Would you like to review your current eating habits and change your relationship with food? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Read on to learn five steps you can take to repair your relationship with food.
Our life experiences shape our current relationship with food. Maybe you picked up the habit from your parents, guardians, or siblings. Or maybe you developed your own tendencies as a result of diet or trauma. Over time, our relationship with food has evolved and evolved into what it is today.
In some cases, the relationships left behind are not necessarily beneficial. Thankfully, this can be changed. By learning about your habits and tendencies, breaking them, and implementing new habits that embody balance, you can change your relationship with food for the better.
I want to change my relationship with food.
First of all, pat yourself on the back for simply receiving this revelation and asking for support. Change is never easy. The hardest part is accepting that change is necessary. So you’re already off to a great start.
When embarking on a journey like this, it’s important to use self-compassion from the beginning to set yourself up for success. Basically, give yourself some leeway. As we’ve previously discussed, our current relationship with food is built over years, not days. With this in mind, is it reasonable to expect your relationship with food to change overnight? Of course not. Remember that change takes time.
5 steps to change your relationship with food
Below are the best five tips I can give you to repair your relationship with food. They will guide you through the different aspects of your relationship and teach you how to rebuild each relationship. Remember to take it slow. We do not recommend performing all five steps at once. Start with one or two and move on to others as you gain confidence.
Let’s get started!
practice mindful eating
At Nutrition Stripped, we believe there are two important aspects to your daily diet. It’s about what you eat and how you eat it. The concept of mindful eating is not about what or how much you eat, but how you eat. The key is to bring the focus back to the mealtime experience.
Experience the food and be present as you eat your meal or snack. Remember that eating is not a chore, it’s not a job, it’s not a way to exert control. It’s a way to nourish your body, experience and share culture, and so much more. Learn more about the specific principles of mindful eating here. Just by practicing this one step, your relationship with food will change before you know it.
Stop Following Trend Diets and Detoxes
This is a big deal. But please don’t do that. I promise it won’t do you any good. Diets are meant to keep you back on track and put you in what I call a diet cycle. It’s a cycle of “on-orbit” and “out-of-orbit.”
If you stop jumping on these trends, you’ll quickly learn consistency. You’ll be able to nourish your body in a way that works for you, not someone else’s body. Remember that diet trends are a marketing tool and a business. To change your relationship with food, you must stop your eating cycle.
Delete dietary rules
Next, completely ignore the dietary rules. No more eating this and not eating this, or saying this is right and this is wrong. Food doesn’t work that way, especially if you want a balanced, positive relationship with food. Dietary rules are restrictive and controlling. They leave you feeling deprived, stressed, and even embarrassed.
If you want to change your relationship with food, you need to forget about dietary rules. If you hear yourself following or reciting dietary rules, pause for a moment. Ask yourself, “Is this a dietary rule?” How can I keep my diet balanced without following this rule?” Over time, you will no longer need to pause. Your relationship with food changes and those rules become useless.
Consistently prioritize both nutrition and enjoyment
Both are absolutely necessary. To nurture our physical, mental, and emotional health, we need to prioritize both fun and nutrition. When we say nutrition, we mean food that physically nourishes the body. When we say “pleasure,” we mean foods that bring you joy, regardless of their nutritional content.
If you can prioritize both of these elements in the majority of your meals and snacks, you’ll be able to transform your relationship with food. You won’t feel cramped or have trouble eating. Food will become a part of your life, and it will become more fun and enjoyable!
Add both nutrition and fun in an easy way with the Foundational Five System.
Stop thinking about food as either good or bad
This is pretty important in order to prioritize both nutrition and enjoyment on a regular basis. If you always feel like you’re eating “bad” food every time you eat pleasure-based food, you’ll always be plagued with guilt and shame. Plus, if you always feel like you have to eat nutrient-based foods, eating will feel like a chore.
Take morality out of the equation and change your relationship with food. Start thinking about food as simple nutrition, pleasure, or a combination of the two. that’s it! At first, you may have to correct yourself or tell yourself from time to time, but before you know it, this will become your reality.
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It is possible to change your relationship with food. It requires a few simple steps and some effort. Anyone can develop a balanced, positive relationship with food. Sometimes you just need a little support.
Want to be more balanced in your food choices?
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