Afraid of Food?

Somewhere between Culinary School and doing a lot of thinking afterward, and finally moving to a place where fast food is extremely limited, I stopped being afraid of food. I have always loved food and the whole process of cooking, but from the age of about 15 to 40, I was sure that every bite would add a bulge or a pound on the scale. I always knew in the back of my mind that it was how I was looking at eating and not so much what I was eating. Self discovery has helped immensely; finding it is ok to be hungry, for knowledge, for love, and for food. In the receiving of knowledge, love and food we should enjoy the process and we must be thankful. In the fast food world our needs must be instantly gratified, and although we might feel gratified, there are certain parts of us that we are not acknowledging whose needs must be met. Like the ritual and stopping  -  for a certain amount of time - our activities, so that the meal we eat is appreciated and that time is respected and valued. The main focus is not on being instantly gratified, it is on the whole meal. It is like a shy person giving a speech, in getting advice, the person learns to take their focus off of themself and focus on the subject of the speech.
There is more to hunger than feeding our bodies. Look at what surrounds your environment when you eat. Set out your whole meal on the table. Stay seated, savor and enjoy the food you're eating. Food is meant to be enjoyed. Mult-tasking is a great talent, but not for a whole life. If we can't enjoy the individual things in our life without interruptions, we are not fully enjoying or feeling those things that should give us pleasure.
Afraid of food? Focus on something else and set your mealtimes.