So you might think, who cares about changing my mindset when it comes to food, all you need to do is "eat healthy" or "eat perfectly for a few weeks".
My answer to that is that your mindset is everything! What if you could naturally without even trying consistently stay pretty close to eating perfectly instead "eating perfectly" and then slowly or quickly slipping back into old habits until you feel awful again? What if fried food, fast foods, and things that make you sick didn't even taste good to you anymore?!?! That's where our mindset comes in.
You see, it's natural to be able to focus on food for a short period of time, to really use your will power every day to focus on what to eat or not to eat, but eventually that gets exhausting, life gets busier, things come up. Having all of your attention and obsessing about food, doesn't serve you or your body. It's time consuming and most of the time it's not empowering.
So here are 8 ways your MIND and your relationship to food sabotage your eating habits (From the book INTUITIVE EATING).
1. Last supper eating Here’s how it goes: “I’m going to start my diet tomorrow. So I may as well eat every single food that I won’t be able to eat today.” Next thing you know you've eaten an entire box of cookies.
2. Food competition. This is when there is something you really want to eat and you’re in a large group of people. A fear sets in that you might not be able to have it or it might run out so you grab one eat it quickly and then grab more so you don't miss out. This is most common in people who grew up in large families.
3. Returning home syndrome - You go home to visit your family. You're so used to being on a diet or eating healthy at home, you can't resist a home cooked meal. It had been so long since you had your mother’s cooking or your childhood comfort foods so you eat and eat and eat.
4. The empty cupboard. This occurs when you rarely have food at home because you don’t go grocery shopping or feel like you "can't keep food in your house". Your eating habits fluctuate from feast (when you have groceries) to famine (you have nothing). Food in your refrigerator becomes extra tempting just because it’s there! You find yourself endlessly snacking on food when you're not hungry or that you’re not craving.
5. Fear of Scarcity also known as food insecurity is most common among people who grew up in situations where food was scarce or enough food was not available. People who experienced that in their childhood continue to have a fear that there won’t be food or not enough even though in reality food is no longer scarce. These people never waste food and always clean their plate. (i.e. ALWAYS overeat)
6. Once in a lifetime / one last shot. This is much less common but occurs when people are on vacation and eating a special meal or eating at someone else’s house. There is a fear that they will never have the opportunity to eat this food again. They are left already feeling deprived and find that even leaving one bite seems impossible.
7. What the hell effect The moment a forbidden food is eaten, overeating takes place. The moment a calorie level is exceeded overeating takes place Even the thought of breaking a food rule or eating a forbidden food triggers overeating.
Do any of these sound like you? Join me in my next Mind Body Spirit Method Group Course.
xoxo,
Marisa