Numbers play a critical role in our lives. Everything we know around science, physics, technology, computers and machines is based on numbers. The medical world is effective because we understand the importance of numbers when it comes to heart rate, blood pressure, red blood cell count, nutrient levels, and so much more. We could not function or thrive without the role of math and numbers in our world - they quite literally make the world go round.
But there are ways in our lives that numbers don't serve us so well. In the food and nutrition realm, we have often become way too focused on the numbers – and the wrong ones at that. Meaning, we tend to give way too much power away to the number on the scale, the number of calories we've consumed, the number of calories we've burned and more. Yes, these are important to a degree. But for too many people, the field of nutrition and the point of good eating has been whittled down to numbers that we can be a little to obsessive over.
When we get the number on the scale to the place we want, we feel like a success. When we get the numbers wrong, we feel like a failure, and then we might then choose to intensely diet or do extreme exercise. We might binge and purge or avoid any kind of dietary fat. The bottom line is that an upward moving number on the scale will often drain our personal power and self respect.
It’s too easy these days to become convinced of the importance of numbers to the point where we lose ourselves. We often believe with an intense fervor in the scientific basis of the numbers that we’re aiming for. The problem is, when we over-focus on the numbers in health and nutrition, we miss the all-important big picture.
So, be honest with yourself: how much do you give away your power and self-dignity when you stand on the scale? How much do you imprison yourself around calories or fat grams? And how much joy and pleasure and nourishment to you miss out on with food because you’re forever worrying about the numbers?
Here’s the good news - taking care of oneself is about more than just numbers. There’s a beautiful relationship with food and body that awaits you when you relax into a your experience as an eater. There’s a wonderful sense of empowerment and freedom that we can have with food.
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