Shifting Your Perception to Have a Relaxed Attitude to Food
Food. The word brings up so many images and related words inside our heads. We often think of foods as good and bad, healthy and unhealthy. We praise those who have salads and we put down those who eat pizza. We have TV shows focused on food covering everything from how it’s grown, where to source it, people showing us how to cook it and even competitions seeing how creative people can be with it. Food is not just a fact of life. It can be an obsession.
We all need to eat in order to function and perform well, but often our relationship with food can become complicated and we feel like it’s controlling us. This article looks at why we sometimes approach food the way we do and how to develop a positive relationship with food, so we can boost our health, energy and vitality.
When we look in the media we also see that magazines, TV shows and movies regularly portray what is seen as acceptable or ideal body types and shapes with slim waists and high muscle definition, or at times for women, waif-like characters. Because of their fame, constant questions are asked and discussed. What does your diet look like? How often do you work out? What do you eat each day? With the underlying thought: What can I do to look like that?
What we often fail to realise is that these type of bodies are not the “norm.” Many of these people have to undergo extreme regimes and sometimes surgeries, just to look the way they do. Whether we like it or not, we are surrounded by these media messages reinforcing the ideal of a “perfect body,” which negatively impacts on how we feel.
We start to associate these “ripped” or “thin” bodies with success, popularity and wealth because of the way society values them. For many people, this triggers the flow of chasing after that “ideal,” which in itself is not even attainable as the images we see on screens and in magazines are not real. They are so air-brushed, sliced, smoothed and changed, that they end up as something utterly unattainable, but our brains don’t often make that connection. So, we are left reaching for the unreachable.
When we’re chasing what we see as the perfect body, food can become a focus. We start separating foods into “things that we can eat” and “things that we aren’t allowed to eat.” We start restricting the amount of calories that we intake in an effort to drop weight. Unfortunately, the results are rarely the “perfect” body. Remember that the ones in the magazines aren’t even real to start with. We all already have an amazing body by the way.
When we don’t reach the goal we’ve set, we may begin to feel guilty, unaccomplished and frustrated. We might give up on the exercise routine or start overeating the foods that were previously restricted. Dieting culture almost always leaves us right back where we began, or perhaps worse-off, but with feelings of guilt and failure as well.
If you’ve experienced this, you may believe that life will always feel like this. That you can’t get off the roller-coaster.
What if I told you that it could be different? What if I told you that the negative relationship you have with food at the moment can be mended? It definitely can and I’m going to show you how you can start doing it and helping others do it for themselves!
1. Stop Labelling Your Foods
It’s not healthy or helpful to think of your food as good or bad. Things are not that simple. When you label a food as bad, it creates a feeling of shame and guilt when you consume the so-called ‘bad’ food. Is it great to consume ice cream all day, every day? No. However, having a tasty ice cream sundae every once in a while is absolutely fine.
All foods have some type of nutritional value, even if they may not be as healthy for you as some other foods are. Let go of the good and bad mentality in order to truly have a healthy relationship with food.
2. Give Yourself the Trust and Respect You Deserve
Have you ever asked yourself why you restrict certain foods? Perhaps these foods have been a weakness and you don’t trust yourself to remain in control of how much you eat? What happens when you try to restrict yourself? Do you manage to stay away from these foods or end up binging on them and feeling bad later?
If you’ve been trying to cut out entire food groups because you don’t trust yourself, rebuild that trust by allowing yourself to have these foods occasionally and see what happens. One piece of cheesecake won’t make you gain several pounds.
Aim to eat the food you love and love the food you eat. That means eating it in a proportion that loves you back and leaves you feeling great. Understand that your misconceptions have no true impact on your on your body and let yourself enjoy food. Also, instead of being too concerned about overeating less healthy food, fill yourself up with wholesome real food, first. You will naturally eat less of the not- as-healthy options.
3. Respect Your Body’s Wishes
When you’re hungry, eat. When you’re beginning to get full, stop eating. Get in touch with your natural hunger and satiety cycles so that food is much more satisfying.
If your body is craving a certain type of food, have some. If you’re not letting yourself have a certain type of food and your body is telling you that you need it, stop restricting your foods. Your body knows what you need naturally. Stop fighting against it and start tuning in and working with it.
4. Eat Mindfully
Whenever you do eat, be sure that you single-task and focus on what you are doing. Avoid distractions such as TV, reading, social media and make each meal and snack an occasion that you really focus on and enjoy.
Be present in the moment and think about how the food looks, smells, tastes and feels in your mouth. When you do this, you heighten the experience so that it’s much more satisfying overall.
As well as improving your digestion, you will feel much more satisfied and will naturally regulate and eat in proportion with what you need. Don’t feel that you have to finish your plate. Just pause every so often., check in with how you feel and stop whenever you like. It builds trust and self confidence also.
5. Accept That There Is No Perfect Meal Plan
Let’s face it, you’re not going to eat the same types of meals day in and day out and you shouldn’t expect yourself to. As humans, we crave variety.
Trying to create a strict schedule with predesignated meals often creates problems. What if you don’t feel like carrot sticks and hummus today, what if a warming soup or broth would feel better to you? Focus on the big picture of getting lots of fresh, nutritious real food in first and allow yourself variety within that framework.
6. Get Coaching for The Emotional Triggers That Cause You To Eat
We sometimes eat food as a way to deal with stress and ward off negative feelings. If you can relate to this and you can’t seem to stop eating foods to deal with your issues, consider getting support to work through this and reach a place of feeling relaxed about food and confident with your choices.
“You deserve to eat wonderful food that will nourish your precious body.”
Remember that there is nothing wrong with eating food.
You deserve variety of flavours and textures. You deserve to enjoy delicious foods, including ones that may not be the most nutritious choices at times. The only time food becomes a problem is when you stop enjoying it and feel it is controlling you.
Remember that you already have an amazing body. Focus in on what you like and love about it. How strong, flexible and capable it is. How this body of yours has taken you places and allowed you to do wonderful things? When you really treasure and respect your body and start to appreciate how amazing it really is, it will start to transform the way you look at fuelling it. Let go of unrealistic expectations that may have been forced on you by media messages and choose to embrace yourself, just as you are. From that place you can choose to make your body even stronger, healthier and more vibrant so you can go out and enjoy life even MORE!\
