How many times have you eaten that third donut only to regret it minutes after you scarf it down? Or, you think to yourself, “Well, I’ve had a rough day today at work, so I deserve a bigger bowl of ice cream tonight!” So many of us have a hard time with eating to fill an emotional need, and, let’s face it…it’s difficult to stop that habit once you start. The struggle is real y’all! We need some guidance, a little encouragement and a whole lotta accountability to help us make better decisions when it comes to eating. Ain’t no shame in that! We all need more support in our lives.
When working with clients who struggle with eating issues, I emphasize balance and mindful eating. We work on eating intuitively. You can enjoy foods that our culture would deem as ‘unhealthy’ as long as you don’t overdo it. And I promise you will delight in them even more because you won’t feel guilty or upset afterwards. Food is good and is designed to be enjoyed. So, let’s figure out how to do that!
The first step in this process is what I call reflection. It’s when you start thinking about heading to the fridge, pantry, or break room to find something to munch on because that last meeting didn’t go as well as you hoped or your mom just yelled at you, or (insert personal reason here), and you are so dang upset! This is when you need to reflect on your motivation for eating. Are you hungry, or are you eating because you are upset? If you determine that it’s hunger, how do you know? Is it that your stomach growls, you get a headache, or you feel like a zombie because your blood sugar is low? Cultivate that mind/body connection to know how your body is speaking to you. If you cannot determine if it’s hunger or emotion, wait 5-10 minutes and see how you feel. If you are emotionally eating, determine what happened just prior to trigger that desire and write it down. Keep a log of emotional triggers to increase self-awareness and plan ahead for similar events in the future. Have a list of other things you can do to replace the emotional Eat-A-Thon!
After you determine that you are actually hungry, it’s time to practice mindful eating. To practice mindful eating, you need to make sure you’re not doing anything else but eating—no phone, no TV, no work, just plain and simple eating. Enjoy your food and eat slowly. Take pleasure in every bite and be grateful! It’s amazing how much more we can enjoy our food when we aren’t running around or doing a million other things while eating. We might also realize that we don’t need to eat as much because we are satisfied with a smaller amount when we eat at a slower pace.
The third step is the practice of gratefulness. A lot of us say prayers of thankfulness before we eat, but I’m going to switch it up and have you practice gratefulness at the end of a meal or snack. (Or you can do both and just be extra grateful!) The idea behind this is to promote a healthy relationship with food. When you mindfully eat, you will be more likely to not overeat. This is great; however, some of us have developed really negative thought patterns regarding food in general. No matter what we eat, even if we don’t overeat, we still might have an ingrained feeling of guilt. In order to combat this, we practice gratefulness. We replace any guilt or judgment with thanksgiving.
These steps are not the easiest to accomplish on your own! Intuitive eating is a practice that takes time to learn, support from others, and, most importantly, a commitment to YOU. If you need it, I’d love to come alongside and help you make peace with food once and for all. No more fad diets, beating yourself up and feeling guilty after a meal! Can you imagine?
Food and freedom can coexist!
