Food Porn? or A Body Screaming for Fuel?

Food Porn? Body screaming for fuel?

Guilty.. I used to take photos of my food creations and share them on social media.

I used to get lots of photos of me eating food and share them on social media.

I used to believe at the time that this was because I was a health conscious inspiring person and should document / share my lifestyle for others to feel inspired and be educated.

Now I just realise that I was actually just fucking hungry. My physiology was screaming for nutrition / fuel / help.

I used to buy cooking / food magazines and flick through them drooling over the images. But when I think back.. I never cooked any of the recipes that were in there. I was obsessed with food. I would savour every meal and go to bed dreaming of breakfast. At breakfast I would be talking about what I would like to eat for dinner. People would say “How can you even be thinking about the next meal? You just ate!”

I thought I was just a “foodie” and ‘health conscious” and believed I had found the holy grail of optimum human nutrition just because I had visible abs for the first time in my life. Though in actually fact I was making myself sicker and sicker and sicker.

The sicker and more tired I felt, the more I would push.

Here I am back in 2011. Ripped and lean but cold, tired, depressed, scared.

I often thought to myself…

“Why isn’t this working?”

“Maybe Im not eating clean enough”

“Maybe Im not getting enough organic”

“Im still getting too much sugar in xyz”

“Perhaps I need supplements”

“Maybe I need to workout harder”

“It must have been that tiny bit of gluten I ate”

“Maybe I don’t get enough pro-biotics or omega-3’s”

“Perhaps I’ll cut out dairy”

“Maybe I need more calories”

All the while I would post images and talk about the food i ate to try to validate what I was doing was working. I believe this was to create an external representation of myself on the internet where everything was rainbows and unicorns and all was well in my world. Though this was far from true…

I pushed and pushed and nothing changed.

Can we keep doing the same thing and expect a different result?

Fortunately I woke up. My health was so far in a hole I felt trapped. If my holy grail of organic low processed low sugar a la naturale caveman gluten free wonderboy diet couldn’t work then what would save me? And how come so and so over there can eat what ever they want, have the energy to work out, sleep, socialise, have sex, party and enjoy life, and hear I am feeling like death warmed up.

What worked?

Change.

Breaking the mould of what I thought I knew and asked for help. Overcoming my fears of what people around me would think. Having the courage to break down the road blocks and brainwashing I had created, and embrace a new environment and new outcome.

I listened to my body and fed it the calories and macros it was craving, and let go of the nutritional dogma I had brainwashed myself to believe.

Minnesota Starvation Experiment

In November 1944 36 young men volunteered in a research experiment on the physiological and psychological effects of starvation. Known as the Minnesota Starvation Experiment the project was conducted by Ancel Keys PhD and and psychologist Josef Brozek PhD.

At the same time World War II was taking place around the world, and as a result, so too was hunger and starvation. There was little scientific literature at the time that described the physical and psychological effects and hunger and starvation, as well as of strategy in place to recover and overcome the effects of starvation.

The research protocol called for the men to lose 25 percent of their normal body weight. They spent the first three months of the study eating a normal diet of 3,200 calories a day, followed by six months of semi-starvation at 1,570 calories a day (divided between breakfast and lunch), then a restricted rehabilitation period of three months eating 2,000 to 3,200 calories a day, and finally an eight-week unrestricted rehabilitation period during which there were no limits on caloric intake. Their diet consisted of foods widely available in Europe during the war, mostly potatoes, root vegetables, bread and macaroni. The men were required to work 15 hours per week in the lab, walk 22 miles per week and participate in a variety of educational activities for 25 hours a week. Throughout the experiment, the researchers measured the physiological and psychological changes brought on by near starvation.

The changes in the men during the semi starvation phase were quite dramatic. The mens appearance grew gaunt, strength and stamina decreased, along with body temperature, heart rate, and sex drive. Hunger made the men obsessed with food. They would dream and fantasise about food, read and talk about food, and savour the two meals a day they were given. Fatigue, irritability, depression and apathy were all documented, as well as the men reported a decrease in mental ability even though mental testing of the men did not supper this belief.

Does any of this touch home for you?

Decreased strength and stamina

Cold body temperature

Decreased heart rate

Decreased sex drive

Obsession with food

Dream and fantasise about food

Read and talk about food

Savour meals

Fatigue

Irritability

Depression

Apethy

Decreased mental ability

If any of this sounds familiar maybe its time to explore change?

As a first step it might be worth while reading my article on body temperature.

http://oldmatewellbeing.com.au/is-what-youre-doing-working/ 

Now I know what you might be thinking. These guys were starving. Though how rampant in the fitness / weightless industry is calorie restriction, fasting, detox, dieting etc. Are we not starving ourselves? I couldn’t count how many magazines or calorie restrictive diets promote eating 1500 calories a day to get lean and shredded.

Also I don’t want you to run with this thinking I am pointing the finger at anyone who reads and enjoys food magazines, cooking, or ‘food porn’. If you are well and healthy and love good food then I am extremely happy for you.

I just want to create some food for thought, and shine the light on something that some individuals may have never considered.

I would like to offer new awareness, and awaken healing potential in those that might be missing a key piece in their puzzle.

Are your food porn posts for the love of good food and cooking?

Are you painting a picture of yourself on social media that doesn’t amount to your true feelings?

Is your body screaming for nutrition and help?

If you are in need of some help please email me and I will happily refer you to some resources / practitioners who can help you get started.

All the best on your journey,

Rob.