Four Loaves

"If you ask the hungry man how much is two and two, he replies four loaves." - Hindu Proverb

I love this quote because it reminds me that if food is on the mind, we struggle to move forward with any other part of life. Angry hunger is behind my many handfuls of goldfish crackers, "mini" snickers bars at work, and the "fourth meal." Depending on where we fall on the hunger scale, we may or may not care what the food label says, where the food came from, or frivolous subjects of portion control. At some point our bodies will prioritize feeding ourselves over good food choices. You can only ignore hunger for so long until you end up at the nearest drive thru. It will eventually hunt you down and corner you when you are least expecting or most vulnerable. You've been down this road, I've been down this road. So our choices are to respect our hunger or spend a lifetime in a cycle of starving, overeating, and disappointment.

To satisfy this beast, we need to eat at least three meals a day and eat what we feel like eating (within reason of course). Why three meals? Because we can't drive ourselves through everyday life on one tank of gas. One or two enormous meals per day inevitably leads us to poor choices, food comas, subsequent guilt and skipped meals, only to start the cycle all over again. Next, eat what we feel like eating. Eating food we don't feel like eating just leaves us unsatisfied and resentful and let's be honest, don't we usually end up eating what we feel like in the long run? There are ways to include all foods, even the "bad" ones within healthy nutrition (I have to believe a good burger fits somewhere...seriously). So lets give ourselves the best possible chance to make good choices by starting with a good, healthy eating platform. Three meals a day and eat what you sounds good...easy as two and two.

What does "two and two" mean to you?