The language of food and what it means.

A lot of the people I see come to me because they have issues with their weight.

The vast majority of them want to lose weight (though some have issues around limited eating or eating disorders) and they often tell me that they struggle to control their hunger. They are sometimes ‘always hungry‘ and sometimes ‘eat when they are not hungry’. When I ask them about their ‘Newsfeed’, I often get a confused look.

Let me explain where I’m coming from.

Language is a funny thing – especially the English language. It is full of metaphor, simile, multiple meanings and interesting roots. The use of language influences the way we think – so much so that when people do brain scans of bilingual people, they can sometimes differentiate between which language they are thinking in! As a result, the words we think in can influence our feelings and therefore our behaviours.

So, let’s explore some language around eating.

Metaphors around food and eating

Food / eating metaphors are often associated with things we like or dislike…

‘That’s just to my taste’  ‘You’re my cup of tea’  ‘I could eat him up’ ‘She’s the cream of the crop’  ‘That’s the cherry on the top’

or

‘It left a bad taste in my mouth’  ‘That thought turns my stomach’ ‘scraping the bottom of the barrel’  ‘I’m sick of this feeling’

There are also lots of metaphors related to food and eating when it comes to information.

‘Here’s some food for thought’ ‘Do you just swallow everything you are told?’ ‘Do you fall for it hook, line and sinker?’ ‘How’s is your newsfeed?’ ‘Do you like things sugarcoated?’ or maybe you ‘take things with a pinch of salt’. If things are too ‘plain’ or ‘bland’ do you want them to be ‘spiced up a little?’ If you have ‘too much on your plate’ do you ‘break it down to bite sized chunks’ or spend time ‘ruminating’ on it? If you ‘bite off more than you can chew’, do you find it ‘hard to digest?’ or then again maybe you just ‘choke’. Do you ‘Cherry Pick’ your information or do you want to ‘have your cake and eat it?’

One of the quirks of being us is that we often conflate things. In this case the language of eating and the language of information.

This then begs the question, are there similarities between your approach to information and your approach to food?

Do you believe everything that you see or hear, or are you particular about where your information comes from?

Do you only look for information when you need it or are you permanently on the look out for stimulation?

Do you focus your attention at a particular time or are you always open for more?

Are you fussy about what you let in?

Do you like to be entertained with fast, cheap, junk or are you looking for something that nourishes you?

For those of you on WordPress, look are your reader lists – what do you see? If you’re on Facebook or Twitter, what does your ‘newsfeed’ look like? How often do you look at it?

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I am constantly fascinated with the language of metaphors and would love to know of any more that you think of, or any insights you may have.

Please leave any feedback in the comments – I’m ‘hungry to hear’ what you have to say!

 

 

 

 

How lucky are you?

Are you lucky? Do you want to be more lucky? Here’s how….

Let me start by saying I’m not a superstitious person.

I don’t believe in rabbits feet or four leaf clovers bringing good luck nor do I believe walking under ladders or across the paths of black cats bringing bad luck.

If you see a black cat walk in front of you, the only thing it means is that there is a black cat trying to get somewhere, if you have a rabbit’s foot just remember that it wasn’t very lucky for the rabbit!

Having said that some people appear to be much more lucky than others – I bet you know someone who is always winning competitions or raffles, always gets a good hand at poker or just has cool stuff happen to them.

So what sets them apart?

There have been several studies on this and the findings all seem to point to one thing…

Take a chance.

People who appear to be lucky tend to be more social and are open to opportunity. They tend to be more optimistic people who believe that good things will happen, so they take a chance. The more chances you take, the more likely you are that some of them will pay off.

Then a little psychology tends to kick in. Have you noticed that when people remember the past they have a tendency to see it through rose tinted glasses? Summers were always hotter and longer, Christmases were always better, people were nicer and had more respect….Well that’s what we do with opportunities – we remember the one’s that paid off and forget those that didn’t turn into anything.

So imagine a friend that takes a chance every day. Maybe one in 10 of those will pay off – so that’s about 3 good things that happen a month. Now think of a friend who only takes one opportunity a month – they may only have one good thing happen all year. It’s about the same ratio of good to bad but one friend will seem a lot luckier, particularly if they only tell you about the good things that happen.

So, if you want to be lucky say yes to every opportunity that comes your way – who knows where it could lead.

Today I saw an email asking for people to be extras in a zombie movie – I sent them an email and I’m going to be filming at the end of the month!  How cool is that!

What can you say yes to today?

Maybe you might want to follow this blog on wordpress, facebook or twitter – You might find something that interests you and then, who knows where it could lead?