In this powerful and nourishing episode, we’re joined by Holistic Chef Tara Middleton, a woman whose passion for food goes far beyond flavor. Together, we explore how food can be a healing force, a vibrational match to your well-being, and a daily invitation to deepen your connection with your body.
Tara shares her journey as a holistic chef, and how she learned to see food not just as fuel—but as medicine, ritual, and love. If you’ve ever felt disconnected from your eating habits or wondered how to bring more intention into your meals, this episode is for you. And here’s the truth: the way you nourish yourself directly impacts how you show up in life, relationships, and business. When you feel grounded, energized, and well-fed—body, mind, and soul—you have the capacity, clarity, and confidence to express your full self. You’re no longer surviving—you’re creating, connecting, and living from a deeply rooted place.
0:02: Welcome to the Fully expressed podcast.
0:03: We are your hosts, Samantha and Karenna.
0:06: This is a show where we invite you into your fullest expressed self and life, relationships, and business.
0:11: We believe that if you crave more, you are meant for more.
0:14: There is room for all of us to be fully expressed.
0:17: Along with the show, we’ve created a virtual community to connect you with fellow listeners.
0:22: Make sure to check out the fully expressed community membership.
0:25: You’ll find the link to join in the show notes and on our website.
0:28: So excited to see you there.
0:30: Enjoy this new episode.
0:34: Welcome back to another episode of the Fully expressed podcast.
0:38: Today, Karenna and I are so excited because we’re going to be talking all about food and holistic eating.
0:45: We have Tara Middleton with us, who is a world renowned holistic chef.
0:49: She was classically trained in Australia and discovered early in her career that her true passion.
0:54: was understanding the impact food has on the mental and physical aspects of the body.
0:59: Tara’s approach of food sourcing and preparation for wellness retreats, corporate events, and her individual clients has helped thousands of people create a deep connection to themselves and their bodies with the rich alchemy of the food she prepares.
1:13: Thank so much for coming.
1:15: Thank you for having me.
1:16: I’m so stoked to be here.
1:18: We love that you are coming onto the podcast because Sam and I are just so inspired, obsessed.
1:24: What’s a good word, healthy relationship with health and holistic health have just like really embodied eating really holistically and just taking care of our body and like even just the idea of like learning about.
1:36: nutrition and how the food literally can nurture nourish your body with the right foods and like food is lovely medicine, so I’m so excited that you’re here.
1:45: Yes, so good.
1:47: But before we dive into all those things, I want to learn about your journey with food and health and because you’ve traveled all over the world so nomadic.
1:58: Yeah, so I mean my food journey begins literally since I was just an itty bitty one when I was 5.
2:04: I really just knew this was my path.
2:07: I mean, you can only know so much when you’re 5 years old, but I was watching Gordon Ramsey when most people were watching Barney, you know, like this is something that food just drew me in the creative aspect of it, the cultural aspect of it, you know, I was obsessed with Anthony Bourdain and the way that he traveled and the way that he explored food as a way to bridge.
2:26: You know, ourselves close bridge the gap between, you know, ourselves and the earth and each other.
2:32: And I was just so inspired by that, you know, I would take spices from my mom’s medicine cabinet or from her spice cabinet.
2:38: I would literally put them all in a bowl, mix them around like a witch in the kitchen and just, you know, create because I knew this was my place, my safe haven to create in a household that, you know, was a little bit dysfunctional, so it was my safe haven for me.
2:52: And then growing.
2:53: Up, you know, food again, it wasn’t something that I really understood until I was in my late teens, early twenties when I thought I wanted to, you know, pursue this conventional path of of the culinary arts, go to culinary school, which I did in Australia, and you know, I thought I wanted to own a restaurant and I did work in kitchens really until in my mid-twenties and culinary, I was in different culinary environments, catering, cafes, restaurants, and I, you know, there was a missing piece for me.
3:24: while I was doing all that, my health was plummeting mentally and physically, and I was realizing why am I so passionate about something that’s also making me so sick.
3:33: And I just did not understand the disconnect between the two until I actually ventured into India and India was where I discovered Ayurveda, which is this incredible holistic lifestyle science and the way that you You know, perceive yourselves as a multi-faceted being and I started to see myself in a different light.
3:54: I started to see food as medicine, not just food as fuel.
3:57: It’s it’s basically a way to connect ourselves even deeper to ourselves, not just a way to go about our day and consume, you know, unintentionally.
4:05: It was a way for me to actually consume and understand myself in a different light.
4:10: And as soon as I started to shift this perspective on food and what it’s meant to do and how It’s meant to heal.
4:17: My body shifted entirely and it literally came down to a perspective shift for me and then integrating those tools like seasonal eating, local sourcing, all the things that I’m sure we’ll get into that I’m obsessed with that began to shift the way that I felt and the way that really my health was overall.
4:35: So, yeah, and then it took me to where I am today, which is now, you know, I help others, you know, connect back to themselves in a deeper way through food.
4:43: , and I just, I love it so much.
4:46: So yeah.
4:49: What does that mean?
4:49: yourself through food.
4:51: Yeah.
4:51: So, you know, all of our bodies are different.
4:54: We’re so uniquely designed and food is a vibration.
4:59: And when we connect to the source of our food, when we connect to where food comes from and the story behind the seed, the story behind the food itself, we can connect to the story of ourselves, and it can actually help us like we hear in In the media.
5:12: Food is medicine and it genuinely is medicine.
5:15: It’s the most powerful quote unquote drug or powerful medicine that we can, you know, have readily it’s readily accessible to us.
5:23: And when we begin to create more connections to where our food comes from and where, you know, the farmers behind the food that is being cultivated for us to consume, food becomes this healing force for us to again tap into those hidden, those dormant.
5:40: And powers within ourselves that can then be activated by foods that are high vibration and that can act as medicine for ourselves to thrive in this world and really fully express ourselves.
5:50: So, yeah, what a beautiful concept.
5:52: I just feel like most people are not thinking of it that way.
5:55: They’re like consuming because they’re like, I’m hungry, I need to eat now, or like they’re living on this clock.
6:00: It’s time for breakfast, it’s time for lunch, but there’s no intentionality behind it or no perspective or like what are the foods that I need to fuel my day to give me more within my day.
6:09: And you’re talking about a completely different perspective of eating.
6:14: Food is energy, you know, food is, yes, supposed to taste good and we want it to be this delicious, you know, delicious source of essentially this intimate, you know, connection between the earth and ourselves.
6:29: It’s supposed to be delicious and it’s supposed to, you know, taste good and it’s supposed to make us feel good.
6:34: So rather it’s it’s another step beyond just you know, the societal standard of consuming food.
6:40: It’s really the energy behind it and the vibrational force that it carries so that it can actually create a different level of vibration within ourselves.
6:52: So we’re consuming environment, we’re consuming energy just as much as we’re consuming, you know, the actual nutritional food pieces itself.
7:01: I would love to also like kind of go back a little bit because I remember earlier you said something along the lines of like the The thing that I love so much is burning me out, or like the thing that I love so much is getting me sick.
7:10: Like how is that your own impersonal journey of being able to give yourself permission to evolve in your career versus like wanting to run away from it.
7:20: And I’m curious if you even thought about running away from it because you realized that it was making you sick, that it was burning you out or whatever the symptoms were.
7:27: Like what was that like in your own evolution of this space?
7:32: Yeah, that’s a great question.
7:34: You know, I, I had to take a moment to really sit with that.
7:39: I did take a step back to really assess what it was that I wanted to do with this burning desire within me to pursue food.
7:47: I took a step back when I ended up traveling for really the year of 2019.
7:53: I was living in different countries and traveling to, I was living and working in Cambodia.
7:57: I was teaching yoga there.
7:59: I was cooking in a kitchen, a little local cafe, and a woman’s ashram and.
8:03: India and it was really an opportunity for me to take a step back from this conventional path of cooking for me to just reassess like I’m feeling, honestly, just to put it bluntly like shit, and I don’t know why.
8:18: I, you know, I’m living mindlessly.
8:20: I’m just living in this all-consuming path of, you know, this culinary arts path that really it was like a I was climbing a ladder and just like in the corporate sense.
8:32: climbing a ladder and I didn’t know where that ladder ended and honestly for me it ended at my health because I was, I had horrendous anxiety, depression, my thyroid was, you know, out of whack entirely.
8:44: I didn’t have my period for 4 to 5 years.
8:46: And so there really was a breaking point for me to say like I had to, I’m kind of the kind of person where sometimes it just takes a breaking point, big time breaking point for me to listen and it was everything all at once and I had to really take a step back.
9:00: And when I traveled, I gained an entirely different perspective and you know, saw through a different lens as far as what I wanted to do with this burning desire within me and I knew I just knew that it came down to the connection of of mind body spirit with food.
9:17: Something that I’ve and I can’t remember if it was called like Taste the table or table something master chef.
9:24: I don’t know.
