Nourishing Your Spring Body
While spring is the season of new beginnings, many take this sentiment with a toxic turn. For some, spring is a time when they begin to focus on food more than usual. Coming off of the holidays, many feel pressured to “shed” their winter weight to obtain that perfect bikini body. This way of thinking has become so ingrained within society that it is likely you have recently heard a friend complain about the way their body looks or how they “need” to lose weight before summer.
Many are quick to criticize their bodies and examine the ways their bodies have failed them but turn a blind eye to how their bodies have thrived for them. The extra weight you may have gained in the winter life is likely a physical manifestation of the life you have lived. It can represent the dinner parties, the glasses of wine, or fresh baked cookies you shared with a friend.
To know spring, you must accept winter. Life is not one way of thought or feeling but rather a cycle of waves we must simply exist in. To truly love and accept your body, you cannot be rigid within the way that you eat. Our bodies too will go through their own seasons and will change as well. The body that you have after winter is the body that brought you to spring. Celebrate the strength and beauty of a body that has kept you warm, full, and alive. There is no need or pressure to change from your “winter body” to your “spring body.” Simply allow yourself to experience each season as it is and celebrate your body as a vessel of what it is able to do rather than being held to any societal standard.
Live your life in a manner of relishing the memories of what winter was to you. Even if winter was not your best season, it was your body that was taking care of you every day when you needed it most. Waking you up, ensuring you can breathe and digest food, your body was your greatest fan during this period of time. Instead of fighting against it, think of how you can reward your body as a way of thanks for all that it has done for you.
Even so, you can reward your body with foods that make you nourished and full physically and mentally. Fullness expands beyond solely the physical needs of a body. Mental fullness is just as important as the physical hunger cues your body has. If you are only meeting your physical needs, you may feel malnourished and dissatisfied.
You can meet these needs in many ways. Each season has its own set of foods that are most nourishing and cultivated at specific times of the year. For spring there are specific foods that are “in season,” meaning they are freshest and contain the most nutrients available. Some spring fruits include lemon, kiwis, cherries, pineapples, apricots, and strawberries. Some spring vegetables are carrots, garlic, potatoes, asparagus, and avocado.
Eating in this manner can have these foods be more nutritionally dense, taste better, and even be better for the environment. Because the food is not being imported across long distances, you can go to your local grocery store or farmer’s market to obtain fresh produce.
Overall, though, your body understands what you need best. Your food is your mental and physical fuel. While you should not ignore your body’s desire for greens, your right to delicious meals out and sweet treats can be just as nourishing to your mind and body.
Strike Out,
Writer: AK Anderson
Graphic Designer: CJ Barney
Editor: Jane Dodge
Chattanooga