Want a Quick Way to Develop a Healthy Relationships with Food?

If you know me at all you know that I  believe we are our habits. You want a different life? a different body? a different relationship with food? Then change your habits. 

Here are 10 habits you can practice to create a healthy relationship with food:

1. Eat consciously –pay attention to what you are eating, when you are eating it and why.
2. Stop dieting/bingeing – avoid extremes. Get in touch with your body’s needs and honor them.
3. Stop weighing yourself so often – being a slave to the scale can be demoralizing and ruin your self-esteem. Pick a day and time each week or month to weigh yourself and that’s it ,or better yet, use your clothing as a guide and forget the scale altogether.
4. Dress nicely – make an effort to dress nicely every day. Dressing well can increase your self-worth which in turn can lead you to make better choices which then can help you make healthier food choices as well.
5. Groom well - like dressing nicely practicing good grooming habits can have a similar affect on your self-worth. Spend the few extra minutes it takes to floss, shave, or splash on some cologne. Looking good can make you feel good and feeling good can make you do good.
6. Get a hobby –if food is your hobby you need a new one. If food is your entertainment you need to find another diversion. Spread your wings. Take a risk. Try something new.
7. Socialize not isolate – Overeating is sometimes called a “disease of isolation.”  We overeat alone in our cars, at the movies, in bed, or on the couch. If you are guilty of isolating too much, get out. Spend time with friends and family. Fill yourself up with their love and attention rather than chips and salsa.
8. Exercise gently – excessive strenuous exercise can be as detrimental to your relationship with food as the food itself. Using exercise to compensate for your “bad deeds” at dinner is not healthy behavior. I greatly support exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle, but exercise gently. Be kind to yourself and to your body. It will thank you later.
9. Don’t body check – there are two ways to body check. First, you look at yourself as you pass a window, mirror or other reflective surface. The second is that you look at other people and compare yourself. Neither habit supports a healthy relationship with food because if you don’t like what you see (or if you do) it can influence what and how much you eat later.
10. Buy the best you can afford - whether it is new shoes, a tricycle for your kid or what to make for dinner buy the best you can afford. Quality over quantity is a surefire way to build self-esteem and, as you know by now, the better you feel about yourself the healthier your relationship will be with food.

Until next time,

Dr. Sheila