9:25: It was on Netflix, but there was one episode I watched Chef’s Table.
9:28: Yes, that’s it.
9:29: Thank you.
9:29: I knew you’d know.
9:30: And it was the episode at the with the monk.
9:33: Yes, that’s my one of my favorites.
9:35: Me too.
9:35: And something that was so profound for me was watching their connection to the food that they grew and how they knew exactly what any addition would do to their energy, to their body.
9:49: it’s such a good episode if no one’s watched it.
9:51: It’s just the power of that they have with the plants and just with food and how it sustains them but doesn’t send them over.
9:57: The edge so that they can meditate all day long.
10:00: It was very eye-opening and I feel like that’s, is that the energy that you’re speaking to when you say like energy is food because that was very eye-opening to me.
10:09: Yes, 100%.
10:10: I love that you brought that up.
10:11: That’s one of my favorite episodes of Chef’s Table.
10:14: I highly recommend to anyone listening.
10:16: And yes, so food as energy, so everything, everything in its nature has a frequency.
10:22: Everything in its nature vibrates, right?
10:23: Atoms vibrate, food vibrates just as much as we vibrate.
10:26: And it carries a frequency, it carries an energy and the environment, the way it’s cultivated, the way it’s grown is a part of that.
10:33: The love that it’s infused into that seedling upon, you know, being planted, it starts there and you know, for example, foods that are grown in factories, it’s a sterile environment, so the food is losing its frequency.
10:46: It’s losing its ability to nourish us.
10:48: And so when the food is grown in this loving environment, love is legitimately infused into that food, which is then a quality.
10:56: That nourishes us us too.
10:57: And you hear it, love is a secret ingredient of cooking.
11:01: It, it is, you know, and when we, when we cook with love, just like in many cultures, it’s a ceremony and when we cook with love, it’s, it’s a piece that really helps us, you know, digest even better than it was cooked without love or if it was cooked with stress or anger because those things matter when it comes to cooking and consuming.
11:20: I feel like you could, anyone could relate to that, even if you think it when you’re a child and you’re at home, like was your mom someone.
11:26: or dad, my dad cooked, not my mom, but like, did they love to cook or was it, did it feel like a like an efforting, you know, or like a a must I have to, this is my job and like thinking back to how that felt to eat that food versus being with friends and cooking food together and the energy you feel while you’re eating that food is so powerful.
11:46: Absolutely love in the food.
11:47: I can just think of my mom and she’s like, do you like it?
11:50: And I know she’s like literally just spending hours because it’s her therapy and she loves cooking, but genuinely.
11:55: She’s like putting so much love into her food and she just wants you to receive that.
12:01: You taste it too.
12:02: You really do.
12:04: It’s not woo woo.
12:06: I’m I’m all about woo woo, but it’s real, you know, like it’s as real as it can be.
12:10: You feel the love, you feel it in your in your gut, you feel it in your mind.
12:14: I mean, it’s just a whole, it’s a holistic experience, you know.
12:18: Yeah.
12:18: As you started to like really provide these services to others and like other people receiving your gifts and your love for your food.
12:25: And even just teaching them how to eat seasonally, for example, what are people’s responses?
12:31: I’m so curious.
12:32: Yeah, I mean, a lot of people that I work with are open to this new way of seeing food.
12:38: A lot of people, I I haven’t ever experienced someone where I would have to convince them that this is the way forward, right?
12:45: Because they’ve already been exposed to this new way.
12:47: And that the whole concept of food is medicine and local sourcing and seasonal ingredients and all that.
12:53: So people are very curious about something that again it’s common sense that’s not common ingrained in us.
13:00: Yeah.
13:01: Yeah, absolutely.
13:02: It’s literally an unlearning.
13:04: So people just want to unlearn what they’ve been told in society of what is right and what is wrong to consume.
13:09: And they just want to know the things that are innately ingrained, like you said within us, and they’re just so stoked about it and they just, the beautiful part is the open-mindedness is a huge part of their, you know, the change in perspective and the change in the ways that they feel when they consume the food that I helped, you know, make them or that I teach them how to make.
13:31: So that’s a really big step in this process too that I want to add is Yes, food is a big piece, but to be open-minded that this is a way forward is also the form of acceptance that allows your body to fully, you know, heal through food.
13:44: I love that you’re using the words a way forward.
13:47: Yeah, because you’re like basically saying this is the way forward.
13:51: Yeah.
13:52: What does that look like?
13:54: What do these meals look like?
13:55: What does this food look like?
13:57: Like what is your ethos around holistic eating?
14:00: And where would you navigate people to that might be listening?
14:03: Yeah, so farmers’ markets are my Disneyland and I recommend to anyone, everyone listening, and obviously we’re not all, we don’t all have access to farmers’ markets, right?
14:15: So I can understand that that would be hard if we’re living somewhere that, you know, it’s thousands or hundreds of miles away from us.
14:22: But what I do recommend when you can, if you have access to farmers.
14:25: Mars is again, like I said, seeing what’s in season and getting inspired each month there’s peak seasonal ingredients and really just getting inspired and getting those ingredients out of the at the market and highlighting them in dishes that you make for yourself and for your family because it it becomes your creative canvas.
14:43: When you use these ingredients like a paintbrush, you, you know, there’s no rules.
14:47: The kitchen has no rules in my opinion.
14:49: There’s really nothing.
14:51: , I feel like any everything that you do in the kitchen creates, there’s some sort of magic that’s created from it, right?
14:58: And so when you use these seasonal ingredients as your paintbrush as your opportunity to create something different, it can really inspire you and it can also expose your body to different, different nutritional qualities, right?
15:12: So, so yeah, I just really recommend using these vibrant seasonal ingredients that are locally sourced because the more local something is sourced, the more nutrient dense it, right?
15:24: It is, and to as much as possible, you know, I love sprouts as well.
15:29: Sprouts is one of my favorites.
15:30: I support local farmers and They, you know, they highlight that and so to be able to highlight those seasonal and local local ingredients from your farmers’ market or local grocery stores, then it really is a good place to start in the kitchen.
15:45: Like I said, no rules, just grab what looks amazing at the market, ask those farmers, ask those vendors and just start there.
15:53: So.
15:54: I want to talk a little bit about the grocery store aspect because in that like in my own experience, so when I was living in Delmar, we went to Jimbo’s a lot.
16:00: Have you been to Jimbo?
16:01: I love Jimbo yeah’s is so good, but even like like a Rouse’s or Sprouts, like they have certain things.
16:07: Ralph’s, let’s just say Ralph’s, Albertson’s, your like local grocery store that isn’t whole holistic and organic like they have the same food year round.
16:16: The shopping at Jimbo’s like they did not have the same food around.
16:19: I’m like we’re out of strawberries now.
16:21: What do you mean?
16:22: You’re like, we don’t have mangoes anymore.
16:25: What do you mean?
16:25: You know, and you’re like, I’m so sad, but then I think we were programmed before to always have access to these foods, and I think that’s like a part of the, the catch in this process is like you’re talking to so much like you’ll get your strawberries.
16:38: Back, you’ll get your, you’ll get your oranges I mean I think any oranges are year round, but like certain foods, you’ll get them more over the others.
16:45: But there’s a reason about that.
16:47: There’s a reason why we need different foods in the winter time compared to the summertime.
16:50: Do you want to talk a little bit about that?
16:52: Yes.
16:53: And you know, that’s a huge thing because we’ve grown to, you know, we’ve become accustomed to getting access to anything at any time.
17:01: Y, which then has an effect on how we appreciate things, right?
17:06: And so it’s a microcosm really of so many things.
17:09: But when we have access to, like you said, strawberries year round, then we don’t even associate that strawberries are, you know, are at its peak in spring summer time, right?
17:19: So we don’t actually know these things anymore because they’re not valued.
17:24: And so when we begin to understand it as, you know, food has its peak, it has its its container where it thrives most, then we begin to understand why we want to consume food in season, why it’s important to consume it at its peak because it’s, it’s thriving, right?
17:40: Just like ourselves, we thrive in certain environments, we thrive in certain.
17:44: Containers and so does food depending on the weather and the climate, etc.
17:49: And so when we appreciate this natural resonance and this natural rhythm of the earth, then we start to become more in tune with Earth’s natural rhythms and with ourselves, you know.
18:00: Something else that you’re saying that like really landed when you were saying that like I just thought about strawberry that’s thriving in its season.
18:06: And then you energetically eat the energy of the strawberry, and therefore you are, therefore you are thriving.
18:12: And in a lot of ways like let’s say you get strawberries all year round, it’s not gonna give you the thriving energy that you’re calling forward to being your fullest express self to your point.
18:22: Like we really do.
18:22: We need that seasonal fruit to give us a thriving energy for that season.
18:27: Yes, because it has the highest vibration in its peak season and then our bodies go into what is called sympathetic resonance so it responds, you know, the vibrations within ourselves respond to the vibration of that food.
