When I started the Transformation Art Exhibit in 2008, I never intended for the experiment to see if food could be an artistic medium to replace the medium of painting.
But it did.
I lost myself to diet-wellness culture, and gradually made it the sole center of my life.
(I’ve since removed the art exhibit from my website, but it’s still in my book.)
I am a painter; not a foodie.
Here’s a list if you want to lose yourself to food obsessions:
Read books on the topics of food and health.
Listen to podcasts on the topics of food and health.
Follow influencers who talk incessantly about food and health.
Follow influencers who show pictures and videos of what they eat.
Associate primarily with friends who talk incessantly about food and health.
Vacation with others who talk incessantly about food and health.
Sign up for masterclasses and conferences about food and health.
Sign up for challenges focused on food and health.
Talk incessantly about food and health.
Before you know it, you’ll lose yourself to food obsessions, disordered eating behaviors, and even full-blown eating disorders.
And be praised for it!
In addition, you’ll also become deeply absorbed and disconnected from who you really are. Your former passions will eventually become hijacked, and you’ll gradually become an inauthentic version of yourself. . .and others will notice it years before you ever do.
Instead, engage in activities that promote health and well-being without becoming consumed by them.
You accomplish this by establishing clear boundaries that prevent obsessions (refer to the bulleted list above and become mindfully aware of such dangers).
There’s a huge difference between engaging in activities that promote health and well-being—and being preoccupied with them.
One becomes an unhealthy obsession.
The other fosters genuine health and well-being.
Emily Boller, wife, mother, painter, and author is on a mission to create expressive works of art in her lifetime; and to bring awareness to the potentially harmful traps of diet-wellness culture. In her free time, she loves to chase sunrises, grow flowers and vegetables, and can homemade soups.