4 Steps To A Healthy Relationship With Food
By the time we reach adulthood, we have been on the receiving end of a lot of bad dieting advice. It seems like every year, there is a new diet that is meant to change the game, and it always seems to directly contradict everything we thought we knew about health and nutrition.
Shifting Your Focus
That’s just it, though- these diets are entirely focused on weight loss and not on our health. In fact, there are many people in the world who are thin but are in extremely poor health.
What is lost in these diets is that food is a part of our everyday lives, intrinsic to our wellbeing and part of the way we connect with other people. When we are so focused on the specifics of what to eat and not to eat, we can begin to develop some really troubling ideas around food and can even begin to restrict and binge, ultimately resulting in a disordered eating pattern.
I’ve talked before about simplifying your approach to dieting. By that I mean just try to eat a balance of protein, complex carbs, and fresh fruits and vegetables. But what if you are starting from a place where your relationship with food and eating is already quite bad?
I want to help you make healthy choices part of your lifestyle. To do that, we need to divorce ourselves from these impossible standards and dangerous diets. So, today I want to give you four easy ways to begin to repair your approach to food and cultivate a healthy relationship with diet and exercise.
Healing Your Relationship with Food
Unconditional permission to eat.
Give yourself permission to eat all foods. Don’t worry about what time it is, what you ate yesterday or even an hour ago. Work toward removing labels of good or bad from food.
Aside from allergies, no foods should be off-limits. Many times, being restrictive in your food choices can actually lead to a pattern of restriction and binging. By depriving your body of what it’s craving, you may end up overdoing it when you finally give in.
Aside from that, restriction can lead to all-or-nothing thinking which is always hard to maintain. You begin to feel like even one slice of cake will undo any progress you’ve made.
This is simply not realistic. When you eat well most of the time, these occasional treats will not throw off all of your progress, and will actually make it easier to stay on track in the long term.
Tune into your body.
Learn your body’s hunger cues and work on responding when your body is actually hungry and full.
If you are someone who always skips breakfast and works through lunch, you are likely feeling pretty sluggish by the time you get off work and binging on whatever is around all night. Try to stay fueled up throughout the day to have a stable blood sugar.
Start your day with a high protein breakfast like eggs or peanut butter toast and a piece of fruit. Keep it simple to make it sustainable. Keep some high protein snacks at your desk to make sure you’re getting fuel throughout the day no matter how many meetings you have on your calendar.
On the flip side, those of us who were raised by clean platers may need to relearn our fullness cues. Try to slow down and pause throughout your meal so that your body can let you know when you’re full. Take smaller portions and go back for more if you’re still hungry.
Cultivate mindfulness.
I talk about mindfulness a lot, so if you are a regular reader you probably already know the drill. When you eat, really enjoy it.
Food is meant to be shared and is meant to be a joyous and nourishing part of our lives. Take the time to really appreciate what food is adding to your life, from simple enjoyment to giving our bodies everything they need to carry us through life.
To begin to cultivate more mindfulness around food, start by removing distractions and try to be physically present and in the moment. This means turning off screens and actually sitting down to a meal. Make a new family tradition by eating dinner all together each night.
Take a moment of gratitude before each meal to appreciate the fact that you are able to care for and nourish yourself. Use all of your senses, take in your food visually, smell it, and pay attention to how it feels to take each bite.
Get off the diet roller coaster.
If you are a lifelong yo-yo dieter, it is probably time to get off the roller coaster. Much like good/bad labels, following restrictive diets can really mess with our mindset. A lifetime of restrictive dieting can create some really troublesome and confusing ideas and feelings about food.
Aside from the mental toll of yo-yo dieting, this lifestyle can also begin to impact your health. Large and frequent weight fluctuations and diet changes can impact your metabolism, making it harder and harder to maintain a healthy weight.
At least for awhile, try to remove all meal plans and diet programs from your life. Try to be more in the moment with your choices. Stock up on a variety of items and think about what you want to eat, when you want it. You can toss out the meal prep Tupperware later.
Asking for Help
Lastly, know when to seek help from a professional. It isn’t impossible that you are already dealing with a disordered eating pattern and very poor relationship with food.
If you find yourself overly restricting or obsessing about food, I hope that you can feel empowered to ask for help. Talk to your doctor about whether you would be a candidate for professional help figuring out how to heal and grow to have a healthy relationship with food.
Because of all of the bad information out there, a healthy diet can feel really overwhelming and confusing. Be patient with yourself as you unlearn all of the bad habits you’ve developed and remember that you are just doing the best you can with what you have. You’ll get there eventually!