18:39: And so we begin to appreciate the vibration.
18:43: Of that ingredient that it’s that when it’s at its peak, right?
18:47: So it’s, it’s a game changer.
18:49: It really is.
18:50: And it’s something that we all have access to when only we unlearn what we’ve been taught around food.
18:56: I think it makes it nice or welcoming for people as well because it’s so easy to get caught in, you know, I should be vegetarian or vegan or I should only eat this or I should only eat this way to all the like rules, but when you go back to just eating whole foods that are in season local, like it actually opens up for you what’s possible without so much restriction.
19:17: I think that is maybe what you’re speaking to of this unlearning because I feel like everyone has an opinion on what you should eat and what’s best for your body.
19:25: But I feel like the people that I’ve seen that are usually thriving the most are the ones that are eating local to wherever it is that they Live and when you look at other countries, they eat, they they go to the market every day or every other day, and they buy whatever is like picked by their neighbor down the street.
19:41: And I feel like we’ve lost so much of that.
19:43: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
19:44: I think everyone, you know, has the next best diet and in my opinion, Earth knows best.
19:50: So when we get in tune with Earth, then that is ultimately the greatest healing force for any of us.
19:57: Doesn’t earth doesn’t tell us to eat in one certain way.
19:59: And we can all eat differently, but still follow the natural rhythms of Earth and what we intuitively need for ourselves, right?
20:05: But it doesn’t necessarily mean that we all need to follow one diet to get to a certain outcome.
20:11: I think we just need to be in tune with what our bodies need and allow nature to guide us through that.
20:18: How do you help people to get back in tune with their bodies?
20:21: Yeah, so when I cook for people or when I work with people, I also do, you know, health coaching and I first and foremost want to help people understand the why.
20:31: You know, I can feed them food all day and, you know, teach them about where food comes from, but first and foremost, to be able to understand your body and it’s innate gifts and it’s innate cravings and tendencies.
20:45: is going to help you actually consume food differently.
20:48: So there’s a step beyond consuming for really first beyond step consuming food, which is understanding your body and what it genuinely needs in that time.
20:57: You know, what does it need, when does it need it?
21:00: And you know that can again come from peeling away at, you know, there’s a numbness that comes from just living life and consuming food.
21:09: And not necessarily understanding the impact that it can have on your body, but when we, you know, begin to listen and tap into our hearts and our bodies, it speaks it speaks, right?
21:21: It has its own language and unspoken dialogue with ourselves and I really, you know, aim to help people tune into their bodies so that they can see food differently, cook food differently, consume food differently and Essentially communicate it, communicate with it in a different way, right?
21:40: So, so yeah, I like to teach people how to get in tune with themselves so that they can really consume food in a different way.
21:47: And there’s so much to that because we’ve talked about intuitive eating so much and I think in my own intuitive eating journey because I had an eating disorder and other things that came up.
21:55: But what I’ve learned is like when you start to pay attention to how food makes you feel, then you can tell when you need a certain food.
22:03: Yeah, and like listening to it, which is difficult because there is the constant background of like, I shouldn’t be eating this food right now or this is what this law says or this is what this person says or whatever, but it’s so beautiful that you’re talking to like that and I think the numbingness is also a big one like someone else that we had here earlier, Lea, she said one of the questions that everyone asks is that what is your favorite breakfast?
22:25: And everyone’s like, I don’t eat breakfast.
22:27: I just have coffee.
22:29: And I got so curious about that when she said that, I was like, are people really listening to their hunger cues when they wake up first thing in the morning?
22:36: Or are they programmed to be like, I have to have a cup of coffee first that is taking you away from the actual nutrients from your food?
22:45: Mhm.
22:46: Yeah, yeah, totally, because it’s a routine, right?
22:48: We get ourselves into where we become comfortable with routine, but, you know, if we have a stomach ache, we kind of just, you know, put it to the side and Really tired.
22:57: We don’t really look into what that is, right?
23:00: We just drink a cup of coffee, we numb it.
23:01: If there’s a band, the whole culture of like that band-aid, you know, ideology of just slap a band-aid on it or just ignore it, turn a blind eye and all is fine, right?
23:12: But when we do a little bit of the hard work and just look, it doesn’t have to be hard work, but it can be when we’re comfortable with certain things.
23:19: but when we look really beneath that and we don’t put a band-aid on it, we can begin to reveal some really powerful stuff.
23:26: And again, it’s, you know, it’s not a secret pill.
23:30: It’s just the secret pill is you, right?
23:33: The other thing I thought about when you were talking about that there’s also specific foods that are more grounding and more airy than others.
23:38: And I’m also curious like if people are more attracted to like more airy foods because they like being more airy and not feeling grounded or vice versa, people are more like comfortable in being eating only grounding heavy food.
23:51: because they always want to be grounded, which all comes down to just like you getting in tune with your body.
23:56: And like, for example, naturally, you know, in the different seasons right now we’re in winter, we’re moving into winter and I have a lot of vata, which is essentially air and ethereal qualities in my body.
24:10: My body naturally craves grounding foods, pumpkins, you know, root vegetables, sweet potatoes, all that delicious nourishing.
24:17: You know, vegetables and I’m, you know, I love meat and all that stuff that helps ground my body.
24:23: I feel that way too.
24:24: Yeah, and so my body innately craves nourishing grounding foods and I think to your point, you know, if we tap in and listen to what our body is needing, it will tell us I want grounding food, I want potato, I want squash, I want, you know, tomato or whatever and and those.
24:40: Cravings, you know, the way that the body is communicating with you to say I want this quality within me so that I can thrive and express myself in a different way.
24:49: And yeah, it’s, it’s a really cool dialogue that you begin to have with yourself.
24:54: Thinking about this as well, Nick and I were talking about this like when women are pregnant, for example, like, you know, people are like I crave really salty foods, like their cravings completely changed and Nick and I were talking about my partner is a holistic health practitioner, and he was talking so much about like I think that’s just the body literally saying like you are nutrient deficient in this, you need more of this.
25:15: The hard part, I think when people are pregnant they start eating all the foods that they can, but there is, there is that like you feel it, you sense that your body is changing so much when you’re pregnant and hormonally that the deficiency is down, it’s gonna say I need this.
25:29: Yeah, the body will, the body will tell you and the extreme, the extreme, you know, reactions that we have or the extreme cravings that we have come, they don’t come out of nowhere, they come as a result of our bodies saying, please feed me this ingredient or please feed me this quality so that I can balance myself out, you know, and come back to homeostasis within myself.
25:50: so yeah, that’s a really big part of it.
25:52: So cool.
25:53: Yeah, I love that.
25:55: What I think is wild too, I took an herbal class recently and the man that teaches it is, he’s amazing, but he’s like 80 years old.
26:04: But something that was so eye-opening and I think it relates back to like what you’re saying about farmers and eating locally is there’s so many plants here in San Diego that can heal us, like specifically for ailments or issues that happen in This environment or like even for digestive issues like all these things and no we’re never taught really about that.
26:27: We’re not like I had no idea.
26:28: I mean there’s mugwort that grows rampant in Mission Valley which can send you on like a whole spiritual journey in your sleep, you know, and that can you imagine all the homeless people are like mugwort, yeah, they’re like this is the best plan I’ve ever had and it’s just.
26:48: Yeah, in the river there where they all hang out, they’re like smoking the mug word they’re like I’m good here, but it it does like relate back to the fact that like we’re so disconnected.
26:59: Like I bet there’s so majority of people in San Diego couldn’t even tell you what grows here, couldn’t even tell you what can be grown here, you know, and we went from this society of everyone farming their own food to now just like going to the grocery store where there’s what, like 25 vegetables like or something.
27:16: It’s like some low number and it’s all the same vegetables, like there’s no variety unless we’re, I mean, we’re so blessed here to go to Jimbo’s and sprouts and those things, but I feel like, what are some of the key things you have learned on your own healing journey in terms of like utilizing these local, the local produce or the herbs or whatever to like what was the most significant impact that you experienced in your body through this healing journey that you went on?
27:44: , yeah.
27:45: So when I started to understand the reason that I, you know, the reason behind eating local and understanding the impact that that can have on my health, I, I mean, it, it literally was as simple and not as simple as because I was so in my routine of having certain foods.
28:05: I had disordered eating when I was in my early twenties, late teens.
28:09: And it was, you know, I was so stuck in my own.
28:12: spiral of, I ate the same thing every single day, but very little of nutrient, like nutrient-dense foods, like almost nothing, you know, I would deprive myself of food so that I could consume, you know, just a little bit of ice cream at the end of the day or something like that.
28:28: And so I didn’t know really what any of that meant and you know, I was not even listening to what my body needed at that time.
28:36: So when I started to understand that, you know, it was as simple as listening to my body.
28:41: And understanding that locally grown foods in the season that it was meant to be grown in and consuming it then.
