoming a certified nutritionist. Later, I rarely delved into food on my podcast, and now rarely do so in my videos or these blogs (and minimally in my books, for that matter).

Why?

My first frustration started almost immediately after I began working with private clients. I’d do what nutritionists do: find out what the client’s goals are, what specific issues they’re having and then hand them a plan.

Problem was that most didn’t continue with my recommendations for very long. Maybe a month or two tops.

Not good on every level. Not good for me as a practitioner with a desire to be effective, not good for my clients as people with a desire to be healthy, fit and happy. Lose, lose.

And so I asked this simple but difficult question: Why am I failing?

Such a hard question to ask, but what a great question to ask.

The answer I discovered was a realization. There were factors much larger than food at play, and as long as I continued to focus solely on food, I’d continue to fail.

I had to admit that I was basically handing my clients a diet, and absolutely zero tools or training to help them implement it.

“Here, take these recommendations and, hey, best of luck sticking with them long-term!”

Certainly not effective, and certainly not representative of what I stand for.

Back to the drawing board, and…long story short, from this frustration came my singular Small Steps Approach, AND…a laser-focus on the deeper and much broader issues surrounding health and happiness in the modern world.

Like?

Self-care, ethics, values, identity, behavior change, nostalgia, habits, tradition, ritual.

SO much bigger than food.

So, why bring up food?

Because I want you to understand the following point, and please try your best to keep the hair on your neck from standing up.

Here goes:

Eating healthy has very little to do with food.

What?

“Sid, we knew you were, well, not ‘all there,’ but eating healthy has everything to do with food.”

Nuh uh.

Now, I know that you know that I know I could end this post right here. A well-placed “nuh uh,” wins most arguments and frankly could get me elected to president if my sights were set on the office. They’re not by the way. I’ve got bigger plans and goals.

So, fine, let’s talk food.

Here’s what I believe and what informs virtually every aspect of my approach:

What you eat is less about the food itself and almost entirely about you and how you express yourself in the world.

Here’s what I mean…

What you eat is an expression of:

• How you define yourself.
• How much you love yourself.
• Your ethics, values, and standards—your personal ideas of right and wrong–and to what degree you are living according to them.
• How much you respect yourself.
• The level to which you are liberated from tradition, ritual, and anything/everything you just “have always done.”
• The level to which you are open to new knowledge, behaviors, and actions even if they’re different from what you’ve always been told and always believed.
• How much or little you are in control of your cravings.

So, before you get into another totally boring and irrelevant argument about carbs or swept up into a discussion about the completely obsolete and incorrect ‘beans and rice/complete protein’ subject or trapped in a conversation about the antiquated and kinda annoying ‘balanced meal’ topic, remember that your health and happiness are a product of your actions and choices. In that context, eating is just one of the things we do.