Did you know that you can change how you think about food and get off the dieting roller coaster?
Do you catch yourself snacking mindlessly in front of the TV, or, when you are caught up in a busy day, and shovelling food, hardly tasting it?
And you know when you’re eating just for comfort, or because of boredom or stress.
When stressed, many of us turn to food to comfort our feelings and overeat as a result.
To let go of these habits along with the weight gain that follows, you can choose how you think about your food.
Here are three strategies to help you build healthy thinking habits about food and give you a sense of eating freedom.
Strategy #1 – Manage your thoughts
Pay attention to your own thoughts and the way they cause you to feel.
Building awareness is an important foundational skill you need to learn to maintain healthy eating for life.
And is the first step to eliminate the faulty thoughts and belief patterns that cause you to overeat.
Here are some tips:
- Acknowledge and accept that your journey is going to be challenging and uncomfortable at times.
- Shift your focus to healthy lifestyle habits and nourishing your body.
- Commit to achieving your goal and staying on course no matter how long it takes and what obstacles you may encounter.
“The most challenging part in making a change isn’t about getting your body in shape: It’s about getting your mind in shape”
Irena Geller
Strategy #2 – Understand your hunger.
Do you find yourself eating when you’re not really hungry?
Over time, people often lose touch with how physical hunger and fullness actually feel.
To understand your “hunger” cues it’s helpful to decipher between being physically or emotionally hungry by paying attention to your hunger signals.
Here are some tips:
Writing down what and why you are eating forces you to face the real reasons behind your hunger.
As you gather data you will notice that certain patterns emerge.
For example:
When you feel hungry, ask yourself the following questions:
- How do I feel emotionally? (Hunger should not be connected to emotions)
- How long is it since I last ate? (Should be 3 – 4 hours on most days)
- What do I feel like eating? (Is it sensible or is it comfort food?)
Strategy #3 – Self-soothing solutions
“Schedule in your self-soothing practice to feed your soul-when you feed your soul you won’t need to feed your emotional hunger.”
Find your own rhythm and routine. Build a self-soothing routine that is yours, what I mean by that is it ticks all of your boxes, not your neighbours or your best friends.
A practice that feeds your soul.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- “What am I HUNGRY for?”
- “What one routine could I put into place this WEEK that will “feed my soul”
- “When, Where and for how long will I practice?”
Ultimately finding out the reason why you are filling up on your feelings and applying some ways to get out of that cycle will help you start eating with a sense of freedom, self-confidence, and empowerment.
What does this mean for you?
When you make conscious, intentional choices about food – you can eat with freedom consistently.
Now I have a question for you….
- How can you start paying attention to your thoughts about food?
I would love to hear your feedback, thoughts and any questions you have on this article.
Please tell me in the comments below.
This story was originally published on The Carousel.
