There is one word that encapsulates almost every adjective or feeling imaginable. It can be scary, exciting, new, old, boring, or even loving. It can come at any time of the day and reach all around the world. It can connect us to our loved ones while bringing joy and smiles to our faces. No matter where or who you are, you need it. Have you guessed what it is yet? Food. Food is undoubtedly in every single person’s life. Some may have more than others, but regardless it is something we all as humans have in common. Food is a powerful resource as it is the fuel we need to live our lives to the fullest. It has the power to change our lives significantly and more importantly change our mental health. Food can impact the way we view our bodies and ultimately experience life. We often attribute food to be the root cause of our issues and limit ourselves by trying to diet. 

Food and the Media

The media enables us to “fix” our eating habits by bombarding us with diet propaganda. It seems that almost every day there is a “new” diet that it will help us lose that “unwanted 10 lbs”.  These advertisements constantly telling us to lose weight starts to impact our mindsets and we begin to have negative connotations around food. We start limiting ourselves and start to think that our sizes are not appropriate for our society. What we eat, what we wear, how we act and most importantly how we think about ourselves becomes skewed. We begin to blame food for our physical appearances and start to limit our relationship with it. We cut out things we love to eat, and can even miss out on social gatherings just to restrict ourselves from eating “too much”.  How many times have you skipped “catching up with friends” or just ate the roasted carrots during thanksgiving dinner to stop yourself from pigging out? Even worse, how many times have you restricted yourself from buying that outfit because you didn’t like how a part of your body looked in it. Food affects us every day, in more ways than just our eating. But what if we started changing our relationship with food and stopped limiting ourselves on what we want and love to eat? 

Now, I’m not saying to eat chocolate cake every single day for breakfast or in any way trying to promote a diet filled with sugar and sweets. My point is, eating should be in moderation and tailored to each individual. Each and every one of us has different body types and react differently when eating food. It is important that we listen to our bodies regularly and give them the fuel and energy it needs. Food should be something that brings joy to our lives and not something that makes us restrict our lifestyles. We should love the skin that we’re in and thank our bodies regularly for helping to guide us each and every day of our lives. 

Especially now in 2020, food crazes have hit Instagram and stores alike. Themed restaurants with Instagram worthy food have captured the dining scene - making food that much more enjoyable. Go out there or stay home and try something new! It’s a new decade full of new food! 

Written By: Ruby Lukach