How many times have you heard the following from friends, family and your partner: the way to my heart is through my stomach.  But did you know that their statement actually holds weight? One thing that I didn’t know until I read a fascinating book on Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman is that not only are there a significant amount of serotonin receptors in our stomach, but most of the serotonin we posses is manufactured there!  Lining the walls of both the intestines and digestive track are loads of enterochromaffin cells and these little guys are responsible for creating a whopping 90% of it.

I’ve always landed firmly on the taller side of life.  When I was born I was 19″ and a tad under 6lbs – leaving me pretty tall and lean on the BMI chart.  Growing up, not a whole hell of a lot changed – by 4th grade, I was taller than all my gymnastics instructors and realized that was definitely not my calling.  By 6th grade, I was 6’0 and had stopped growing – but when it came to filling out, I didn’t. My metabolism is somehow quicker than my mouth and no matter what I ate, or how (in)frequently I seemed to hit the gym – gaining weight has never been my strong suit, especially after I stopped playing competitive sports.

I never intended to be a foodie. In fact, I know a considerable amount of people – including my family – who  consider my love of cooking, nomgasms or food porn absolutely ludicrous.  It’s not that I’ve found food repulsive or I hate eating – it’s merely the fact that ever since I can remember – food and I have had a fairly indifferent relationship with each other.  I used to find myself going throughout the majority of the day without a meal; granted, I was grumpy, fatigued and not exactly pleasant to be around but at the time I attributed that to having high anxiety or being diagnosed with depression.

Thankfully, I have a support system that both lifts me up and fills my stomach –  they’ve taught me that comfort food has a purpose and a nourished stomach is a nourished soul.  I’ve found that one of the most important things about food, fitness and nutrition is to have both a routine and a goal; one without the other is slightly pointless.  I’ve gone from bypassing lunch to scouring the dessert bar, from breakfast on the go to breakfast in the apt – and it’s really made all the difference.  For the first time in my adult life, I can honestly say that I love food and thanks to living in Los Angeles, I’ve had the chance to experience so many different restaurants, as well as almost any type of food you can imagine!  I’ve slowly but surely been collecting a list of my favorite noms and I’m stoked to be able to share this with everyone =)