Food vs. Fun
The End of Food Policing
You’re in the freezer aisle, looking at ice cream. The voice is quick: “That’s unhealthy.” Regret hits before your fingertips have even felt the cold tub.
Pause and look at the ice cream again.
Think of all the happiness it’s ever brought you. Isn’t it harsh to call something you enjoy “bad”?
How many years do you have left on this planet? How many more times will you beat yourself up for eating ice cream? Or pizza? How about chips?
Maybe deep inside you there’s a wish for the guilty voice to stop ruining the show and disappear someday. Or for your abs to reveal themselves one day, and for the voice to say “Well done, you’d been making the right choices all along.”
That all sounds like a lot of work. Wishes, fears, hopes, regrets—these mental gymnastics we accept as ordinary ways to spend our energy. But there’s a better map.
I do things another way. I’ve decided that there’s no such thing as unhealthy food. Ice cream isn’t actually food. It’s fun.
Lentils are food. Ginger, broccoli, berries, green apples and sardines are food.
Bread is fun. Ice cream too. Pasta, alcohol, and watermelon are fun. Deep fried things are also fun, like deep fried broccoli. To me anyway.
My ground for these categories is objective. I let modern science and ancient medicine help me draw lines, but I move the lines when I learn more. The trick isn’t banning foods, it’s knowing why you reach for them. Nothing is bad so long as I’m aware of whether I’m eating food or having fun.
I mostly eat food. Occasionally, I have fun. It works well.
This is a simplistic view of nutrition, but a hard one to lie to yourself about. Decide on what you consider is healthy, and sort that in your mind as food. Everything else is fun.
Experiment with these categories, educate yourself, and observe the results. Pay close attention to your body, your sleep, your energy levels. Pay attention to the quality of your thoughts. And adjust the categories as you go on.
Appreciate food and learn to make it taste good. Be intentional about the fun you have. Enjoy what you eat. This is the most important point.