28:47: I, my energy, first of all, I was so ethereal, I was so floaty.
28:51: I was in another planet because I wasn’t consuming anything that my body needed, you know, I was not grounded and, you know, as a result, I had tremendous anxiety and I was, you know, going every which way within my own mind.
29:05: And so when it came down to really, you know, I had a conversation with an Ayurvedic doctor who He told me, he kept telling me, consume pumpkin, consume pumpkin.
29:12: And it was funny because it was like I was like pumpkin, OK.
29:14: But I should understand it was the microcosm of consume grounding foods, consume foods that will ground you ground your energy because ultimately, it’s not just the pumpkin, it’s, you know, foods that will help offset the extreme imbalance that you were experiencing in your body that was throwing you off completely, right?
29:32: Both mentally and physically.
29:34: So it really came into tuning into You know, the opposite, bringing myself back into balance with the opposite of what I was experiencing.
29:42: So I was overly, you know, airy, so I really wanted to and my digestive system was out of whack.
29:46: It was super bloated and so it was expressing itself in all different ways.
29:50: And so I started to consume more root vegetables and with these.
29:56: qualities like I mentioned before, and I started to notice my energy shift.
30:00: Immediately my anxiety subsided.
30:02: Like it was crazy, you know, I was told to be put on anxiety, depression medication, you know, all these things for the rest of my life essentially and I would, you know, develop a dependency on that and I just knew that that wasn’t true.
30:16: I just knew within myself, you know, it served it can serve a purpose for a certain time, but I also knew that that wasn’t my answer.
30:24: And when I understood the why and I understood how to to shift that, then I started to feel the difference.
30:33: Like I was, I landed, I landed on myself, you know.
30:36: Came back to Earth.
30:37: I came back to Earth, yeah, I freaking landed.
30:38: I’ve been up in the clouds, and I’m a Libra, so I was like flying away, you know, but, but yeah, it was, I came home.
30:55: I did.
30:55: That’s really beautiful.
30:58: At this, thank you for sharing that.
31:00: at this part of the interview, we want to get to know you a little bit more too.
31:05: where in your life are you feeling called to be more fully expressed, and this can be life, relationships, business, friendship, anything that comes to mind.
31:15: I have this general thing right now where I need to show up.
31:20: I’ve been wanting to show up just more as me, right?
31:24: More authentically in the sense of But nothing I need to say or do or put a mask on or pretend, you know, to be someone that I’m not and I have this fear of being accepted and I’ve I’ve had that fear really my whole life like I need to be accepted or I need to belong and all these things and it’s gotten in the way of my own self-expression because, you know, as a result of my thyroid issues and my my voice, I used to have this quiver in my voice because I got so nervous when I spoke.
31:52: I, you know, I was realizing I wasn’t showing up as myself and that’s what was has been holding me back.
31:59: And now, you know, in this past couple of years, really this last year, I’ve I’m I’m wanting to do more of that and put myself in uncomfortable situations that allow me to show up fully whether I’m quote unquote accepted or not, that’s not even something I’m concerned about anymore, you know, because if I’m accepted for not being me, like why the heck would I want to be, you know.
32:21: So you’re working on your throat.
32:22: big time.
32:23: I feel it, you know, like I feel that.
32:25: And the beautiful thing is the thyroid is in the shape of a butterfly, you know, and I butterflies are one of my symbols and it’s just, it’s, I just feel it flapping its wings, you know, like I’m ready to to express in my own way, you know.
32:40: One thing I just thought about when you were saying that, I think I remember you commenting on one of our reels and you were like, I want to be on this podcast.
32:47: Yeah, yeah.
32:48: Is that you?
32:49: That was you using your That was me.
32:50: That was the inner me, yes, because I was so, yeah, I love it and I put on my vision board early last, early this, yeah, this past year on January.
32:59: I want to be on more podcasts so that I can express myself more fully.
33:02: And this podcast is called Fully expressed.
33:06: So at the end of the year, I mean it’s a full moon, so it’s just all the things.
33:09: Yeah, the Gemini moon, Gemini moon, yeah, and I mean you can’t make that up, you know, so here we are.
33:18: Really?
33:18: So what are you welcoming in what’s your like 2025, even though we don’t, we technically believe that the new year starts in March, just clarifying.
33:27: But for the next season of life after winter, we will say, what are you calling in for yourself?
33:34: I am calling in opportunities that challenge me in the sense of pushing me more into my purpose.
33:43: I, I just know that this next year.
33:46: is going to be extremely expansive for myself because I am just so clear on my vision for what I want, you know, what I want to create in this world, when I want to continue creating and how and how I want to serve and you know, I oftentimes will try to juggle so many things at once and I’m just trying to simplify my life so that I can really clarify my vision and make greater impact.
34:10: And you know, there, there, you know, going to be some challenges and stuff.
34:14: Along the way, but those are ultimately going to help expand me into creating greater impact and I know that that’s what this year is calling in for me, you know, podcast.
34:26: It gets you recording honestly though, even like having the podcast myself, that was also a reason selfishly I was like I need to own my voice, my first year and like you really just being in the room, having these conversations, being invited to talk being interviewed is like the best way to practice.
34:42: Which can also be the scariest because you’re stepping on stage in a lot of ways.
34:45: You’re like, wait, I want to be on stage but like is there like a practice run before I get there.
34:49: But it’s in these spaces where you start to get more confident and like you can just feel your voice ground into your body.
34:57: So I’m so I’m almost like this is what the podcast was made for.
35:01: Yeah, you know, we’ve had other guests that have come on to say the same thing where they’re like, we just want to share their voices more and like the fact that this platform has become a channel.
35:10: you just like, yeah.
35:13: And so many people need to know.
35:15: I think we do live in an echo chamber and so many people don’t understand how big the role of food plays in our health and well-being to all the way down to the energy that you’re eating.
35:27: And I feel like the more people can just open their mind to it and hear that, they’re like, oh, interesting.
35:33: Like, yeah, I don’t have a sprouts here.
35:34: Maybe I’ll go and find a local farmer down the street and get my, you know.
35:38: be from him or get my like arugula from my neighbor, like little things or maybe I’m gonna grow sprouts on my windowsill.
35:45: It’s like those little changes.
35:46: I think sometimes we like feel so big it’s like feels overwhelming.
35:50: Like, well, how am I going to do that?
35:51: It’s the dead of winter and it’s snowing and I can’t grow food, but I think it opens people’s minds to other ways of being and other possibilities around being in health.
36:01: Like it doesn’t have to be a pill you take.
36:02: It doesn’t have to be, it doesn’t have to be so big and so hard.
36:06: I think it’s a great message.
36:08: And it’s a part of our nature, you know, like we’ve we’ve had these conversations around seasons like we were always this way.
36:15: We were not.
36:16: Yeah, the industrial revolution came in and was like everything else changed our world, but we’re like going back to the basics.
36:22: This is what our ancestors did.
36:25: This is what the past generations did.
36:27: It’s not as hard because you already know it.
36:31: Next time we have you on, we’ll be in candlelight.
36:35: No blue light, candlelight wear blue light for this and I was like, do we do?
36:46: We have to have.
36:46: We have sweats and we’ll we’ll have them for every guest.
36:48: We’ll be like, listen, we’re gonna have this talk, but everybody needs their blue light on their blue light blockers on fully just, yeah, in their elements.
36:57: Thank you so much for coming and thank you so much for coming this late on the.
37:01: Yeah, I know when we did this, but thank you, thank you so much.
37:06: It really meant a lot.
37:07: It was so nice to feel your energy and get to know you.
37:10: Thank you for having me.
37:11: This is, like I said, just a beautiful opportunity to connect and to share what it is that I’m so passionate about, you know, speaking out into the world.
37:18: So I really appreciate the space.
37:20: Where can people find you?
37:21: They want to learn more or work with you.
37:24: Yeah, so my website Tara Middleton.com.
37:27: And my Instagram is at Tara Middleton_ those are the two main channels that I’m reachable at, so we’ll put in the show notes too.
37:35: I think we’ll be linked for you below.
37:37: Awesome, but yeah, thank you so much.
37:39: Thank you.
37:40: Much love.
37:42: Thank you so much for tuning in.
37:43: We really appreciate you being here.
37:45: If you enjoyed this episode, we’d be grateful if you could leave us a review and share it with a friend.
37:50: Also, we would love to hear from you.
37:53: Reach out to us on Instagram and let us know where you feel inspired to express yourself as you embrace this next era.
38:00: We are here to support you and encourage you.
38:03: See you on the next one.
0:03: We are your hosts, Samantha and Karenna.
0:06: This is a show where we invite you into your fullest expressed self and life, relationships, and business.
0:11: We believe that if you crave more, you are meant for more.
0:14: There is room for all of us to be fully expressed.
0:17: Along with the show, we’ve created a virtual community to connect you with fellow listeners.
0:22: Make sure to check out the fully expressed community membership.
