Monday, May 21, 2012

Food as fuel vs food as entertainment

This is something I see come up a lot, especially the more I read into this beast called bodybuilding competing. When it comes to food and contest prep there is a fine line between being overly obsessed and having a healthy relationship with food. I can see how easy it is to cross that line! As someone who has always enjoyed food, and growing up in the south spent many a weekend at social gatherings that were very foodcentric. No matter what food always seemed to be the center of all events! Now I am in prep mode and while I still enjoy a very large range of foods and certainly have learned how to create basic foods into amazing fun foods I do look at food a bit differently. It is the fuel for my body, my muscles. It is what powers my workouts and keeps me healthy on the inside. I eat to workout, not workout to eat. Oh well maybe I do workout to eat, I have some amazing postworkout foods ;) However, just because I do have this healthy relationship with food, seeing it as my fuel, does not mean I don't or can't see food as entertainment! This is where I think the line gets crossed from healthy to obsessive. In my opinion if you only view food as one or the other, there is a problem. You need a healthy balance of fuel and fun, when it becomes so strict it's only fuel or you just don't give a rat's hiney and food is all about enjoyment, it's time to take a look at what is going on deep inside. I read a comment snarking on girls that create post comp food binge menus. For some, the ones who prep the insane way, this can spell disaster. For others it can be a way of putting specific food wants down on paper and out of their heads. I've been on a fantastic nutrition plan since August of 2011, not a long time really but certainly no room in there for some of my favorite occasional treats. I'm not an emotional eater, I have no emotional attachment to any food. I have a post competition fun food list. Will I eat all the items on my list? Oh heck no! I know my body can't handle all of that crap LOL plus I have no plans of having a post comp rebound. Or maybe I will have every item on my list, 1 bite of each. All things in moderation I say! I do plan to let loose and just enjoy some good eats the week after my comp, I want to relax, chill out and not think about calories or weighing portions etc. So what are your thoughts? Can food be both fuel and entertainment? Do you balance out the fun with the necessary, or do stay pretty strict with your food all year round?

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