Towards the end of last year I was invited to the launch
of the book ‘My Relationship with Food’ by Lisa Roukin (chef and teacher) and
was given a copy of the book to review.
I was early to the event and was privileged to be able to
spend half an hour with Lisa getting to know what was behind her decision to
write such a book and to get to know her a little. What I discovered was a lovely, confident,
beautiful young woman with a passion for imparting others with her story of how
she overcame personal challenges around body image and eating and went on to
manage her relationship with food.
Lisa told me that everyone has a food agenda or
relationship and for the most part, for most people it is a normal one, however
for around 37% of women and 26% of men it is not a happy or satisfying
relationship.
In her beautifully illustrated book with 100 gluten free
recipes (they also do not include sugar or an overload of carbohydrates) Lisa
tells how she overcame her negative thoughts and bad body image and now has a
healthy, positive relationship with food.
Our relationships with food are impacted daily by the
choices we make in what we are going to eat and these can be influenced by culture,
family and friends as well as outside influences.
At the book launch we were able to taste food that had
been made from recipes in Lisa’s book. These dishes were beautiful as well as
delicious and did not immediately indicate you what you were missing (sugar, dairy,
gluten etc) but satisfied the palate and they eyes as well.
I was so interested in Lisa’s book that I did not want to
rush home to write this review but to take time to think about the book and my
own relationship with food. I have over
the years tried most of the diets and still am the same shape and size and
still struggle with my own self image.
I have been thinking for a long time about changing my
eating habits and perhaps becoming more active (I have a sedentary job in an
office and actively dislike exercise!) and attending this book launch and
meeting and talking with Lisa has spurred me on to take a look at my personal
situation and how I can make changes.
I wanted to make a series of small changes (over the
years I have attempted to do too much too quickly and failed) such as going
‘gluten light’ and ‘dairy light’, seeking to cut down not eliminate
totally. I want to make myself more
aware of the ingredients in food that I buy such as hidden sugars and salts and
to increase my activity in a manageable way. I got a fitbit for Christmas and
am currently trying to take more steps during the day, monitor how many I take
with a daily goal of 10,000 (the recommended minimum amount an adult should be taking in a day!)
How long I can sustain this new regime I cannot say but I
am already walking two to three as much as previously and have cut down on my daily
caffeine intake.
I will be making some of the recipes in Lisa’s book ‘My
Relationship with Food’ and spending time on changing my personal relationship
with food. Watch this space!
I was given a copy of the book to review but was not paid
to review it or to write a positive review.
As usual all opinions and photos are my own.
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