I am writing a short series on Beauty. In the last post, I wrote about our clothing. Today I will give some reflections about eating and fitness, with some help from two books, one which is written by two nutritionists and the other which examines how our faith instructs us to think about food.
In a series on beauty it is easier to write about clothing than about eating and fitness. That is in part because our habits of eating and exercise impact not only our appearance, but also our physical and mental health. It is part of good stewardship of our bodies to learn to eat in a way which promotes health. Similarly, exercise is profitable for having a strong body with which to serve the Lord and our neighbor, and exercise also has a powerful antidepressant benefit. These are good reasons for careful eating and exercise. But being healthy and fit also enhances our appearance. If I’m being honest, this is part of my motivation for watching what I eat and exercising regularly. However, I try hard to keep my desire to look good in check, remembering that my desire for God, His word and His will should always be greater than my desire for beauty. And simultaneously, I take care of my body with healthy eating and exercise, so that I will be more able to spend my numbered days (I can’t add or subtract days from God’s plan for me) in able service to Him, to my family and to others.
How do we break away from the idolatry of beauty and have healthier thinking? I got some very practical advice from a book – Intuitive Eating – written by two nutritionists, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. Their advice is very simple: throw away your bathroom scales. Learn to eat when you are hungry and stop eating when you are satisfied. Be mindful of your emotions, so that you can discern if you are physically hungry or emotionally hungry. Exercise within healthy bounds. Listen to your body while you exercise, so that you don’t injure yourself with over-exercise. Their book has been through multiple revisions and printings since 1995. It seems to have stood the test of time. The problem with the book is that while it seems simple – eat when you are hungry and stop when you are satisfied – it is VERY hard for me to discern when I am satisfied! It takes practice to begin to discern when you are eating for purely emotional reasons and when you are genuinely hungry, particularly when hunger or low blood sugar actually causes a drop in my emotions. In other words, I could be emotional because I am upset about something that food will not solve, or I could be emotional because I am hungry! (That’s why people talk about being “Hangry.”)
But more than the learning curve about hunger and emotions is the scary fact that confronting my idols of outward appearance means potentially letting myself gain weight. Throwing out my bathroom scale means my weight has increased as I have aged. (But, I confess I haven’t thrown out my bathroom scale. I just rarely use it.) I feel as though I am being forced to choose between a lifestyle of continued enjoyment of a variety of food in the company of family and friends and keeping my weight down to match the cultural standards I have internalized. It doesn’t seem possible to have both – intuitive and happy eating and my former thinness. So far I have chosen not to be strenuously restrictive in my eating. I have made that choice in part because restrictive eating often separates people from meal time fellowship. I also love food! I confess an internal battle of these multiple opposing values.
I found support for my decision to focus on happy eating rather than thinnes by reading Food and Faith. Food and Faith by Norman Wirzba gives a theology of eating, producing, sharing and grateful dependence on food. This book pointed me to the beauty of how food shows us God’s provision for us: we humans are profoundly dependent on other creations and are nourished through the death of animals and plants. It is humbling to recognize our inability to sustain ourselves, and encouraging to think of the partnership of a community working to bring forth from the created world our food, clothing and shelter, with each member of the community contributing through their vocational work. Seeing food production through this lens of gratitude and community culminates in his book with a meditation on the comparison of Jesus’ life-giving death for us to a meal of bread and wine. We must eat but even more importantly, we must eat in the company of others with gratitude and humble dependence. Food and Faith is a celebration of eating!
Food and Faith is also a lament of the effects of worldwide food production on the environment and inequities of the production system. It additionally challenges the idolatry of one standard of beauty which Wirzba asserts to be overwhelmingly White. I was grieved by the brokenness of the system, the stranglehold the West has on developing nations and the seeming hopelessness of change. One small takeaway for me was to see our local organic farmers in a new light, not simply feeling guilty that I can afford higher quality organic food produced locally, but viewing it as a responsibility to support local farmers and raise some of my own produce, pushing back on the system one family unit at a time.
The world is not as it should be. We may push back on the system, but the global renewal that we yearn for will not be complete until He returns. Again I want to conclude with hope (again from the Letter to the Romans). “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” (Romans 8: 22-25) This topic of beauty is fraught, entangled with sin, making us struggle to see clearly and eat healthily. Yet, we Christians, corporately as a redeemed family, can be living signals to the world of hope and dependence on our life-giving Father in heaven. We can be “firstfruits” of the coming Feast of the Bridegroom, clothed in His righteousness, eating with thanksgiving and wholeness. We may do that in frailness and imperfection, but remember we are “jars of clay” manifesting the surpassing beauty of Him who is inside us (2 Corinthians 4:7). He is the Beauty which people will see and through whom they can find eternal life!