Food Fear – Part 1

FOOD FEAR – PART 1

2 conversations in 4 days with women who told me that feel guilty around food, feel guilty when they eat.  WTF!  I swear not from judgement but from frustration that intelligent, middle aged women (meaning they have learnt a lot from life by now) are feeling this way around food which is the very thing that we need for survival, for life!  Might I also point out it is also the very thing we need to build a rocking bod if that is what drives you instead.

It doesn’t really surprise me, I mean the noise out there is very loud indeed in regards to what we should or shouldn’t eat and even WHEN you should and shouldn’t eat.  Even those coming from the “health” perspective and not a weight loss perspective are adding fuel to the food fear fire by vilifying even whole foods, natural foods that we once thought and were taught were healthy.

Too many food rules!! For those of us who want to do the best for our bodies and learn what is healthy we take this stuff on board and then one day we find ourselves in this situation of “what the hell do I eat, I am scared to eat anything”.

I found myself in this situation a number of years ago when I went about immersing myself into learning about nutrition.  Luckily I am a very self aware person and once I noticed the situation arising I went about changing it.  My solution, I blocked out the noise and stopped listening to everyone out there, who mostly have good intentions I’m sure and I continued to listen to my body instead.

DID YOU KNOW THAT HOW WE THINK ABOUT THE FOOD WE EAT ACTUALLY IMPACTS HOW IT IS METABOLISED BY OUR BODIES??? When I first read the research around this it blew my mind.  Not because I was surprised, I had been teaching this idea for years but now there was research to back it up as a fact not just my opinion.  So how you think about the food you are eating effects how the food is metabolised and this will affect your physical health not just your mental health as I and you perhaps thought.

So we agree that our internal dialogue is so important, that we have to change our thinking around our food to a more positive one, a “healthier” one?  So how do we do that?  I am sure there are a few ways but I simply looked at it logically and changed my view point.

FOOD IS ESSENTIAL FOR SURVIVAL.

-WITHOUT IT WE WILL DIE.

EVERY TIME I EAT A MEAL IT IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE OUR BODY WHAT IT NEEDS TO THRIVE.

IF I EAT HEALTHY (AKA WHOLE FOODS, MEANING MOSTLY UNPROCESSED) FOODS BUT ENSURE THEY TASTE GREAT BY CHOOSING OPTIONS THAT APPEAL TO ME AND ADDING BITS OF “FUN” TO MY MEALS, I WILL ENJOY WHAT I EAT AND LOOK FORWARD TO EATING THIS WAY AND FIND IT A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE INSTEAD OF A NEGATIVE ONE.

LET MY BODY TELL ME WHAT IS NOT HEALTHY FOR ME BY CHECKING IN WITH MYSELF AND TAKING NOTICE OF ANY MENTAL SYMPTOMS OF LOW MOOD, LACK OF CLARITY AND THAT I FEEL ALERT.  NOTICING CHANGES IN MY WEIGHT, MY ENERGY LEVELS, HOW OFTEN I GET SICK AND WHETHER I HAVE A LUST FOR LIFE.

So my answer to the question that currently has 372 different answers, “WHAT SHOULD I EAT”?

Whatever the bloody hell you want to that makes you feel good and makes your body thrive!!