What should a woman eat? Did you have lunch at home today?At the office? At a restaurant? Or maybe just grabbing a bite to eat with friends on the go? Whatever the case, I bet you paid attention to what other women were eating. What’s more, if they were eating something unusual, it took you a few minutes to figure out where it came from, what its health benefits were, and most importantly, decide if you should try it too. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Food voyeurism is the latest manifestation of our complicated relationship with food. It’s no longer enough to stick to a regular diet; we want to know what other people eat and why. Glossy magazines feed our obsession by digging up celebrity breakfast, lunch, and dinner lists. You’d like to. Of course! You can peek into the fridge and study the grocery list. So why do we need to control not only what we eat, but also what the people around us eat? Part of it is our innate desire to fit in with others. We like to think that we are unique, but in reality we are all herd animals, watching our friends and colleagues and copying their behavior. Drowning out the voice of our own bodies, we repeat: "Diet, detox, healthy eating", focusing on those whose successes inspire respect. But do you have colleagues who plan their meals using the lunar calendar, adhere to the Atkins diet and the principles of separate meals at the same time? So why the hell do you do this? "There are an incredible number of food restrictions invented by us and the people around us. Food has become associated with guilt and a lot of fears, so women no longer listen to their appetites," laments psychotherapist Susie Orbach, author of the book "Fat - a feminist problem". In my experience, food voyeurism is nowhere more evident than in the office. At the company where I work, it is customary to eat lunch at your desk. A mandatory item on the agenda is a box lunch, hastily thrown together the night before. There are really only two options: either you carefully plan the menu, following the latest celebrity trends, or you just shop at some supermarket and then pray that the box will hide your shame. The paranoia sets in when the first brave woman takes out her lunch, to the delighted exclamations of her colleagues: “It smells so good! It looks so beautiful! How much did you cook!” But what they are really saying is: “Is your food really better than mine?” Everyone is trying to outdo the others. Last week I watched a perfectly normal and sensible lady, upon seeing what her friend had brought, exclaim: "Oh, caviar! Does anyone still eat that?"
One of my friends admitted that she asksdelivering her organic vegetables when the neighbors are home and can witness her caring about her diet. It's like "inadvertently" flashing logos like Prada or Chanel on your clothes - what's the point of wasting time and money on something no one will notice? Another friend of mine complains that a trip to the local supermarket takes her at least two hours, as she constantly puts groceries in her basket and then puts them back on the shelf - depending on what other women are buying. I myself left the checkout line at the last minute, noticing a slender girl with some unusual sprouted seeds, because I felt an irresistible desire to buy exactly the same ones. I put the sprouts in my basket at the time, feeling like a daring culinary adventurer, but now I realize that I was actually succumbing to "food paranoia." Another friend of mine, whose job often puts her in contact with A-list celebrities, says she never misses an opportunity to peek into the celebrities' fridges. She makes fun of famous actresses who eat red food one week and yellow the next, or models who believe that expired food has fewer calories. On the surface, she tells these stories to show how crazy celebrities can be, but we both know that she's really just curious about their point of view. The truth is that women obsess over what they eat, what they don't eat, and what they should eat because they believe there is one right answer to all nutritional questions. Some holy grail of consumption. Despite all our efforts, deep down we know that we can’t achieve the main thing. If only we could find a clever diet that would solve all our problems! For example, Gwyneth Paltrow swears by dandelion tea to lose weight, Jennifer Lopez sniffs grapefruit oil to suppress her appetite, Cindy Crawford swallows vinegar before meals for the same purpose, and Jennifer Aniston is on a sushi diet… So, maybe we should try it too? Interesting ideas, but, of course, they don’t guarantee results. Aniston looks so good thanks to regular visits to the gym, good genes and careful self-care, and not just because she eats tuna rolls for breakfast instead of sandwiches with butter. Only by admitting this to ourselves can we establish a normal relationship with food and finally relax a little. Our food preferences should be as individual as the contents of our makeup bag or our list of ex-boyfriends. Speaking of ex-boyfriends, have you ever seen a man eyeing his friend's plate with interest? They know that competition in food choices is inappropriate.
