🍋 When Life Gives You Lemons, Add Sweetness & Compassion
I wanted to offer a quick history lesson 🤔 where we take a little stroll back in time, to about two million years ago. Our ancestors weren’t doom scrolling through food trackers, TIKTOK or debating whether bread was good or bad. They were hunters, gatherers, survivors. When they saw food, they ate it. Simple, instinctual, necessary. And, truth be told, a part of us still carries that old programming: see food, eat food.💪🏼
But something interesting has happened over time. Eating became more than survival. It became a comfort. Think of the bottle offered to a baby not just for hunger, but to soothe. Think of the birthday cake, glowing with candles, or the cookies rewarded after a gold star at school. Sweet and fatty foods, especially, have carried the torch of comfort and reward. As adults, many of us still feel those emotional echoes. Food has become tangled with love, joy, and sometimes even with loneliness or stress.
And that makes our relationship with food a little complicated. That is why this week, we are incorporating something essential: compassion.
Last week, I asked you to explore your food truths. Did your actions line up with your intentions? Did you notice when your words said one thing but your behaviors told another story? This week, we are not only noticing, but we are softening. Compassion is about kindness, not criticism. It’s not about perfection but about progress. It’s about encouraging yourself the way you would encourage a dear friend - with patience, understanding, and gentle nudges forward.
Think about it. We live in a world that asks us to practice acceptance in many ways. To welcome diversity of shapes, sizes, and stories. To look past appearances and honor what makes us human. The same goes for our inner world. Can you extend that acceptance inward? Can you look at yourself, your body, and your choices, and say, 'I see you'? I accept you. I will continue to show up for you.
Compassionate behavior is not about letting yourself off the hook. It’s about guiding yourself toward choices that serve your long-term health and happiness, even if they feel uncomfortable in the short term. It’s saying, “I care enough about myself to close the kitchen after dinner,” or “I love myself enough to pause before reaching for food when I’m stressed.”
So here’s your challenge for this week:
Be your own cheerleader! Grab those Pom-Poms
Regulate your eating by listening closely to your body’s cues - not external rules or restrictions.
Accept that health comes in many shapes and sizes, and that your body is your partner, not your enemy.
Learn to manage emotions in ways that don’t always involve food. Journaling, movement, meditation, or a phone call can be just as nourishing.
This is how we rewrite the story. Food becomes fuel, comfort comes from compassion, and judgment gives way to curiosity. When you approach yourself with kindness, you begin to create space for lasting change.
So the next time life hands you lemons, don’t just make lemonade. Squeeze them slowly, taste the tartness, and consider adding a touch of honey. Sip with gratitude. Because with compassion, even the sourest moments can be transformed into something nourishing.
With compassion and curiosity,
Kim ❤️