0:25: You’ll find the link to join in the show notes and on our website.
0:28: So excited to see you there.
0:30: Enjoy this new episode.
0:34: Welcome back to another episode of the Fully expressed podcast.
0:38: Today, Karenna and I are so excited because we’re going to be talking all about food and holistic eating.
0:45: We have Tara Middleton with us, who is a world renowned holistic chef.
0:49: She was classically trained in Australia and discovered early in her career that her true passion.
0:54: was understanding the impact food has on the mental and physical aspects of the body.
0:59: Tara’s approach of food sourcing and preparation for wellness retreats, corporate events, and her individual clients has helped thousands of people create a deep connection to themselves and their bodies with the rich alchemy of the food she prepares.
1:13: Thank so much for coming.
1:15: Thank you for having me.
1:16: I’m so stoked to be here.
1:18: We love that you are coming onto the podcast because Sam and I are just so inspired, obsessed.
1:24: What’s a good word, healthy relationship with health and holistic health have just like really embodied eating really holistically and just taking care of our body and like even just the idea of like learning about.
1:36: nutrition and how the food literally can nurture nourish your body with the right foods and like food is lovely medicine, so I’m so excited that you’re here.
1:45: Yes, so good.
1:47: But before we dive into all those things, I want to learn about your journey with food and health and because you’ve traveled all over the world so nomadic.
1:58: Yeah, so I mean my food journey begins literally since I was just an itty bitty one when I was 5.
2:04: I really just knew this was my path.
2:07: I mean, you can only know so much when you’re 5 years old, but I was watching Gordon Ramsey when most people were watching Barney, you know, like this is something that food just drew me in the creative aspect of it, the cultural aspect of it, you know, I was obsessed with Anthony Bourdain and the way that he traveled and the way that he explored food as a way to bridge.
2:26: You know, ourselves close bridge the gap between, you know, ourselves and the earth and each other.
2:32: And I was just so inspired by that, you know, I would take spices from my mom’s medicine cabinet or from her spice cabinet.
2:38: I would literally put them all in a bowl, mix them around like a witch in the kitchen and just, you know, create because I knew this was my place, my safe haven to create in a household that, you know, was a little bit dysfunctional, so it was my safe haven for me.
2:52: And then growing.
2:53: Up, you know, food again, it wasn’t something that I really understood until I was in my late teens, early twenties when I thought I wanted to, you know, pursue this conventional path of of the culinary arts, go to culinary school, which I did in Australia, and you know, I thought I wanted to own a restaurant and I did work in kitchens really until in my mid-twenties and culinary, I was in different culinary environments, catering, cafes, restaurants, and I, you know, there was a missing piece for me.
3:24: while I was doing all that, my health was plummeting mentally and physically, and I was realizing why am I so passionate about something that’s also making me so sick.
3:33: And I just did not understand the disconnect between the two until I actually ventured into India and India was where I discovered Ayurveda, which is this incredible holistic lifestyle science and the way that you You know, perceive yourselves as a multi-faceted being and I started to see myself in a different light.
3:54: I started to see food as medicine, not just food as fuel.
3:57: It’s it’s basically a way to connect ourselves even deeper to ourselves, not just a way to go about our day and consume, you know, unintentionally.
4:05: It was a way for me to actually consume and understand myself in a different light.
4:10: And as soon as I started to shift this perspective on food and what it’s meant to do and how It’s meant to heal.
4:17: My body shifted entirely and it literally came down to a perspective shift for me and then integrating those tools like seasonal eating, local sourcing, all the things that I’m sure we’ll get into that I’m obsessed with that began to shift the way that I felt and the way that really my health was overall.
4:35: So, yeah, and then it took me to where I am today, which is now, you know, I help others, you know, connect back to themselves in a deeper way through food.
4:43: , and I just, I love it so much.
4:46: So yeah.
4:49: What does that mean?
4:49: yourself through food.
4:51: Yeah.
4:51: So, you know, all of our bodies are different.
4:54: We’re so uniquely designed and food is a vibration.
4:59: And when we connect to the source of our food, when we connect to where food comes from and the story behind the seed, the story behind the food itself, we can connect to the story of ourselves, and it can actually help us like we hear in In the media.
5:12: Food is medicine and it genuinely is medicine.
5:15: It’s the most powerful quote unquote drug or powerful medicine that we can, you know, have readily it’s readily accessible to us.
5:23: And when we begin to create more connections to where our food comes from and where, you know, the farmers behind the food that is being cultivated for us to consume, food becomes this healing force for us to again tap into those hidden, those dormant.
5:40: And powers within ourselves that can then be activated by foods that are high vibration and that can act as medicine for ourselves to thrive in this world and really fully express ourselves.
5:50: So, yeah, what a beautiful concept.
5:52: I just feel like most people are not thinking of it that way.
5:55: They’re like consuming because they’re like, I’m hungry, I need to eat now, or like they’re living on this clock.
6:00: It’s time for breakfast, it’s time for lunch, but there’s no intentionality behind it or no perspective or like what are the foods that I need to fuel my day to give me more within my day.
6:09: And you’re talking about a completely different perspective of eating.
6:14: Food is energy, you know, food is, yes, supposed to taste good and we want it to be this delicious, you know, delicious source of essentially this intimate, you know, connection between the earth and ourselves.
6:29: It’s supposed to be delicious and it’s supposed to, you know, taste good and it’s supposed to make us feel good.
6:34: So rather it’s it’s another step beyond just you know, the societal standard of consuming food.
6:40: It’s really the energy behind it and the vibrational force that it carries so that it can actually create a different level of vibration within ourselves.
6:52: So we’re consuming environment, we’re consuming energy just as much as we’re consuming, you know, the actual nutritional food pieces itself.
7:01: I would love to also like kind of go back a little bit because I remember earlier you said something along the lines of like the The thing that I love so much is burning me out, or like the thing that I love so much is getting me sick.
7:10: Like how is that your own impersonal journey of being able to give yourself permission to evolve in your career versus like wanting to run away from it.
7:20: And I’m curious if you even thought about running away from it because you realized that it was making you sick, that it was burning you out or whatever the symptoms were.
7:27: Like what was that like in your own evolution of this space?
7:32: Yeah, that’s a great question.
7:34: You know, I, I had to take a moment to really sit with that.
7:39: I did take a step back to really assess what it was that I wanted to do with this burning desire within me to pursue food.
7:47: I took a step back when I ended up traveling for really the year of 2019.
7:53: I was living in different countries and traveling to, I was living and working in Cambodia.
7:57: I was teaching yoga there.
7:59: I was cooking in a kitchen, a little local cafe, and a woman’s ashram and.
8:03: India and it was really an opportunity for me to take a step back from this conventional path of cooking for me to just reassess like I’m feeling, honestly, just to put it bluntly like shit, and I don’t know why.
8:18: I, you know, I’m living mindlessly.
8:20: I’m just living in this all-consuming path of, you know, this culinary arts path that really it was like a I was climbing a ladder and just like in the corporate sense.
8:32: climbing a ladder and I didn’t know where that ladder ended and honestly for me it ended at my health because I was, I had horrendous anxiety, depression, my thyroid was, you know, out of whack entirely.
8:44: I didn’t have my period for 4 to 5 years.
8:46: And so there really was a breaking point for me to say like I had to, I’m kind of the kind of person where sometimes it just takes a breaking point, big time breaking point for me to listen and it was everything all at once and I had to really take a step back.
9:00: And when I traveled, I gained an entirely different perspective and you know, saw through a different lens as far as what I wanted to do with this burning desire within me and I knew I just knew that it came down to the connection of of mind body spirit with food.
9:17: Something that I’ve and I can’t remember if it was called like Taste the table or table something master chef.
9:24: I don’t know.
9:25: It was on Netflix, but there was one episode I watched Chef’s Table.
9:28: Yes, that’s it.
9:29: Thank you.
9:29: I knew you’d know.
9:30: And it was the episode at the with the monk.
9:33: Yes, that’s my one of my favorites.
9:35: Me too.
9:35: And something that was so profound for me was watching their connection to the food that they grew and how they knew exactly what any addition would do to their energy, to their body.
9:49: it’s such a good episode if no one’s watched it.
9:51: It’s just the power of that they have with the plants and just with food and how it sustains them but doesn’t send them over.
9:57: The edge so that they can meditate all day long.
10:00: It was very eye-opening and I feel like that’s, is that the energy that you’re speaking to when you say like energy is food because that was very eye-opening to me.
10:09: Yes, 100%.
10:10: I love that you brought that up.
10:11: That’s one of my favorite episodes of Chef’s Table.
10:14: I highly recommend to anyone listening.
10:16: And yes, so food as energy, so everything, everything in its nature has a frequency.
10:22: Everything in its nature vibrates, right?
10:23: Atoms vibrate, food vibrates just as much as we vibrate.
