Friday, May 22, 2009

Food & Relationships

I was talking to some of my single mom friends the other day about relationships. This was during lunch, of course, and one of the women - who is a bit older and much wiser - started talking about how we tend to view relationships the same way in which we view food.

Now, I know this sounds crazy but bear with me. She had a good point, in that she tends to eat two big meals a day, starving herself in between and not snacking or thinking about food until her body's ready to have a meltdown. Interestingly enough, her boyfriend lives out of state so she sees him every other weekend, spending time with him 24/7 for those few days before returning to her "normal life" and focusing on what needs to be done here before she's able to see him again.

Others I know tend to eat only at fine restaurants and spend a lot of money on organic foods, not allowing themselves to step foot inside a fast food restaurant or eating diet soda, or anything else unnatural. They know what they want - the finer things in life - and damn it, the men in their lives know it too!

Another friend of mine eats small snacky foods all day, healthy or not. She also likes to date many men at one time, not really ready to commit just yet to a full meal, so to speak.

And then there's me. Now, I have interesting eating habits which change from time to time and that could be also true of the relationships I have. Sometimes, I'll be really healthy and eat foods that are good for me (dating men who bring out my strengths and can recognize who I am) while there have certainly been times in my life where my eating habits have been horrible. Times when I'd eat junk food and drink way too much, and guess what? The men in my life at those times were also not good for me and drank way too much as well.

Nothing's wrong with any of the above scenarios although you can certainly see how some situations are not as good for us as others. We're all different, thank goodness, and needing different things, and people, in our lives. The point here isn't to try to change how you eat or who you date, but to just be aware.

If you're in a healthy relationship and are putting healthy foods into your body, chances are you can see how this affects you. Take a look at your relationships and the way you eat to determine what changes you could make, in either department, to make sure you are treating yourself to the best that's available.

Happy eating!

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