Food Is Not Love. Love is Love. Truly.
/Weight Loss Fluctuations (11.172025 to 11.23.2025)
This week, many people in the United States will take time to gather, feast, and to catch up on what's been going on with family and friends since the last time we gathered and feasted. Which, in modern culture, might have been last Wednesday at 2:25 PM, for no particular reason. Let's face it: feasting has become what many of us do several times a week. Food has taken over the lives and minds of so many of us that advertisements for food, restaurants, and delivery services that bring you anything that can be cooked or eaten are alternated only by ads for pharmaceuticals developed to undo the effects of eating all that food. (Those ads, and the variety of inexplicable weird commercials for insurance companies. Am I the only one turned off by that emu and his sidekick with the cheesy 80's look?)
What often accompanies all the preparing, eating, and then regretting all the eating is the idea that recapturing happy pasts must be honored. That, and the false narrative that food is love.
Food is not love. Love is love. How many meals have we shared with people you don't even like very much, let alone love? What about the person who loves their family but doesn't love to cook? Or is a lousy cook? Does that mean they have a lump of coal where a caring heart should be? And what about people who use food as a tool of sabotage? "Oh, you can have just one slice of pie. You only live once!" Is that a loving thing to do? Replace 'shot of tequila' with 'slice of pie' and ask yourself if that's love.
Let's focus on bringing affection, empathy, and interest in the conversations going on around us to the holiday. Heck, let's try doing all that even during non-holiday days.
If you're fortunate to be able to pass time with people you love, and maybe people you like (which we know can be different), celebrate that. If you're by yourself, try to embrace the of quiet. If the day finds you amongst those who you endure more than embrace, breathe and remember that this, too, shall pass. Whatever your Thanksgiving looks like, know that you can observe the time without eating foods that won't serve you well. Memories can still be cherished even if Rice Krispies treats are not involved.
We can love each other and show that love without food.
This will be my twelfth Thanksgiving without cakes, cookies, stuffing, pies, biscuits, and all that jazz. I haven't missed a morsel of any of it. And if I can do this, you can do this.
I promise.
Disclaimer: I’m not a medical doctor, researcher, or Ph.D., but instead, I’ve been fortunate to have had the time and resources to research the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). The information I share is based solely on my understanding of that research. We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths, and there’s no substitute for each of us checking things out ourselves. And I’m not a medical professional in any way. Go Keto With Casey is not a medical site. “Duh,” you might say. But best to make it clear to all. I welcome questions, comments, and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Links in this post and all others may direct you to affiliate links, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through those links. Thanks!
