3 Ways to Improve Your Relationship with Food
Food can be so overwhelming at times. I totally get it. AND it doesn’t have to be. Sixty-five percent of American women between the ages of 25 and 45 have some form of disordered eating, and another ten percent would meet the criteria for eating disorders, according to a 2008 survey by researchers at the University at North Carolina. Women are not the only ones affected by the $72 billion dollar dieting industry however, these issues are on the rise for men and transgender people as well. Below are three ways to improve your relationship with food and step away from diet culture.
GET ANGRY
Yeah, you read that right. This yogi is not all about peace and love. I believe anger can serve its purpose when healing from diet culture. Instead of getting angry at yourself, get angry at all the lies you have been fed (pun intended) from years of dieting. To improve your relationship with food, we must shift from criticism to compassion. Get angry at the oppressive systems that have made you believe that your body needs to adhere to unattainable standards in order to be worthy. Anger tells us that something needs to be different. It has a wave of energy behind it that invites change. Channel anger into action by reclaiming your right to living life to its fullest in this body, right here, right now.
OWN YOUR HUNGER
Easier said than done. We have been taught to not trust our hunger, this natural instinct that comes from our “reptilian brain”. Diet culture teaches us to suppress, distract, and deny our hunger, only to leave us even more hungry for what our bodies need; food. You were born an intuitive eater. You were born with this innate sense of knowing when you are hungry, when you are full, and what satisfies you. When we deny our natural instincts and believe them to be wrong or bad, it makes us lose trust in ourselves. And when we stop owning our hunger, and trusting our fullness, we question everything around food and feel paralyzed in fear. You CAN return to the freedom you once had with food. This is your birthright.
STOP LABELING FOOD AS GOOD OR BAD
We have somehow reached this moralistic view of food and nutrition and it is ironically making our health worse. Have you ever said to yourself, “I’m so bad for eating X”, or “I can’t have that, I’m being good today”? These are telltale signs of diet culture thinking. When we elevate foods that our culture views as “healthy”, and demonize “unhealthy” foods, we make judgements simply on the nutritional composition of the food. However, our food choices are so much more complex than whether something has more vitamin B or less fat. We eat based on what seems satisfying, what is available in the moment, what we can afford, as well as how we are feeling. Making peace with all kinds of foods supports your emotional, mental, and physical well-being. Intuitive eating increases your chances of having positive health outcomes and ultimately finding peace.
