For years, I obsessed over what I was eating.
Was it clean enough? Enough protein? The right macros? Too many calories? Should I stop eating after 7 pm if I wanted to lose weight?
I thought if I just cracked the code on eating the right foods, I’d finally feel free and lose the extra weight I was holding.
But here’s what I eventually realized: What’s on your plate is only half the story. The other half is everything else you’re consuming when you eat.
Because you’re not just eating food—you’re eating the emotional and mental state you’re in as well.
If you’re stressed, you’re swallowing that stress. If you’re upset, you’re taking that in, too.
And if you’re grateful, if you’re sitting in joy, you’re receiving that joy and gratitude into your cells . . . right alongside your salad for lunch.
The people around you matter, too. I grew up with certain family members made me feel like I wasn’t ever enough. And no matter how “healthy” my food was, I walked away from those meals feeling heavy and bloated. Yes, our bodies can have a physiological response to the “non-food” that we are consuming at meal times too!
These days, when I’m surrounded by people who make me feel safe, loved, and connected—that’s the kind of nourishment my body actually digests.
Your environment is also part of your meal. Fluorescent lights, a blaring TV, or scrolling your phone—those feed chaos and tension into your system. On the other hand, fresh air, sunshine, quiet, or the sound of birds? Your body takes all of that in, too.
And then there are your thoughts. I used to sit down to a meal with worries like, “I hope I don’t gain more weight by eating this,” or I’d be spinning in stress about work, and running my brain through my never-ending to-do list. And my body absorbed those thoughts like poison. How ironic that I was also obsessed about eating only the highest caliber local, bio-dynamically grown, organic food I could find. Now I know better. My body digests not just the food, but the story I’m telling myself while I eat.
Even your breath plays a role in your nutrition. A rushed, shallow breath means you’re swallowing that rush putting “rush” into your tissues. A slow, full breath means you’re eating calm.
This is what I see over and over in women who are trying to lose weight or struggling with emotional eating: The focus goes entirely on the food—the calories, the carbs, the protein—without realizing that half of the meal is everything else: your state, your breath, your thoughts, your environment, and the company you keep.
I hope that you can now see the truth: Eating is never just about the food itself. It’s about the whole field you’re sitting in when you eat: your thoughts, your breath, your surroundings, the people at your table. But don’t take my word for it. Next time you go to have a meal, focus on quality of presence. Feel as good and grateful as you possible can. Do not rush. And even if you’ve grown accustomed to shoving the food down in a hurry, and that’s more comfortable for you than dropping in to BE with your body in the experience. . . let yourself be uncomfortable. Gently yourself adjust to not having stress and dissociation dominate your mealtime. Open to learning a new way. A way of ease and connection.
With love,
Meghan
Are you called to learn more about my proprietary method of supporting women break free from emotional eating without diets or talk therapy? I made a brand new training where I outline the steps. Watch it HERE.