Perfect Hunger: 5 “food rules” for feeling better
What I eat, how I eat, what I recommend to Chinese Medicine clients
Perfect Hunger is a new, twice-monthly series delivering bite-sized nourishment and heart-sourced guidance on food, body, wellness, and spirit. You can upgrade your subscription for full access here:
So far in Perfect Hunger, we’ve emphasized the importance of physical caretaking and being a conscious steward of the body we call home. The state of our body doesn’t just impact our physical well-being and quality of life; it also influences our mental health, our fortitude and resilience, and how we show up in relationships and every other area of our lives.
However, we’ve approached this in a very Yin way. I’ve offered inward-focused practices to help you get to know yourself and your body better, to ask your body how it feels and what it needs.
Earlier this month, I also gently nudged you to choose one realistic action that would help your body feel energized, rested, strong, and at peace—and then commit to doing it every day for a full week, no exceptions. With that invitation, we began moving from internal curiosity and awareness… to external action. In other words, from Yin to Yang (which, like mind-body-spirit, aren’t truly separate but part of a whole).
Today, I’m going to get even more Yang on you, because I think it’s time to touch the third rail: What do I eat? What do I not eat? What do I recommend to clients who come to me for guidance on health, wellness, and eating?
Why? Well, frankly, what we eat has a monumental impact on how we feel, both physically and mentally. Actually, I’ve found it to be one of the two most important and predictable variables when it comes to long-term health and vitality (the other is sleep, with daily movement coming in a close second).
I realize that saying this has become taboo—or even a “cancellable” offense—in certain circles. But it’s just true: we are physical beings, and we literally build ourselves from the food and drink we consume. If things aren’t going well for us in body or mind, what we’re consuming is one of the first and most important places to bring careful attention.
So, if what you’re doing isn’t working—if you’re constantly preoccupied with food, stuck in an unhelpful pattern related to eating, or simply don’t feel the way you want to feel—this week’s practice invites you to run a self-experiment and try something new.
A note on my qualifications & an advice disclaimer: In addition to completing a five-year Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine program and passing licensing board exams in both the United States and Canada, I pursued additional training in ancestral health and nutrition to become a Certified Primal Health Coach. I also developed the curriculum for and taught in the inaugural Holistic Nutrition Program at Kootenay Columbia College of Integrative Health Sciences. Additionally, I served as an instructor and Dean of Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine at Pacific Rim College, home to one of the largest Chinese Medicine programs in North America.
As a licensed healthcare professional, I cannot give individual-specific medical or dietary advice without conducting a full intake and having the client sign consent and privacy waivers. While what follows may feel like good medicine, it’s not prescriptive or medical advice.
This week’s practice
I’ll be honest: outside of clinical practice, I’m hesitant to discuss what I eat or recommend to clients. The internet is rife with name-calling and finger-pointing, and I have zero interest in engaging in “food fights” or convincing anyone how they should eat or what’s right for their body.
What’s more, there simply isn’t one best way to eat for everyone—or even for the same person at different times throughout their lives. But even though your food needs are unique to you and will change over time, there are some basic practices you can return to for renewed health, strength, and vitality.
Everything I’m about to share is what I’ve personally found transformative and have recommended to diverse clients with consistent, dependable results. That doesn’t mean it’s the best fit for you; it’s simply a starting point if: 1. you aren’t feeling how you want to feel, 2. what you’re already doing isn’t working, and/or 3. you just want someone to tell you what and how to eat already! (I’ve been in all three of those places many times over.)
To start, here are 5 Yang practices related to food and eating.