6 Steps to fix a broken and unhealthy relationship with food
Have you ever thought about your relationship with food? For most of us, food is an emotional experience. And that’s okay. Food should make you happy. But if it’s acting like a partner that has a bad influence on you, like making you binge eat frequently or craving for heavy carbs during stress, then you need to fix your relationship. Here’s how to change the status quo.
1. Mix it up
Keep things interesting by adding a variety of foods to your plate. It’s the best way to avoid boredom while eating a balanced diet. Have you tried all your local fruits? What about the local veggies? What can you cook with them? Go out to the farmer’s market and look out for ingredients you can’t recognize or maybe barely cooked with. And challenge yourself!
When it’s meal time, focus on a combination of veggies, protein, and healthy carbohydrates.
This doesn’t mean you need to forbid yourself from reaching out to your loyal french fry! The key is moderation.
2. Make meat secondary
Treating meat as the secondary part of your dish will help you keep portions healthy. Looking at meat as a spice can help too. Simply add a dash of meat to your meals for that extra flavour. Try to choose nutritious options like lean chicken, turkey, and fish.
3. Have fun with it!
The secret to loving fruits and vegetables is to create ways to enjoy them. Try your hand at fruit smoothies or ice pops. You can also make things like banana ice cream, mini quiche cups, and veggie fries. Or go super creative and make smileys using fruits — a strategy that works great for kids!
4. Don’t eat your feelings
Is eating a cupcake your way to unwind? Or maybe a juicy burger just to kill boredom? Emotional eating is one of the worst relationship to make with your food. It becomes a pacifier for unrelated problems, leading the way for less nutritious eating. Try to avoid fixing your feelings with food.
Focus on healthier ways of stress relief, such as yoga or spending time with friends.
5. Remove distractions
Eating a meal is a special thing. But doing it in front of a computer, television, or smartphone can take that away. Distracted eating is also linked to eating more and an increased risk for weight gain. So turn off all those screens and enjoy your food!
While you are on a distraction-detox, take out unprocessed and packaged food as well. It’s going to be hard to have a healthy relationship with food if you have tempting goodies in your stash.
6. Eat until 80% full
Hara Hachi bu is the practice of eating until you are 80 percent full. This prevents overeating and that infamous “food baby” feeling. It also means that in 20 minutes, you will probably feel totally full. Your best bet is to eat until you are no longer hungry — and save leftovers for later!
Don’t try to do all of these steps all at once. Be patient with yourself. Adapt them one by one, giving you time to approach food in a healthy way.
