How to Have a Healthy Relationship With Food
1. Take Pleasure In Good Food
Set aside time to shop for, prepare and eat food properly. When shopping, be calm and think about your health. Choose nourishing, healthy foods.
Take pleasure in cooking, and when you sit down to eat, do so without distractions (no magazine, TV or working at your desk). Make yourself and your meals a priority that deserve time and thought and eat slowly.
2. Stop Giving Food A Label
If you think of salad as ‘good’ and chips as ‘bad’, you could be reinforcing the idea that salad is boring and something you eat when you’re being disciplined and virtuous, while food labelled as ‘bad’ is forbidden and therefore alluring particularly for the secret eater looking to rebel. A huge slice of gooey chocolate cake will probably make you feel bloated, overweight and tired: why call that a treat? Its certainly not a treat for your body, it has to work twice as hard to process the negative effects it has on your system.
Only eat the foods that make you feel good. Only the freshest, most nutritious food will nourish you, make you healthier, stronger, happier, more energised and glowing. Make every bite work for you — not against you.
3. Don’t Count Calories
Instead of calorie counting, tune into your body and eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full. Make every bite count by picking healthy, nutritious food.
4. Limit Alcohol
Drink can turn the most graceful eater quite disgraceful by triggering wild blood sugar swings that lead to binge-eating and poor food choices. Avoid these by ensuring you don’t drink too much alcohol.
5. Slow It Down
Most of us eat too quickly. Don’t pile your fork or spoon too high. Chew each mouthful until the food becomes a mushy paste.
Put your cutlery down between each mouthful and give yourself time to chew and breathe. Eat gracefully and don’t gobble! Smell it, taste it, chew it properly and eat it slowly, savouring every bite.
6. Nourish Your Emotions
If you eat when you’re sad, bored or lonely, search out non-food ways to cheer yourself up or amuse yourself if you’re bored — exercise, socialising or reading — because the honest truth is that food can never fill a void in your life or mind.
7. Learn To Love Healthy Food
Create happy meal-times and learn to really love food again instead of fearing it. Good food is life-giving and amazing — it is certainly not something that should ever make you feel bad, stressed or plain guilty.
