What is Healthy Hedonism?

Traci and I have been considering dropping, or at least reframing, words like health and wellness from the vocabulary we use to describe what we’re all about. In our experience, people often associate these words with renunciation of worldly pleasures, extreme diets (often vegan) and a whole lot of hard work and self-restraint. This attitude toward health illuminates a few things about how we approach our well-being as a culture.

1. We associate health with deprivation instead of abundance.
2. We’ve been told that pleasure is bad for us. For example, we think eating and enjoying food is largely unhealthy, and a naughty thing we indulge in out of weakness.
3. We don’t think we are important enough to spend time and resources to meet our most fundamental needs, or we believe it’s not possible for us to have what we need (more lack mentality).
4. We think being healthy is something difficult that we have to work really hard at.

If you can see any of this at play in your own consciousness, it’s possible to realize that these are simply cultural hallucinations that don’t have to be a limiting factor in your life. Check out this TED talk by Anil Seth to catch our drift a little more.

At Spoonful of Paradise, our approach to vibrant health and radical healing is quite revolutionary; possibly even disruptive to the self-help world and medical industrial complex. It gives you permission to fully embrace the hedonistic pleasure that’s possible when you work with, instead of against your own biology. It also empowers you to listen to your own inner guidance system, which is always nudging you back to self-love and your own unique truth. This supports mental and physical health. For this reason, we like to use the phrase healthy hedonism!

The best way I can describe how this works in daily life is to share examples from my own experience. Food and hedonism go together quite nicely, so for the sake of brevity I will focus on that here.

Keep in mind that there is no one true diet, and what is right for me may not be what feels best for you. A major part of healthy hedonism is listening to your own unique biological guidance system in order to make choices that feel more loving, supportive and nurturing for you.

Eating is one of my favorite aspects of being an animal. I’ve gotten really good at feeding myself, and most people would never guess that I used to be such a dysfunctional eater. Growing up, I was so picky that I wouldn’t even try most vegetables, much less eat them on a daily basis. The only green I ever ate was food coloring.

My diet consisted of mostly refined sugar, flours, damaged vegetable oils, factory farmed meats and dairy, as well as all the artificial chemicals used in the production and creation of today’s corporate food offerings. I was a competitive swimmer, so I figured I could binge on sugar all day, every day and get away with it.

I was wrong. This self-destructive way of feeding myself brought me to the brink of death in 2007. I now know that extreme exercise doesn’t protect us from poor eating, it actually pours gasoline on the inflammatory fire created by these “food like products.”

My liver autoimmune diagnosis of PSC (Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis) catalyzed my exploration of almost every kind of healing diet, some more extreme than others. The underlying intention was always eating real food that still possessed that magical element of the soil (or sea), and was raised, caught, grown, prepared and eaten with love, in accordance with the laws of nature.

You may be asking, how does seeking pleasure help a junk food addict quit his drug of choice? First, it required getting off of the junk that was feigning short-term pleasure. As my body cleaned itself out, by ditching the junk and filling up on the good stuff, I began to experience new, more expansive forms of pleasure that not only felt sustainable, but also felt cumulative. Instead of the usual sugar hangover, this new form of hedonism led to a tight waist, clear mind, abundant energy and a more authentic smile.

My body was telling me how the pleasure I was seeking in sugar binges actually led to even greater suffering. I just wasn’t making the association before. My brain literally re-wired itself to seek this more authentic pleasure, and, to this day, I crave things that feel more nourishing, like cooked greens, loads of vegetables with each meal, sauerkraut, bone broth, sour goat kefir, animal protein, nutrient rich carbohydrates and undamaged fats. Of course, I also love delicious low-glycemic desserts (yes, they can go together) made with whole food ingredients.

My physiological and psychological addictions to sugar and refined foods began to give way to new cravings for foods that made me feel more balanced, vibrant and energized. I began to notice a difference in my eyes, skin and body composition. My mind began to expand.

I fell in love with the feeling of loving myself (from cell to soul), especially through nourishing foods. I regularly learned new foods that I didn’t even know existed before. Since I’m my own personal chef, and I really like tasty, healing food, I became really skilled at cooking and preparing meals that tasted better than almost anything I could find at restaurants or hot food bars. My food world was rocked, and there was no turning back!

It’s been a decade since my autoimmune diagnosis, and I’ve never felt healthier or more fully alive. I now know the importance of really tasting, enjoying, savoring and appreciating my food. My internal state has a huge effect on how well my digestion, metabolism and every other bodily system works. I’ve come to realize my tummy is one of my main barometers for what I’ve been creating in my head, and what I eat is a part of this. Now that I’m finally paying attention to how it feels, I’m being guided to thoughts and choices that feel better and lead to deeper levels of ease and enjoyment in all areas of my life.

True healthy hedonism is lovingly supporting your physiology through foods that harmonize with your biology. It’s listening to what your body and emotions are asking for and responding with loving generosity. It’s investing the time, energy and money to feed yourself the high vibration food you deserve.

I also want to share that I started eating this way when I was broke after college, struggling to grow my own business in the most expensive place to live on earth. I often didn’t know if I would make my rent, and yet, by choosing not to compromise in my dietary self-love I always managed to afford the best quality food available in my area. I encourage you to look inside yourself and see that you are worth it. The resources will come once you make the decision to love yourself first and foremost.

Traci and I (as well as my fiance Michael) are here to inspire you to find more healthy hedonism in all areas of your life, including movement, your emotions, creativity, work, play, leisure, relationships, sex and spiritual awareness. Stay tuned (subscribe to our email list) for our upcoming healthy hedonism on the road series where we each share our experiences of uncompromising self-love wherever we may find ourselves.