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Psychologically, we may have only one reason to eat: to get all the nutrients our body needs so it can work properly. Well, that is our biological need, but food is much more than that. It is a bond between us and our culture, A connection between us and our families and friends.
From bringing joy to serving as a coping mechanism, food has myriad roles to play in our lives. We all have our relationship with food, which goes beyond what and how we should eat. It is also very important to explore and understand that relationship in order to build healthy and sustainable healthy behaviors.
This relationship can be healthy or unhealthy. A healthy relationship with food involves nourishing your body with food that makes you feel better mentally and physically. It relieves you from the pressure of "eating perfectly." As it makes eating fun and effortless, the way it should be.
An unhealthy relationship with food is more of a restriction around eating or feeling guilt over certain food choices. It is more like "food controlling you" rather than having control over what you eat.
Identify Your Relationship With Food
Before going toward any changes and improving your relationship with food, it's important to know what kind of relationship you have with your food Right Now.
To know that, you have to have some self-talk and ask yourself what your food is to you.
Is it A Source of Comfort: Most of us turn ourselves toward food whenever we have some emotional challenges or are going through rough times. We take food as an emotional support to reduce our loneliness and boredom.
Does it Have Another Purpose: Food is not always about eating and filling our stomachs. Sometimes, it is linked to celebrations, and other times to coping with certain situations. So, reflect on your association of food with certain events or emotions in your life.
Do You Have Restricted Food Choices: Are you restricting yourself from eating the food you like? Observe your eating behaviors whenever you go to a party or office get-together.
Do you use Other Tools Instead of Eating: Sometimes, we only need food to comfort ourselves, whether because of loneliness or any emotional stress. In that case, if you are able to engage yourself in new hobbies or activities rather than going toward food. You can fight those unhealthy eating behaviors.
A Recipe for A Healthy Relationship With Food
Don't worry if you find your relationship with food a bit complex. None of us is born with a healthy relationship with food. All of us have gone through bad food choices and behaviors at some point in our lives. Most of us have this type of all-or-nothing thinking (EnterLink) especially when it comes to losing weight. But What's important is to recognize it and make it right.
Reaching your goal by labeling (EnterLink) the food as "good," "bad," or "guilt-free" will only lead you to a bad relationship with food. Then, how can you build a healthy relationship with food?
To help you build that healthy relationship, We have come up with 4 “ingredients” to make an effective recipe for a healthy relationship with food:
1. No Food is Off Limit:
There is nothing that you cannot eat except you have a certain medical condition. Allow yourself to enjoy everything that you like. Don't place any specific food group "off-limits" or "guilt free." For example, if there is a favorite dessert at your office party, you should have a reasonable portion of it without giving it a second thought.
2. Eat Without Guilt:
When you are allowing yourself to have what you like, this should be without any guilt or regret. Don't apologize if you had a small piece of cake last night or went out to eat with a friend this weekend.
We know it may not be easy, especially in the world we are living in, where every other food item at the supermarket is labeled as “guilt-free." But remember, removing these good and bad labels from foods is all you need to feel ok after anything you want.
3. Mindful Food Choices:
In the digital world we are living in, it is very difficult to spend some time on food without any distractions. But trust us, eating mindfully while focusing just on your food is a proven method to fix a bad relationship with food.
Learning to slow down and enjoy every bite of food you take can help you recognize your real fullness and hunger cues. So next time when you start eating, put your phone aside and turn off the TV. Observe the taste, texture, and color of your food to enjoy it properly.
4. Honoring Body’s Feedback:
In this calorie-deficit era, we have made it compulsory to calculate the calories of everything we eat and maintain a specific calorie range. But do you know that the calorie requirement can vary from day to day? And our body knows the best what and how much we need.
So, even if you have reached your calorie count for the day, and your body is asking for more food. Don't think about starving it; eat instead. The better you understand your hunger cues, the more you will be able to manage your appetite and food intake.
Final Words
It may look like a simple four ingredients recipe for a complicated relationship. But these four ingredients are all you need to build a healthy relationship with food and achieve sustainable well-being.
And we are here to guide you, from exploring all-or-nothing thinking to identifying your hunger and fullness cues; we will be by your side, guiding you step by step so that you can develop the habits that can make you feel good about your relationship with food.
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