Diet books versus cookbooks

(I made an interesting observation today, and I look forward to hearing your comments. I think I’m onto something.)

I love bookstores. In fact, when I die, I’d love to have the “seated,” a Southern thang, in the window of a little boutique bookstore. It would certainly attract business. However, my mortality is not the purpose of this post. I want to talk about energy.

Bookstores are brimming with all kinds of energy, from depression to overwhelming excitement. As a trainer, I’m really good at reading other people’s energy, and today I was like a kid in a candy store, tapping into the various moods and spirits that pervaded the place.

I walked from section to section—fiction, world history, poetry, children, New Age—but when I turned the corner to cross the diet aisle, I felt a sudden drop in energy. I didn’t just feel it on a superficial level, but it was a feeling that started in my stomach and went up my throat.

I saw a few women picking up different books that presented opposing theories. A woman was holding a copy of skinny female dog in one hand and The Atkins Diet in other. His face screamed despair and confusion. Another lady was holding a book about eating disorders. (It’s no coincidence that the diet books are adjacent to the recovery/addiction section.)

I started thinking back to my dieting days and the toxic cycle I was caught in. With each failing diet, I became more and more desperate to find the next promised miracle. On an energy scale of 0 to 10, dieting was around -99.

I quickly crossed the aisle and turned another corner to the shelves that were adorned with beautiful cookbooks from around the world. What I experienced was fascinating. So fascinating that I couldn’t wait to get home and write about it. When I started walking through the cookbook section, my spirit lifted. I became lighter amid blankets of beautiful artisan breads and abundant fruits and vegetables.

I also experienced other emotional changes:

– fear of peace
– heavy to light
-from scarcity to abundance
– sadness to joy
– self-awareness to confidence
– talking about yourself negatively to self-love
– frustration to calm down
– confusion of trust

I also noticed the difference between women browsing cookbooks and women trying to decide whether to eat raw or eat for their blood type. The women in the “cookbook” seemed relaxed with a bit of excitement. I listened to a few of them discuss their favorite recipes from Julia Child’s Master tof French Cuisine.

I took one of my favorite cookbooks, Country kitchen in France, and I felt the excitement in my stomach, very different from the queasy feeling I had felt earlier when I was stuck between the shelves of addiction and dieting.

Interestingly, the women in the cookbook section were all skinny. Yes, the women flipping through recipes made with real butter, sugar, and flour were all slim, while the women looking for their next diet weren’t.

So what does my observation mean? I believe that if a person allows themselves to enjoy all types of foods that feel good in their own body, they will function at a much higher energy level, which attracts a naturally lean body. She does not possess the fear of deprivation or lack like those who live on diets or those who do not diet but live with low energy levels.

Women who are relaxed usually don’t binge. Women who allow themselves to enjoy the occasional treat don’t feel the need to eat the whole bag of Oreos. Women who love each other find other ways to feed their hungry hearts. Women who possess higher energies, such as happiness, joy, excitement, optimism, and love, attract more of these powers into their lives.

The universe is abundant, and she relaxes in that abundance, not feeling compelled to devour anything that comes her way, be it food or herself.

She simply listens to her body, feeds her a variety of delicious foods, and trusts the natural process of eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re full.

If you are struggling with your weight, ask yourself the following questions:

– Do diet books fascinate me? – Am I gaining clarity or gathering more confusion from the diet books? -Would I rather cook (and eat) from a beautifully designed cookbook with fresh, delicious ingredients or adhere to a strict plan that requires rigid rules and following a bunch of numbers?

If your answers weren’t positive, your body is most likely telling you that dieting is not your answer. In fact, science has proven that dieting leads to more disordered eating and, in most cases, weight gain. Weight loss diets consume very little energy, which conflicts with the energy needed to lose weight.

Here’s a hint: weight loss happens when you learn to connect with your body and make peace with it. This means providing delicious food, letting go of other people’s rules, and loving yourself as your ideal body emerges.

After doing my bookstore observation, I grabbed a new cookbook to add to my collection and did everything I could to avoid the exhausting diet aisle that continues to suck energy (and life) women.