food philosophy with alexis silvaggio

These days, it’s not so much about what I eat (although I am conscious of that also),  but rather, how I eat it.  What is the intention, how do I feel while I’m eating it, and how much joy went into the process of creating it.  

When I was anorexic, eating was a frantic, anxious escapade, that generally ended with me eating a whole lot of nothing, way too fast.  Like an animal.  I was so scared of the food, so petrified, that on some level, I believed that if I ate it quickly, maybe I wouldn’t even notice that it had been consumed.   Maybe the pain of nourishing my body wouldn't last so long.  Maybe, I wouldn’t feel so guilty for giving myself some tiny morsel of what my body actually needed to survive—nourishment.

Now, whether you relate to my old way of eating or not, I know that there is room to grow, for each and every one of us.  I don’t know a single soul that can’t heal their relationship with food.  If you’ve ever said, “I just can’t stop eating”, or “Oh sh*t, I haven’t eaten in 8 hours”, then there is room for growth.  Our food is our fuel.  Much like our breath, food is our life force.  We need it in order to show up, be the best version of ourselves, and to live a life on purpose.  Simple as that.

I believe we live in a culture that is on a sliding scale.  A sliding scale of dysfunction around our body and food.  Some days we are at a 2 out of 10, feeling pretty fly.  And damn it, some days we are off the richter scale with anxiety around our body and at freakin’ 14! The way we eat impacts how we digest our food, how we process it, and how it nourishes us.  Yes it’s important to pay attention to what we put in our tender bodies, but the how is just as important.

These  bodies are on loan for a short while.  They are like sweet rental units, that we must start treating like we want our security deposit back.  For me, that means more of a paleo lifestyle because that’s what makes MY body feel good.  Now what works for you may be totally different, but that’s up to you. Your body is your greatest tool for discernment if you get quiet enough to listen.  The thing that we all can work towards is listening to the nobility of our body, hearing what it has to say, recognizing what works and what doesn’t, and eating with a sense of awareness and reverence towards ourselves.  That’s where it’s at people.  That’s the business right there.