How is your relationship with food? Do you feel okay with everything that you eat, or are there certain foods that come with guilt after consuming them? Most of us have a list created in our heads with good & bad foods. You know what to eat according to this list and when you take a bite from the “bad” list, guilt and regret start sneaking up. You go from being on point with everything you consume vs long periods of time where you eat the total opposite. You restrict yourself all week and feel proud of the accomplishment and when the weekend comes, overindulging hits you and you´re left with a food coma that lasts until Tuesday. Before holidays, summer and special events a new strict diet is put in place followed by a training schedule to get into shape. Afterwards, it´s all forgotten and before you know it, you´ll back on square one. This is how a normal year looks for most of us. The mind is constantly on food. Every time you eat, there is an underlying thought of what you “should” or “shouldn’t” consume.
Why is it that so many of us have this unhealthy relationship with food? It´s like we have forgotten the basic principle to stay alive. We have moved away from eating to survive to live to eat. It goes from one extreme to another. Carnivore diet vs raw vegan diet. Restricting vs binging. There will always be one extreme to balance out the opposite. The focus normally falls on low calorie diets and calorie counting. Prioritising the true needs of our bodies and how to nourish yourself has been long forgotten. No wonder we get confused when all that we used to know, as humans, on how food looks like has shifted. Visually being able to recognise what you´re eating is almost impossible. Now you need to read a label to figure it out. Has this change created our eating habits? Or is it the fact that what you eat is not the main focus, it´s how you look.
Whatever the underlying reason may be, I´m sure you´re tired of this constant battle. All the feelings and negative thoughts that control your everyday life. The confusion on what to eat and a constant dieting cycle. Fluctuating weight and negative body image. Pressure from yourself with your inner mean girl (or boy) running the show in your head. It’s time to stop thinking about your eating habits as “mistakes” and quit all punishments and restrictions that follow.
Stop demonizing food
It’s time to toss away the “bad” food list in a no recycle bin! There is no such thing as bad vs good food, there is just food. Sure there is food that’s not good for us, such as poisonous mushrooms. Generally, it’s more about food with high nutrition value and some that are more lacking. Instead of focusing on all the things that you shouldn’t have, place your attention to what is nourishing your body. Pick the food that will be the best fuel for your vehicle (body).
Self-love
Your body deserves all your love. Eating food that’s on your ‘bad’ list can actually be an act of self-harm or sabotage. It’s hard to be loving when you don’t fully appreciate and respect yourself or your body. By taking time for self-care and working on your relation to your physical body, things will start to be easier. When you love something, you want to nourish it as much as you can.
Restrictions lead to over indulging
By picking the food that you “should” eat, instead of what you want to, a feeling of dissatisfaction lingers and will eventually bite back. Constantly looking at what other people eat and compare it to your plain choices, envy builds up in your chest until you no longer can stand it – full day over binging happens. Restricting what you can eat and calories consumed in a day will always backfire. Changing your mindset around food choices is essential to avoid those unstoppable indulging moment.
Understand your why
Think to yourself why you make the food choices that you do. Is it truly for wanting to be healthy, or is it for physical appearance? Always striving to reach a body image is exhausting. Moments will hit you when motivation is running low, especially when there are little results to your effort. Be true to yourself what you want to achieve. Is it looking a certain way, or feeling vibrant in your body, or is it a simple habit that you picked up since childhood with no meaning behind it.
Take ownership
Temptations are everywhere. Coffee shops, social media pictures, commercials on bus stops – it’s unavoidable. Blaming society for making it hard to stay healthy will not get you anywhere. Sure, the world we are living in today does not make it easy for us. Regardless of this, we tend to create our own challenges anyway. Meeting up with friends at a coffee shop where you know has too many temptations or storing unhealthy snacks in your kitchen, is a way to create your own roadblocks. You may also blame time, budget or stress for the food you eat? You are the only person that is truly in control what goes down in your stomach. As long as you’re not being fed, it’s all in your power. Take full responsibility for the food you eat, regardless of what it may be, and leave the blaming on other things behind.
The food lingo
Start to pay attention to the language you use around food. When someone offers you a dessert, do you say something in the line of, ”no I can’t have that” or “I shouldn’t eat this”? Having those negative words in your head around food will make you feel like a little child again. Remember what your parents used to say to you with a finger held high, that you can’t have a cookie before dinner? By using the same language as an adult, your inner child will come to live and you’ll end up rebelling against it. Changing your words to: “I choose not to”, “I’m fine without” or simple “no, thanks”, that small rebel with start to quiet down.
Think beyond your physical apperance & practise gratitude
When you are clearer on how your relationship with food looks like, and your habits start to change, this is the final building block to healthy eating. Tune in and pay attention to your body. Think about your heart that’s beating, your lungs that’s breathing in air, your blood that’s pumping around, your stomach that’s digesting your food – without you even have to ask for it. Even when you keep throwing challenges to your body, it still stays loyal and does its job. Be grateful for the fantastic body that you have. Leave the physical look behind, and think about the inside. Eat to nourish & fuel. By changing the way you think of food, as fuel for your body, a whole new thought process will be created.
If you need support in your journey, reach out to me for a free consultation. Together we can change your relationship with food and create a new lifestyle that’s sustainable, enjoyable and without the restriction thinking. Remember, I’m always here if you need someone to talk to.