10:26: And it carries a frequency, it carries an energy and the environment, the way it’s cultivated, the way it’s grown is a part of that.
10:33: The love that it’s infused into that seedling upon, you know, being planted, it starts there and you know, for example, foods that are grown in factories, it’s a sterile environment, so the food is losing its frequency.
10:46: It’s losing its ability to nourish us.
10:48: And so when the food is grown in this loving environment, love is legitimately infused into that food, which is then a quality.
10:56: That nourishes us us too.
10:57: And you hear it, love is a secret ingredient of cooking.
11:01: It, it is, you know, and when we, when we cook with love, just like in many cultures, it’s a ceremony and when we cook with love, it’s, it’s a piece that really helps us, you know, digest even better than it was cooked without love or if it was cooked with stress or anger because those things matter when it comes to cooking and consuming.
11:20: I feel like you could, anyone could relate to that, even if you think it when you’re a child and you’re at home, like was your mom someone.
11:26: or dad, my dad cooked, not my mom, but like, did they love to cook or was it, did it feel like a like an efforting, you know, or like a a must I have to, this is my job and like thinking back to how that felt to eat that food versus being with friends and cooking food together and the energy you feel while you’re eating that food is so powerful.
11:46: Absolutely love in the food.
11:47: I can just think of my mom and she’s like, do you like it?
11:50: And I know she’s like literally just spending hours because it’s her therapy and she loves cooking, but genuinely.
11:55: She’s like putting so much love into her food and she just wants you to receive that.
12:01: You taste it too.
12:02: You really do.
12:04: It’s not woo woo.
12:06: I’m I’m all about woo woo, but it’s real, you know, like it’s as real as it can be.
12:10: You feel the love, you feel it in your in your gut, you feel it in your mind.
12:14: I mean, it’s just a whole, it’s a holistic experience, you know.
12:18: Yeah.
12:18: As you started to like really provide these services to others and like other people receiving your gifts and your love for your food.
12:25: And even just teaching them how to eat seasonally, for example, what are people’s responses?
12:31: I’m so curious.
12:32: Yeah, I mean, a lot of people that I work with are open to this new way of seeing food.
12:38: A lot of people, I I haven’t ever experienced someone where I would have to convince them that this is the way forward, right?
12:45: Because they’ve already been exposed to this new way.
12:47: And that the whole concept of food is medicine and local sourcing and seasonal ingredients and all that.
12:53: So people are very curious about something that again it’s common sense that’s not common ingrained in us.
13:00: Yeah.
13:01: Yeah, absolutely.
13:02: It’s literally an unlearning.
13:04: So people just want to unlearn what they’ve been told in society of what is right and what is wrong to consume.
13:09: And they just want to know the things that are innately ingrained, like you said within us, and they’re just so stoked about it and they just, the beautiful part is the open-mindedness is a huge part of their, you know, the change in perspective and the change in the ways that they feel when they consume the food that I helped, you know, make them or that I teach them how to make.
13:31: So that’s a really big step in this process too that I want to add is Yes, food is a big piece, but to be open-minded that this is a way forward is also the form of acceptance that allows your body to fully, you know, heal through food.
13:44: I love that you’re using the words a way forward.
13:47: Yeah, because you’re like basically saying this is the way forward.
13:51: Yeah.
13:52: What does that look like?
13:54: What do these meals look like?
13:55: What does this food look like?
13:57: Like what is your ethos around holistic eating?
14:00: And where would you navigate people to that might be listening?
14:03: Yeah, so farmers’ markets are my Disneyland and I recommend to anyone, everyone listening, and obviously we’re not all, we don’t all have access to farmers’ markets, right?
14:15: So I can understand that that would be hard if we’re living somewhere that, you know, it’s thousands or hundreds of miles away from us.
14:22: But what I do recommend when you can, if you have access to farmers.
14:25: Mars is again, like I said, seeing what’s in season and getting inspired each month there’s peak seasonal ingredients and really just getting inspired and getting those ingredients out of the at the market and highlighting them in dishes that you make for yourself and for your family because it it becomes your creative canvas.
14:43: When you use these ingredients like a paintbrush, you, you know, there’s no rules.
14:47: The kitchen has no rules in my opinion.
14:49: There’s really nothing.
14:51: , I feel like any everything that you do in the kitchen creates, there’s some sort of magic that’s created from it, right?
14:58: And so when you use these seasonal ingredients as your paintbrush as your opportunity to create something different, it can really inspire you and it can also expose your body to different, different nutritional qualities, right?
15:12: So, so yeah, I just really recommend using these vibrant seasonal ingredients that are locally sourced because the more local something is sourced, the more nutrient dense it, right?
15:24: It is, and to as much as possible, you know, I love sprouts as well.
15:29: Sprouts is one of my favorites.
15:30: I support local farmers and They, you know, they highlight that and so to be able to highlight those seasonal and local local ingredients from your farmers’ market or local grocery stores, then it really is a good place to start in the kitchen.
15:45: Like I said, no rules, just grab what looks amazing at the market, ask those farmers, ask those vendors and just start there.
15:53: So.
15:54: I want to talk a little bit about the grocery store aspect because in that like in my own experience, so when I was living in Delmar, we went to Jimbo’s a lot.
16:00: Have you been to Jimbo?
16:01: I love Jimbo yeah’s is so good, but even like like a Rouse’s or Sprouts, like they have certain things.
16:07: Ralph’s, let’s just say Ralph’s, Albertson’s, your like local grocery store that isn’t whole holistic and organic like they have the same food year round.
16:16: The shopping at Jimbo’s like they did not have the same food around.
16:19: I’m like we’re out of strawberries now.
16:21: What do you mean?
16:22: You’re like, we don’t have mangoes anymore.
16:25: What do you mean?
16:25: You know, and you’re like, I’m so sad, but then I think we were programmed before to always have access to these foods, and I think that’s like a part of the, the catch in this process is like you’re talking to so much like you’ll get your strawberries.
16:38: Back, you’ll get your, you’ll get your oranges I mean I think any oranges are year round, but like certain foods, you’ll get them more over the others.
16:45: But there’s a reason about that.
16:47: There’s a reason why we need different foods in the winter time compared to the summertime.
16:50: Do you want to talk a little bit about that?
16:52: Yes.
16:53: And you know, that’s a huge thing because we’ve grown to, you know, we’ve become accustomed to getting access to anything at any time.
17:01: Y, which then has an effect on how we appreciate things, right?
17:06: And so it’s a microcosm really of so many things.
17:09: But when we have access to, like you said, strawberries year round, then we don’t even associate that strawberries are, you know, are at its peak in spring summer time, right?
17:19: So we don’t actually know these things anymore because they’re not valued.
17:24: And so when we begin to understand it as, you know, food has its peak, it has its its container where it thrives most, then we begin to understand why we want to consume food in season, why it’s important to consume it at its peak because it’s, it’s thriving, right?
17:40: Just like ourselves, we thrive in certain environments, we thrive in certain.
17:44: Containers and so does food depending on the weather and the climate, etc.
17:49: And so when we appreciate this natural resonance and this natural rhythm of the earth, then we start to become more in tune with Earth’s natural rhythms and with ourselves, you know.
18:00: Something else that you’re saying that like really landed when you were saying that like I just thought about strawberry that’s thriving in its season.
18:06: And then you energetically eat the energy of the strawberry, and therefore you are, therefore you are thriving.
18:12: And in a lot of ways like let’s say you get strawberries all year round, it’s not gonna give you the thriving energy that you’re calling forward to being your fullest express self to your point.
18:22: Like we really do.
18:22: We need that seasonal fruit to give us a thriving energy for that season.
18:27: Yes, because it has the highest vibration in its peak season and then our bodies go into what is called sympathetic resonance so it responds, you know, the vibrations within ourselves respond to the vibration of that food.
18:39: And so we begin to appreciate the vibration.
18:43: Of that ingredient that it’s that when it’s at its peak, right?
18:47: So it’s, it’s a game changer.
18:49: It really is.
18:50: And it’s something that we all have access to when only we unlearn what we’ve been taught around food.
18:56: I think it makes it nice or welcoming for people as well because it’s so easy to get caught in, you know, I should be vegetarian or vegan or I should only eat this or I should only eat this way to all the like rules, but when you go back to just eating whole foods that are in season local, like it actually opens up for you what’s possible without so much restriction.
19:17: I think that is maybe what you’re speaking to of this unlearning because I feel like everyone has an opinion on what you should eat and what’s best for your body.
19:25: But I feel like the people that I’ve seen that are usually thriving the most are the ones that are eating local to wherever it is that they Live and when you look at other countries, they eat, they they go to the market every day or every other day, and they buy whatever is like picked by their neighbor down the street.
19:41: And I feel like we’ve lost so much of that.
19:43: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
19:44: I think everyone, you know, has the next best diet and in my opinion, Earth knows best.
