Food Is Connection

I’m Jessica and I am a recipe developer for my site, Real Food with Jessica. Even though I love food and exploring new recipes, that love hasn’t always come easily. I’d like to remind you what I’ve had to re-learn myself: Food is so much more than the calories it holds. It brings people together, connects you to a loved one you miss, holds memories and comfort, and isn’t something that needs to be restricted.

So often, New Year’s Resolutions tie into the consumption of food. We’re told that your life will improve if you go on a diet, cut out foods, and start exercising. But I want to encourage you to be gentle with yourself.

Being gentle with myself

As someone who dealt with an eating disorder for many years, I’ve had to retrain my brain on how to think about food and how to have a healthier approach. I have some foods eliminated from my diet, but that is because I don’t tolerate them, not for reasons of weight loss or management. After years of being restricted and reintroducing, I’m in a great place with balance.

The need for balance around these ideas came into clearer focus after my mom’s passing. My mom spent a huge part of her life caught up in diet culture- wanting to lose weight, yo-yo dieting, and struggling with food. She was healthy in the aspect that she loved to move her body: dance, swimming, biking, and rollerblading were some of her favorite things. She had no health issues until she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

I miss my mom for who she was as a person, not her weight. I wish she didn’t waste all those years worrying about her body and just loving herself for who she was. I am determined to not have this approach to life as a mom. I don’t want my daughter to see these same patterns. I want her to know that bodies are amazing no matter the size and you have more to offer the world than just your body. We have one life and one body, don’t spend it trying to constantly change yourself.

My message to my daughter (and to you!)

Make a New Year’s Resolution only if you want to. If you feel best getting back to a regular workout routine, making a focus to eat more vegetables, or drinking less alcohol, that’s great, but don’t do it because you “should” or because it seems like everyone else is. 

So with the new year here and lots of focus on weight loss and body shaming, I hope you lean into self-love and remember that body size is not an indicator of health.

And if you’d like to make a resolution, here are some non-weight related ones:

• Read more
• Volunteer more
• Make one new recipe a month 
• Declutter/organize 
• Learn a new skill- guitar, knitting, pottery, etc
• Drink more water 

I hope you’re enjoying a cup of Peace Coffee as you start the New Year, and here are two of my go-to breakfast recipes for you to try,  a tasty coffee cake and a savory BLT bake!