3 Simple Swaps to Heal Your Relationship with Food
It’s a new year, which means we’ve all been inundated with recommendations for how to kickstart our bodies, our routines, and our lives.
Our bodies are gifts from God that we are called to steward well. But you know what else is a gift from God? Food. And part of stewardship is appropriately celebrating the gifts that God has given us too.
Oftentimes it feels like we just have two options in our relationship to food:
Hyper-regulate everything we eat, scrambling for advice on the best way to optimize our diet
Let go and eat whatever we desire
But another option exists! We can learn to celebrate both food and our bodies as gifts from a good and loving God, and out of that celebration, practice stewarding them well.
Okay, I understand that can sound a little bit theoretical…how about I give you some tangible ways to start practicing?
One: Swap Your Words
Pay attention to your language. Do you ever catch yourself describing food as a “guilty pleasure” or a “temptation”? This suggests that food is inherently dangerous, and the enjoyment of it teeters on the edge of sin. But enjoying the gifts of God is not dangerous or sinful—it’s a way we can show gratitude and acknowledge God’s love for us.
Try shifting your language instead or recognize the giftedness of these foods, even if that enjoyment is best pursued in moderation. Instead of talking about ice cream as a “guilty pleasure”, describe the proper role it plays in your life: “I love when my best friend and I go out for ice cream together in the summers. Whenever I get to enjoy a bowl at home, it reminds me of the conversations we share.”
Two: Swap Your Prayers
Pay attention to your prayer. Do you typically bow your head and say a prayer of Thanksgiving before you eat? Next time, take a moment to think about the words you are saying and the purpose behind them. Is it just a habit instilled in you since childhood? Is it something you do because everyone else in your college cafeteria is doing it and it feels weird if you don’t (okay, maybe that was just me—fellow Christian college alum who feel the same way, please introduce yourselves in the comments).
If your words feel a bit rote, try switching them up. We are not just thanking God for the provision of our nutritional needs—we are thanking God for meeting those needs in a delicious way! Let your prayer transform your relationship to the food you eat.
Three: Swap Your Mindset
Pay attention to your body. Cultural narratives around diets and nutrition have led many of us to try eating plan after eating plan, attempting to identify the “best” way to eat. We oscillate from low-carb/high protein, to plant based, to intermittent fasting, and everything in between. This posture of optimization encourages us to distrust the cues our body is telling us, aiming to control our desires instead of remaining curious about the information those desires might be trying to convey.
Consider spending a few days paying attention to the cues your body is giving you as you eat. What textures and smells do you experience as you eat? When you slow down and allow yourself to really enjoy each bite, do you find yourself attuned to when your body also informs you it’s time to stop?
This swap is the most difficult. It takes time to retrain our minds and to reach a point where we can trust the cues our body is giving us. For some, it might require working with a nutritionist or intuitive eating specialist who can help you read both the positive and negative information you are receiving. But it’s a swap that is completely worth the work!
I want you to experience God’s abundant grace and freedom in your relationship to food. It’s a huge part of why I do the work I do.
Are you interested in diving a bit deeper into this process? Curious what the Bible—and what the Christian faith—has to say about the ways God meets us in the kitchen and at the table? Then I’ve got some great resources for you.
On Your Own
Check out my podcast, Kitchen Meditations. Each episode is a 15-20 minute meditation to listen to while you cook, one that will transform your understanding of the food you eat and the process of preparing it. It’s available anywhere you listen to podcasts. I recommend you start with the episode On Grocery Shopping!
In a Group
If you’d like to dig into these themes with your small group, Sunday School class, neighbors, or a group of friends, then you should check out my Worship at the Table curriculum. It’s got six lessons along with meal plans, prayers, and more, designed to help you dig into the role of food in our lives together with community around the table.
