This is Jamie Belz. For this episode, I wanted to personally tell you what it is about and why this conversation matters to me.

Last week, my sister and I took five kids on a road trip through South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota. We were gone for a full week, but we only ate at restaurants twice. We had to buy some things along the way - feeding seven people for a week takes a lot of food - but the majority of our food was pre-made, froze, and packed in the coolers from home.

Each morning while one of us made breakfast, the other packed lunches to eat on mountaintops and snacks for extra calories for those powerful little kiddos on the way up and back. We hiked Black Elk Peak, formerly known as Harney Peak, the Little Devils Tower Trail, and several others. We were constantly moving, exploring, climbing, and experiencing some of the most beautiful places in the country.

We were extremely active and ate well, but we really did not eat very much.

We were always on the go. We did not have constant access to food as I do during my typical days. We ate when we needed to eat, enjoyed what we brought, and continued with the adventure.

Given the measured portions we had, it wasn’t possible to overeat. Had there been more available, I definitely would have eaten more. That’s a habit I’ve developed. (I’m especially guilty of being the family garbage disposal because I never want to waste our nutrient-dense foods. Ugh.)

After eating “less than normal” [and never late at night] for the full week - I came home feeling incredible.

Yes, the hiking, fresh air, sunshine, movement, and time outside absolutely mattered - of course - but it is undeniable that nearly every day, I am eating more food than my body needs.

At home, I can eat because it is convenient, because something sounds good, because I am bored, or simply because the food is there. On this trip, I was busy living. Food nourished the experience, but it was not the experience.

That realization brought me back to a word that is fascinating to me: gluttony.

I know. People don’t like it. “Gluttony” can feel judgmental, shameful, and even offensive. But what does the word actually mean? And could avoiding this topic be preventing us from having one of the most important conversations about our health?

This episode is not about guilt, shame, body size, starvation, or obsessive restriction. It is an honest and compassionate conversation about excess, food noise, overeating, and the culture of constant consumption we have accepted as normal.

Compassion and honesty are not enemies.

Thank you for being here.

Alla nostra salute!

-Jamie

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