19:50: So when we get in tune with Earth, then that is ultimately the greatest healing force for any of us.
19:57: Doesn’t earth doesn’t tell us to eat in one certain way.
19:59: And we can all eat differently, but still follow the natural rhythms of Earth and what we intuitively need for ourselves, right?
20:05: But it doesn’t necessarily mean that we all need to follow one diet to get to a certain outcome.
20:11: I think we just need to be in tune with what our bodies need and allow nature to guide us through that.
20:18: How do you help people to get back in tune with their bodies?
20:21: Yeah, so when I cook for people or when I work with people, I also do, you know, health coaching and I first and foremost want to help people understand the why.
20:31: You know, I can feed them food all day and, you know, teach them about where food comes from, but first and foremost, to be able to understand your body and it’s innate gifts and it’s innate cravings and tendencies.
20:45: is going to help you actually consume food differently.
20:48: So there’s a step beyond consuming for really first beyond step consuming food, which is understanding your body and what it genuinely needs in that time.
20:57: You know, what does it need, when does it need it?
21:00: And you know that can again come from peeling away at, you know, there’s a numbness that comes from just living life and consuming food.
21:09: And not necessarily understanding the impact that it can have on your body, but when we, you know, begin to listen and tap into our hearts and our bodies, it speaks it speaks, right?
21:21: It has its own language and unspoken dialogue with ourselves and I really, you know, aim to help people tune into their bodies so that they can see food differently, cook food differently, consume food differently and Essentially communicate it, communicate with it in a different way, right?
21:40: So, so yeah, I like to teach people how to get in tune with themselves so that they can really consume food in a different way.
21:47: And there’s so much to that because we’ve talked about intuitive eating so much and I think in my own intuitive eating journey because I had an eating disorder and other things that came up.
21:55: But what I’ve learned is like when you start to pay attention to how food makes you feel, then you can tell when you need a certain food.
22:03: Yeah, and like listening to it, which is difficult because there is the constant background of like, I shouldn’t be eating this food right now or this is what this law says or this is what this person says or whatever, but it’s so beautiful that you’re talking to like that and I think the numbingness is also a big one like someone else that we had here earlier, Lea, she said one of the questions that everyone asks is that what is your favorite breakfast?
22:25: And everyone’s like, I don’t eat breakfast.
22:27: I just have coffee.
22:29: And I got so curious about that when she said that, I was like, are people really listening to their hunger cues when they wake up first thing in the morning?
22:36: Or are they programmed to be like, I have to have a cup of coffee first that is taking you away from the actual nutrients from your food?
22:45: Mhm.
22:46: Yeah, yeah, totally, because it’s a routine, right?
22:48: We get ourselves into where we become comfortable with routine, but, you know, if we have a stomach ache, we kind of just, you know, put it to the side and Really tired.
22:57: We don’t really look into what that is, right?
23:00: We just drink a cup of coffee, we numb it.
23:01: If there’s a band, the whole culture of like that band-aid, you know, ideology of just slap a band-aid on it or just ignore it, turn a blind eye and all is fine, right?
23:12: But when we do a little bit of the hard work and just look, it doesn’t have to be hard work, but it can be when we’re comfortable with certain things.
23:19: but when we look really beneath that and we don’t put a band-aid on it, we can begin to reveal some really powerful stuff.
23:26: And again, it’s, you know, it’s not a secret pill.
23:30: It’s just the secret pill is you, right?
23:33: The other thing I thought about when you were talking about that there’s also specific foods that are more grounding and more airy than others.
23:38: And I’m also curious like if people are more attracted to like more airy foods because they like being more airy and not feeling grounded or vice versa, people are more like comfortable in being eating only grounding heavy food.
23:51: because they always want to be grounded, which all comes down to just like you getting in tune with your body.
23:56: And like, for example, naturally, you know, in the different seasons right now we’re in winter, we’re moving into winter and I have a lot of vata, which is essentially air and ethereal qualities in my body.
24:10: My body naturally craves grounding foods, pumpkins, you know, root vegetables, sweet potatoes, all that delicious nourishing.
24:17: You know, vegetables and I’m, you know, I love meat and all that stuff that helps ground my body.
24:23: I feel that way too.
24:24: Yeah, and so my body innately craves nourishing grounding foods and I think to your point, you know, if we tap in and listen to what our body is needing, it will tell us I want grounding food, I want potato, I want squash, I want, you know, tomato or whatever and and those.
24:40: Cravings, you know, the way that the body is communicating with you to say I want this quality within me so that I can thrive and express myself in a different way.
24:49: And yeah, it’s, it’s a really cool dialogue that you begin to have with yourself.
24:54: Thinking about this as well, Nick and I were talking about this like when women are pregnant, for example, like, you know, people are like I crave really salty foods, like their cravings completely changed and Nick and I were talking about my partner is a holistic health practitioner, and he was talking so much about like I think that’s just the body literally saying like you are nutrient deficient in this, you need more of this.
25:15: The hard part, I think when people are pregnant they start eating all the foods that they can, but there is, there is that like you feel it, you sense that your body is changing so much when you’re pregnant and hormonally that the deficiency is down, it’s gonna say I need this.
25:29: Yeah, the body will, the body will tell you and the extreme, the extreme, you know, reactions that we have or the extreme cravings that we have come, they don’t come out of nowhere, they come as a result of our bodies saying, please feed me this ingredient or please feed me this quality so that I can balance myself out, you know, and come back to homeostasis within myself.
25:50: so yeah, that’s a really big part of it.
25:52: So cool.
25:53: Yeah, I love that.
25:55: What I think is wild too, I took an herbal class recently and the man that teaches it is, he’s amazing, but he’s like 80 years old.
26:04: But something that was so eye-opening and I think it relates back to like what you’re saying about farmers and eating locally is there’s so many plants here in San Diego that can heal us, like specifically for ailments or issues that happen in This environment or like even for digestive issues like all these things and no we’re never taught really about that.
26:27: We’re not like I had no idea.
26:28: I mean there’s mugwort that grows rampant in Mission Valley which can send you on like a whole spiritual journey in your sleep, you know, and that can you imagine all the homeless people are like mugwort, yeah, they’re like this is the best plan I’ve ever had and it’s just.
26:48: Yeah, in the river there where they all hang out, they’re like smoking the mug word they’re like I’m good here, but it it does like relate back to the fact that like we’re so disconnected.
26:59: Like I bet there’s so majority of people in San Diego couldn’t even tell you what grows here, couldn’t even tell you what can be grown here, you know, and we went from this society of everyone farming their own food to now just like going to the grocery store where there’s what, like 25 vegetables like or something.
27:16: It’s like some low number and it’s all the same vegetables, like there’s no variety unless we’re, I mean, we’re so blessed here to go to Jimbo’s and sprouts and those things, but I feel like, what are some of the key things you have learned on your own healing journey in terms of like utilizing these local, the local produce or the herbs or whatever to like what was the most significant impact that you experienced in your body through this healing journey that you went on?
27:44: , yeah.
27:45: So when I started to understand the reason that I, you know, the reason behind eating local and understanding the impact that that can have on my health, I, I mean, it, it literally was as simple and not as simple as because I was so in my routine of having certain foods.
28:05: I had disordered eating when I was in my early twenties, late teens.
28:09: And it was, you know, I was so stuck in my own.
28:12: spiral of, I ate the same thing every single day, but very little of nutrient, like nutrient-dense foods, like almost nothing, you know, I would deprive myself of food so that I could consume, you know, just a little bit of ice cream at the end of the day or something like that.
28:28: And so I didn’t know really what any of that meant and you know, I was not even listening to what my body needed at that time.
28:36: So when I started to understand that, you know, it was as simple as listening to my body.
28:41: And understanding that locally grown foods in the season that it was meant to be grown in and consuming it then.
28:47: I, my energy, first of all, I was so ethereal, I was so floaty.
28:51: I was in another planet because I wasn’t consuming anything that my body needed, you know, I was not grounded and, you know, as a result, I had tremendous anxiety and I was, you know, going every which way within my own mind.
29:05: And so when it came down to really, you know, I had a conversation with an Ayurvedic doctor who He told me, he kept telling me, consume pumpkin, consume pumpkin.
29:12: And it was funny because it was like I was like pumpkin, OK.
29:14: But I should understand it was the microcosm of consume grounding foods, consume foods that will ground you ground your energy because ultimately, it’s not just the pumpkin, it’s, you know, foods that will help offset the extreme imbalance that you were experiencing in your body that was throwing you off completely, right?
29:32: Both mentally and physically.
29:34: So it really came into tuning into You know, the opposite, bringing myself back into balance with the opposite of what I was experiencing.
29:42: So I was overly, you know, airy, so I really wanted to and my digestive system was out of whack.
29:46: It was super bloated and so it was expressing itself in all different ways.
29:50: And so I started to consume more root vegetables and with these.
29:56: qualities like I mentioned before, and I started to notice my energy shift.
