DIET is a four letter word.: A Charge for Eating with Confidence

Thursday, October 21, 2010

A Charge for Eating with Confidence

Tomorrow morning I'll have the pleasure of speaking with a crowd of young girls attending the kickoff breakfast for Dove's Self-Esteem weekend - three days of events for women across the nation, all in the name of confidence and developing a positive sense of beauty no matter what your body type may be.

You might recall Dove's Real Beauty campaign a few years back where they featured real women with real curves. Needless to say, it was massively successful.
In planning for tomorrow, I started thinking about one of the greatest gifts of confidence we can give ourselves: eating well, loving how good food makes us feel, and loving being in our own skin. There's a beauty in that and there's certainly a large dose of confidence. A quick glimpse of Precious's Gabourey Sidibe and Mad Men's Kristina Hendricks just ran through my head. Both are curvy but beyond confident in their bodies - pretty inspiring. Gabourey, fyi, was just on the cover of Elle Magazine this month.

People often admit to me that they fear particular foods (bananas, carrots, potatoes come to mind let alone cheese, pasta and chocolate!) or the feeling that if they succumb to a cheeseburger or a brownie on occasion, all hell will break loose. Not exactly an enjoyable or sound way to approach food, unfortunately. And not surprisingly, I've found that we tend to have the most success and happiness with food and eating when we're confident in whatever situation we're faced with. Confidence in knowing how to balance good food with indulgences, how to listen to your body's cravings and hunger cues and how to thoughtfully consider what you're eating and where it's coming from...that's great eating and that's also unstoppable self-esteem.

So with that, I'm putting out a charge to head into the weekend with confident, delicious eating - and everything else that comes with it. 3 things to consider while you're charging away...

1. don't fear food - If it's a real food you don't have much to worry about! the fewer the ingredients the better...
2. where's your food coming from? - Yes, I'm a big proponent of eating local whenever possible/feasible, but it's really true. you're supporting smaller, sustainable farmers and in turn, they're supporting you with fresh, wholesome food - which means you can kiss diets and stressing too much about calories, fat, carbs etc. Real food fills us up fast and keeps portions in check automatically.
3. try something new and savor indulgences - I promise, a well-portioned bowl of pasta accompanied by fresh vegetables or salad won't cause you to bust out of your favorite jeans. Do something a little naughty a few times a week, and relish it. My own vices this past week?...sharing a phenomenal pizza from Franny's in Brooklyn - with house-made sausage on it! I'm a sucker for sausage, but I balanced it out with a delicious pear-arugula-parmesan salad. Next up, dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Marc Forgione. Marc's infamous BBQ baked oysters with bechamel sauce. Not exactly "light," but they're to die for. Thankfully, I planned ahead and made sure the rest of my day's eating was on track with my general routine.

Cheers to a confident, tasty weekend ahead!