Primal Primer 2 (Nutrition)
Eating is the act of consuming organic material in exchange for energy, vitamins and minerals. All life consumes other life. Initiated from conditions of abject scarcity, the success and careful engineering of modern times has jettisoned the sapien into a state of continued opulence amongst a background of overly efficient food sourcing. Eating today is no longer tied to acute survival, no longer the bounty of successful and arduous hunts or favorable seasons of farming. Eating is now a compulsion fulfilled by mouth pleasure and variety seeking, aimed at maximizing Big Food profits by dopamine dependency and processed degeneracy.
Intentional Eating is a philosophy of understanding the why behind the what of consumption. Eating more accurately defined by the term fueling, is a powerful reframe that modifies the relationship with food from emotional to functional. Knowing that fuel begets function and form, is a powerful concept in changing mental and physical trajectories around eating.
How To Intentionally Eat
- Know The Why Behind Your Food – Determine the goals food unlocks: Is it for managing body composition (losing or gaining weight), gaining muscle, becoming faster, stronger, more endurance, being quicker in thought, or perhaps to reduce inflammation and heal. Sometimes the why is simply for pleasure, and that’s completely acceptable too (in moderation).
- Research – Once the why is established, researching and understanding the types of food choices that best stimulate adaptive goals are to be preloaded into programming. Establish a food list of usual suspects that are practical and accessible.
- Programming – Write out ideas / list for (1) week’s worth of fueling; a rough matrix of options will help guide.
- Learnings – Along the way you will learn a great deal from successes and failures of your Intentional Eating plan. Adjust accordingly and be realistic in progress as undoing a lifetime of pleasure food seeking is difficult. Reestablishing a more functional relationship with food does not mean sacrificing taste and satisfaction as organic plants, fruits, and animals and are innately delicious and filling.
~Cave Implementation~
Build daily fueling in accordance with established intentions (activity & goals) and reasons behind each food / meal choice. Establishing the Why, Researching the How & What, Programming the Plan, and Recalibrating From Learnings will be critical in any intentional eating practice. Orient fueling direction and quantities logically and intuitively. Even those with little food science training should Inuit that proteins are for muscle synthesis & recovery. Carbs for energy & storage. Fats for fueling & hormone production. Also be mindful of debauchery allowance allocated within intentional eating: even indulgence & alcohol is permitted as long as intentional & celebratory.
“Let Food Be Thy Medicine“
~Hippocrates
