By Laura E
So lately I seem to be attracting those clients I love to work with – those that don’t really have the best relationship with food or their bodies and have been on so many diets in their lives, they have forgotten how to listen to their body.
Their general thoughts and feelings about food involve guilt, control, perfection, deprivation followed by binging and “I’ll start Monday” thinking. The focus for them is really about what they can and can’t eat and what they should or shouldn’t eat. They come to me with an expectation I will tell them what they are allowed to eat. They have so little trust in themselves around food that they need lists and plans to tell them when and what to eat.
The funniest thing is that every client does the same thing. They write their food down for me for a week or so before their first appointment and bring it in saying; “this week was very different, I don’t usually eat as much chocolate or takeaway as that. (Keep in mind there is never any judgment from me; I certainly don’t go over the list with a red pen telling them how bad they have eaten. So after questioning them further, turns out they subconsciously wanted to get in what food they could before seeing me. They spend the week having a series of ‘last suppers’ in that they eat all those foods they think they wont be allowed to eat again.
This way of thinking and behaving is just one example of searching outside of ourselves for answers. Of course, there are times when this is necessary, however, when it comes to eating and nourishing our bodies, our intuition and the natural signals we were born with can be our best friend!
When you are searching for what foods can help you achieve your health goals, whether they are weight loss, more energy or simply better health, focus on what you can do in each moment, at each meal or snack, to feel good straight away. Choose those foods that will nourish your body.
Feeling good physically can have such a fantastic effect on your whole life, the way you function at work, at home, how productive you are and how you treat others.
So what choices can help you to feel good right now??
Instead of diving into that bag of chips for something to crunch on to relieve stress and getting the guilts when you get to the end of the pack…… How about giving yourself permission to have something to eat, but first taking out some time, even just 5mins to de-stress, lie down, take some deep breaths. How much better would that make you feel?
Instead of eating when you think you are hungry…… How about having a nice cool glass of water to make sure you’re not just dehydrated? Wouldn’t that feel good to give your body a chance to more clearly tell you when you are hungry?
Instead of getting so anxious to eat something at dinner time you snack before eating the main meal, then sit down to eat and the hunger is no longer there…. How about allowing yourself the full enjoyment and satisfaction of the meal by being nicely hungry to eat it. The food will taste so much better when your stomach is empty.
Instead of giving up every time you overeat or make a choice that doesn’t nourish you, then vow to ‘start again tomorrow’ and eat everything in site until then…… How about being kind to yourself and making a choice to listen to your body and eat again when your stomach tells you you’re hungry? Wouldn’t that feel great to break that cycle and make a change RIGHT NOW?!
Sometimes it can become overwhelming to think of all the things we should be doing in regards to our health. Most of the time though, making a few simple health changes can make our lives even more fulfilling and less overwhelming. We have so many opportunities to make feel good choices everyday. What feel good choices can you make?
