Create a Positive Relationship with Food

Create a Positive Relationship with Food
Brittany Kelley RD, LDN

With all of the social media influence today, society puts a ton of pressure on us to look a certain way which may cause us to create unhealthy relationships with food. Dieting and getting summer ready are heavily advertised in the early months of the year, and it seems almost normal to have to “slim down” before Memorial Day. But the truth is, this is not always the solution to your problems and may even create more of them. Here are some healthy suggestions for staying in touch with your mind and body when it comes to food:

 

  1. Let yourself have the foods you love: Part of developing a healthy relationship with food means not giving up certain foods forever. Eating nothing but fruits and vegetables doesn’t always make you super healthy. In fact, it could mean you are too restrictive which can cause problems later on. I recommend eating your favorite food at least once a week. This will help you feel in control, and prevent binging on unhealthy treats later on.

 

  1. Ditch the Scale: If you are weighing yourself on a daily basis, or even a few times a week my biggest piece of advice is to STOP. Not only is weight very variable depending on the time of day, hydration, and activity- but it also doesn’t determine how healthy you are. Muscle and fat cannot be seen on a normal scale, and do not change from morning to night. Weight gain or weight loss takes time. It is not an overnight process therefore it should not be accessed day to day. A person may gain five pounds of muscle at the same time they lose five pounds of fat but their weight will stay exactly the same. You wouldn’t know how big of a success that is by looking at a regular scale.

 

  1. Listen to your body: In addition to not weighing yourself, and having your favorite foods in moderation it is also important to learn how to tune into your body’s hunger and satiety cues. Hunger and satiety are the two main physiological responses in the body that help tell us when we need energy and when we don’t. On occasion, over-eating or disordered eating can make these signals hard to decififer. Taking the time to access not only what you are eating but why you are eating is one way to get back into a normal groove. Keeping these thoughts in a food journal will also help to pinpoint certain eating patterns. Likewise, eating 5-6 small meals per day helps regulate your hunger and satiety as well