How's your Relationship with Food?

We all know that some relationships in our lives cause stress. If you had to make a list, which five relationships in your life can be stressful? Does your list have five people on it? Maybe there are only three. BUT, are you forgetting anything? While practicing as a health & nutrition coach and a personal trainer, I have discovered that most people have a stressful relationship with food.
Food literally causes stress in multiple ways. Food can cause emotional stress, mechanical stress, time stress and digestive stress. In reality, FOOD PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN YOUR HEALTH. Food can help to keep you healthy but also make you sick.
It is so much more than something to grab when you are hungry. If you are not sure where to start when you decide that you want to lose weight, you should begin with your relationship to food.
Most of our food habits are formed when we are young. Most of today's adults were taught not to leave any food on their plates, and that they should eat everything. (this could have been due to money fears or sympathy for people that had nothing, so we should not waste, or simply because that's what their parents were taught. Another issue is our need to have everything (including food) immediately. We live in a world of immediate gratification, but that is not always a benefit, is it?
I know some people who feel that if they are at a buffet, then they must taste everything, even if they are already full. Is that a mental thought or is it because they love food? Can they really be that hungry? Maybe it's because they paid one price so they want to get their money's worth. What is their intention going into the buffet? The only consistent reason for the above examples comes back to the premise of: the person's relationship to food. I think you get my point.
So, how do we change our relationship with this small four letter word which can control our lives?
First, define yourself. Do you live to eat or Eat to live?
Next make a list of your five favorite meals and how often you eat them. Do any foods on that list appear there because there is an emotional tie? Can you identify what triggers you to eat or reach for a cup of coffee, an ice cream cone or a bagel. I know all of those foods taste good and are easy but they all have other emotions and needs attached to them.
Add a section for when you eat. Do you skip meals (maybe breakfast?), eat all day (a grazer) or only eat at designated meal times? (because it's in the schedule.) Listen to your body. Know your intentions before you eat.
Next, write down all of the positive things in your life. What is going well? Think about all aspects such as work, family, friends, exercise, spiritual, children, parents, financial, goals, etc...
When you have completed the list of positive points in your life, look at the list more thoroughly. Are there any specific parts to the positive categories that may not be exactly how you would like? Are there any parts of your marital relationship that may be lacking? How about exercise? Have you reached all of your financial goals that you set for yourself? Do you set aside time each day for your spiritual self? Do you meditate, keep a gratitude journal or even sit outside with your thoughts each day.
I bring this to your attention for a moment, because when parts of the positive list are not exactly hoe we had imagined them to be, People sometimes fill the voids with food.
In order to get a healthier relationship with food, you need to get a healthier relationship with yourself. Sometimes, it's in the layers within ourselves, where you will find true healing and acceptance. When we take that hard look at our lives, how we had imagined them to be and how they actually are, that we find reasons for our eating patterns. As you clean up the food, you will reduce the stress and as you reduce the stress (and create more outlets for the stress) YOU WILL MAKE HEALTHIER FOOD CHOICES, which will in turn lead to better health and better thoughts.
Your Food Cravings may actually be emotional cravings.

My Tip for you, is to start creating the list of all the good in your life. Review your list and decide which aspect of your life is the most important to begin to work on. Fill any void or talk about any issues you may be holding in. If that is to hard, get a journal and write a letter about your feelings. You don't have to mail the letter, but you need to release the feelings onto paper to get it out of your psyche. Once you release the feeling, it will no longer have a hold on you. Most likely, you feel feel lighter and happier, enabling you to make one better food choice in the upcoming week. CHANGE YOUR INTENTIONS BEFORE EACH MEAL. Another tip is to get a massage when you have completed that task.

Check back with your Stress-O-Mom-oter for more ways to reduce the stress food has in your life. It's just too much for one blog.

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