Primary Food Vs Secondary Food

@yogakiss and I, mucking around while doing something that we both love :)

Nutrition is a secondary source of energy.  Primary foods, or non food sources of nourishment, are what really fuel us.

All that we consider today as nutrition is really just a secondary source of energy.


Do you remember when you where a child, that you used to play and play without a care in the world for things like eating every three hours.  Remember when Mum used to call you in for dinner, all you could think about was playing still and eating food was the last thing on your mind.  At the table, you Mum would have dutifully ensured that you left no morsel of food behind, and as a child you would have forced down the required amount eager to get back out and play.

Do you remember being deeply in love for the first time?  Everything is light and warm, colours are vivd, and life is full of joy.  You're high off your lover's presence, sustained and exhilarated by the blissful connection.  You float on air and food becomes secondary.

Think back to a time when you were involved in an exciting work project.  You believed in what you were doing whole-heartedly and felt confident and stimulated.  Time stopped and the outside world was muted - food was an afterthought.

Now recall a time you were depressed or experiencing low self-esteem - you were starving for primary food.  No matter how much you ate, you never felt satisfied.  The need for love, power or mere acknowledgement drove the desire for excess food.

Even in good times when we come home at night, we often look into the refrigerator for something to eat, when all we really want is a hug or someone to talk to.

Primary food goes beyond the plate, nurturing us on a deeper level.

Elements such as a meaningful spiritual practice, an inspiring career regular and enjoyable physical activity, and honest and open relationships that feed your soul and your hunger for living all constitute primary food.

The four main primary foods are:

• Career;
• Relationships;
• Physical Activity; and
• Spirituality.

There more primary food we give ourselves, the less we depend on secondary food.  On the contrary, the more we fill ourselves with secondary food, the less space we leave for primary food; our true source of nourishment.

Take some quality time to explore your personal balance between primary food and secondary food - explore for yourself which area could use some attention??

Feel free to leave me a comment below to let me know which area you could be working on.