30:00: Immediately my anxiety subsided.
30:02: Like it was crazy, you know, I was told to be put on anxiety, depression medication, you know, all these things for the rest of my life essentially and I would, you know, develop a dependency on that and I just knew that that wasn’t true.
30:16: I just knew within myself, you know, it served it can serve a purpose for a certain time, but I also knew that that wasn’t my answer.
30:24: And when I understood the why and I understood how to to shift that, then I started to feel the difference.
30:33: Like I was, I landed, I landed on myself, you know.
30:36: Came back to Earth.
30:37: I came back to Earth, yeah, I freaking landed.
30:38: I’ve been up in the clouds, and I’m a Libra, so I was like flying away, you know, but, but yeah, it was, I came home.
30:55: I did.
30:55: That’s really beautiful.
30:58: At this, thank you for sharing that.
31:00: at this part of the interview, we want to get to know you a little bit more too.
31:05: where in your life are you feeling called to be more fully expressed, and this can be life, relationships, business, friendship, anything that comes to mind.
31:15: I have this general thing right now where I need to show up.
31:20: I’ve been wanting to show up just more as me, right?
31:24: More authentically in the sense of But nothing I need to say or do or put a mask on or pretend, you know, to be someone that I’m not and I have this fear of being accepted and I’ve I’ve had that fear really my whole life like I need to be accepted or I need to belong and all these things and it’s gotten in the way of my own self-expression because, you know, as a result of my thyroid issues and my my voice, I used to have this quiver in my voice because I got so nervous when I spoke.
31:52: I, you know, I was realizing I wasn’t showing up as myself and that’s what was has been holding me back.
31:59: And now, you know, in this past couple of years, really this last year, I’ve I’m I’m wanting to do more of that and put myself in uncomfortable situations that allow me to show up fully whether I’m quote unquote accepted or not, that’s not even something I’m concerned about anymore, you know, because if I’m accepted for not being me, like why the heck would I want to be, you know.
32:21: So you’re working on your throat.
32:22: big time.
32:23: I feel it, you know, like I feel that.
32:25: And the beautiful thing is the thyroid is in the shape of a butterfly, you know, and I butterflies are one of my symbols and it’s just, it’s, I just feel it flapping its wings, you know, like I’m ready to to express in my own way, you know.
32:40: One thing I just thought about when you were saying that, I think I remember you commenting on one of our reels and you were like, I want to be on this podcast.
32:47: Yeah, yeah.
32:48: Is that you?
32:49: That was you using your That was me.
32:50: That was the inner me, yes, because I was so, yeah, I love it and I put on my vision board early last, early this, yeah, this past year on January.
32:59: I want to be on more podcasts so that I can express myself more fully.
33:02: And this podcast is called Fully expressed.
33:06: So at the end of the year, I mean it’s a full moon, so it’s just all the things.
33:09: Yeah, the Gemini moon, Gemini moon, yeah, and I mean you can’t make that up, you know, so here we are.
33:18: Really?
33:18: So what are you welcoming in what’s your like 2025, even though we don’t, we technically believe that the new year starts in March, just clarifying.
33:27: But for the next season of life after winter, we will say, what are you calling in for yourself?
33:34: I am calling in opportunities that challenge me in the sense of pushing me more into my purpose.
33:43: I, I just know that this next year.
33:46: is going to be extremely expansive for myself because I am just so clear on my vision for what I want, you know, what I want to create in this world, when I want to continue creating and how and how I want to serve and you know, I oftentimes will try to juggle so many things at once and I’m just trying to simplify my life so that I can really clarify my vision and make greater impact.
34:10: And you know, there, there, you know, going to be some challenges and stuff.
34:14: Along the way, but those are ultimately going to help expand me into creating greater impact and I know that that’s what this year is calling in for me, you know, podcast.
34:26: It gets you recording honestly though, even like having the podcast myself, that was also a reason selfishly I was like I need to own my voice, my first year and like you really just being in the room, having these conversations, being invited to talk being interviewed is like the best way to practice.
34:42: Which can also be the scariest because you’re stepping on stage in a lot of ways.
34:45: You’re like, wait, I want to be on stage but like is there like a practice run before I get there.
34:49: But it’s in these spaces where you start to get more confident and like you can just feel your voice ground into your body.
34:57: So I’m so I’m almost like this is what the podcast was made for.
35:01: Yeah, you know, we’ve had other guests that have come on to say the same thing where they’re like, we just want to share their voices more and like the fact that this platform has become a channel.
35:10: you just like, yeah.
35:13: And so many people need to know.
35:15: I think we do live in an echo chamber and so many people don’t understand how big the role of food plays in our health and well-being to all the way down to the energy that you’re eating.
35:27: And I feel like the more people can just open their mind to it and hear that, they’re like, oh, interesting.
35:33: Like, yeah, I don’t have a sprouts here.
35:34: Maybe I’ll go and find a local farmer down the street and get my, you know.
35:38: be from him or get my like arugula from my neighbor, like little things or maybe I’m gonna grow sprouts on my windowsill.
35:45: It’s like those little changes.
35:46: I think sometimes we like feel so big it’s like feels overwhelming.
35:50: Like, well, how am I going to do that?
35:51: It’s the dead of winter and it’s snowing and I can’t grow food, but I think it opens people’s minds to other ways of being and other possibilities around being in health.
36:01: Like it doesn’t have to be a pill you take.
36:02: It doesn’t have to be, it doesn’t have to be so big and so hard.
36:06: I think it’s a great message.
36:08: And it’s a part of our nature, you know, like we’ve we’ve had these conversations around seasons like we were always this way.
36:15: We were not.
36:16: Yeah, the industrial revolution came in and was like everything else changed our world, but we’re like going back to the basics.
36:22: This is what our ancestors did.
36:25: This is what the past generations did.
36:27: It’s not as hard because you already know it.
36:31: Next time we have you on, we’ll be in candlelight.
36:35: No blue light, candlelight wear blue light for this and I was like, do we do?
36:46: We have to have.
36:46: We have sweats and we’ll we’ll have them for every guest.
36:48: We’ll be like, listen, we’re gonna have this talk, but everybody needs their blue light on their blue light blockers on fully just, yeah, in their elements.
36:57: Thank you so much for coming and thank you so much for coming this late on the.
37:01: Yeah, I know when we did this, but thank you, thank you so much.
37:06: It really meant a lot.
37:07: It was so nice to feel your energy and get to know you.
37:10: Thank you for having me.
37:11: This is, like I said, just a beautiful opportunity to connect and to share what it is that I’m so passionate about, you know, speaking out into the world.
37:18: So I really appreciate the space.
37:20: Where can people find you?
37:21: They want to learn more or work with you.
37:24: Yeah, so my website Tara Middleton.com.
37:27: And my Instagram is at Tara Middleton_ those are the two main channels that I’m reachable at, so we’ll put in the show notes too.
37:35: I think we’ll be linked for you below.
37:37: Awesome, but yeah, thank you so much.
37:39: Thank you.
37:40: Much love.
37:42: Thank you so much for tuning in.
37:43: We really appreciate you being here.
37:45: If you enjoyed this episode, we’d be grateful if you could leave us a review and share it with a friend.
37:50: Also, we would love to hear from you.
37:53: Reach out to us on Instagram and let us know where you feel inspired to express yourself as you embrace this next era.
38:00: We are here to support you and encourage you.
38:03: See you on the next one.
In This Episode, We Dive Into:
- How to tap into the healing power of food and reframe it as medicine
- Shifting from “eating on the go” to nourishing yourself deeply
- How food impacts you on an energetic and emotional level
- Why food is meant to make you feel good—not sluggish, bloated, or numb
- Simple ways to start eating seasonally and intuitively
- Where to find the highest-vibration, life-giving foods
- What you’re really consuming—energetically, environmentally, and emotionally—when you eat
- A behind-the-scenes look into the life of a holistic chef
Links & Resources:
FREE EAT THE SEASONS GUIDE: www.taramiddleton.com/seasons
Source to Fork Membership: www.taramiddleton.com/sourcetoforkkitchen
Website: www.taramiddleton.com
Connect with Tara:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taramiddleton_
About Tara:
Tara Middleton is a holistic chef, Ayurvedic health coach and the founder of Source to Fork, a movement & culinary experience rooted in reconnection—to the land, the seasons, the source of our food, and the nourishment it provides both our bodies and souls. Classically trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Melbourne, Tara has spent years learning & cooking her way around the world, immersing herself in diverse food cultures and uncovering the deep connection between food, healing and story. Her approach blends Ayurvedic wisdom with seasonal, well-sourced ingredients to create meals that nourish both body and soul. Through immersive dining experiences, retreats, workshops, and her Source to Fork membership, Tara guides individuals and families back to an intuitive, joyful relationship with food, one that’s grounded in the rhythms of nature, shaped by the flavors of her travels, and always infused with a lotta love.
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