Introduction

Many of us are creatures born out of the things we do every time. This goes from purchasing the same foods from the same grocery store over and over to preparing the same recipes every day or simply living within your own familiar routines. But if you are serious about eating healthy food and losing weight, then you have to up your game. It also means that you change those bad eating approaches, that are often connected to an emotional status that push you to bad behavior, you have and start thinking in a new light about your diet and lifestyle.

The problem is that we get so used to our old approach that it becomes difficult to give up these habits.

As time passes by, habits become automatic, and learned behaviors are even stronger than the new habits you are trying to imbibe into your lifestyle.

When you feel down or weak, your intentions get subdued by automatic intentions.  

Anyone can be going along just fine, till the point where they hit a rough patch and feelings of depression, boredom, stress, and loneliness.

For you to be able to fight these inadequate approaches, you must first;

1. Know the “why” of these bad habits.

2. Figure out the “how” of fighting them.

For you to change your attitude towards eating, you should start by changing your food habits.

Here are simple steps towards it:

1. Take Little Steps: Making a few changes in your lifestyle and diet would improve your health and trim your waistline.

A few experts have suggested how to go about this;

   ·     Discuss your problems with a specialist;

   ·     Have a nutritious breakfast every day;

   ·     Get an adequate amount of sleep every night – eight hours;

   ·     To avoid distractions, eat meals at a table;

   ·     Reduce alcohol intake.

2. Become More Cautious: One of the first steps toward overcoming your bad eating habits is paying more notice to what you eat or drink. Always read food labels (without getting obsessed, mind you!), become used to the lists of ingredients, and start to take note of every edible thing you stuff into your mouth.

3. Making Plan/Being Specific: How will you go about eating more fruit, having breakfast daily, or getting to the gym more frequently? Point out your options. Keepin a journal can help the tracking. For instance, plan to take a piece of fruit to work daily for snacks, stock up on fruits and cereal for quick breakfasts, and go to the gym on the way to work for three or two weeks. It’s not only about saying you will work out at the gym but thinking about how it would fit into your lifestyle.

4. Tackle New Mini-Goals Every Week: These mini-steps will later add up to significant change. For instance, if your goal is to eat more veggies, convince yourself to try one new veggie every week until you find the one you really enjoy eating.

5. Be Real: Do not give yourself too many expectations. It takes about a month or more for the new actions you imbibed to become habits. Like the saying, slow and steady wins the race, but never forget caution.

6. Work Towards Stress Management: Focus on tackling stress using methods like meditation, relaxation exercise, CBT, DBT or whatever you think could work for you. Never think of using food to cope with your anxiety.

Still in relationship with food, maintaining a good and right relationship with food involves having the absolute permission to eat foods that make you feel good, both physically and mentally.

Having an excellent relationship with food isn’t a race that can be run in one day, but it’s something that you’ll undoubtedly have to work on for your entire life.

Understanding the relationship you have with food

Before you are able to work towards having a good relationship with food, it is primary to identify the signs and symptoms of a bad relationship with food. A good relationship with food has nothing to do with the types of food you eat or the quality of your diet. Instead, what matters is how and why you choose the foods you eat.

Signs of a bad relationship with food

1. Feeling guilty about eating.

2. Avoiding or restricting yourself from foods that you have been told to be bad for you.

3. Developing a long list of rules to guide the foods you can and cannot eat.

4. Depending on calorie counters or apps to tell you whether to eat more or not.

It’s also crucial to note that your relationship with food may be an unsteady one. Sometimes you may eat and have no guilt towards the foods you eat, but some other times you may feel some remorse after eating certain foods. Now, this is not what I’ll call great, but expected.

The aim of a good relationship with food is for you to have more definite and ordinary experiences with food than you do with your negative experiences. It is also important for you to show patience and kindness toward yourself.

Recognizing a good relationship with food

A good relationship with food is similar to any other relationship. In that, it takes time, practice, and patience.

When you start appreciating food as being more than just a way to fuel your body, you will begin to see value in it and develop a healthier relationship with food.

The signs of a good relationship with your food are:

1. Giving yourself unrestricted permission to eat the foods you love eating.

2. Listening and respecting the hunger cues your body has.

3. Eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are full.

4. Believing that no food is off-limits.

5. Not being obsessed over the number on the scale.

You are probably looking at the list above, and you doubt if you’ll ever get to that point, but we’re running this challenge with you.

Instead of thinking more about checking off every item given on the list, give it your best, at the same time approaching one at a time and at a pace that suits you.

Hoping for a change is one thing; actively trying to make the change is another.

The first thing is not to forget that you are unique; hence, your food preferences and history with food are peculiar to you and your personality. You have the option to direct your approach in a way that best suits you.

In case the previous signs sound unreal to you, you might want to view them as tips, but in this light;

1. Do not limit the permission you give yourself to eat: This is a sign that you have a healthy relationship with food.

2. Eat when you feel hungry: Every person not suffering from eating disorders has the natural ability to regulate their hunger.

3. Keep practicing mindful eating: Mindful eating has become an essential element of fixing one’s incorrect relationship with food. It has to do with eating at the moment and being fully ready for an eating experience.

4. Welcome every food in your diet: Referring to a particular food as bad just gives it unnecessary power. Indeed, some foods are more nutritious than others and also contribute generously to improving health. Despite this, eating a single food does not affect your health in some miraculous kind of way.

5. Be Mindful of your plate: Imagine a life where you don’t need to explain your food choices to yourself or someone else.

A lot of people are constantly giving themselves or others a reason why they chose a particular food. For instance, ”it’s because I had a bad day I’m eating ice cream,” or, “I’m going to have salad today because I didn’t really get time to exercise.”

So, keeping in mind these suggestions will help you build a better relationship with food.

Conclusion

It is now clear that understanding the differences between a bad and a good relationship with food is crucial to improve your confidence and change the dire conditions that sometimes let you fall into a spiral of bad habits.

So, what are you waiting for? Take action and start immediately to work on yourself!