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

 

How to Get Your Kids to Eat Right

Here’s a sad fact, just go to any playground or school yard in town and you will see more overweight kids than at any other time in history. Childhood obesity is growing in alarming rates. Since 1980, obesity has more than doubled in children ages 2 to 5 and tripled in children ages 6 to 11. The “cure” for childhood obesity rests with the parents.  The US Surgeon General office proclaimed that when parents eat well and exercise regularly the odds are their kids will too. Parents, you need to be role models for their children. You need to walk the walk and talk the talk!

Here are 5 tips to get you started:

1.       Stock your kitchen with lots of delicious healthy treats and snacks – such as: frozen grapes, whole grain crackers, air popped popcorn.

2.       Get your kids involved with how food is prepared and served in your home – shop, cook and plan with them.

3.       Eat as a family so your kids can see you eating whole healthy foods.

4.       Plan family exercise time- a bike ride on Sundays, everybody walks the dog after dinner, once a month you all wash your car by hand

5.       Limit TV and computer time and emphasize active activities

Until next time,

Dr. Sheila

Balance Takes Action!

Have you ever watched kids on a teeter-totter or as we called it when I was growing up a see-saw? If one kid is bigger than the other what happens to the teetering and tottering?  Not much, right? But when the kids are of about equal size then the fun starts! They rock up and down with ease. But… what happens when they want to get off? They need to find their balance and finding that perfect sweet spot can take work. Such it is in life. Seeking and reaching balance are worthy causes.  However, as we all know balance doesn’t come easily.

To create a balanced life, to create a balanced relationship with food, takes effort.  In creating balance it is important to take into consideration all factors that are relevant to you. Sure you could go on a stringent diet and refuse all social invitations and ignore signs of physical hunger, but is that balanced? Or, you could abandon everything, dine out for breakfast, lunch and dinner but is that balanced? 

As you contemplate your next diet, weight loss strategy or other life goal look at your whole life and ask yourself what would you have to be or do to reach your goal while still taking into account the other factors that are important to you? Strive for balance. It might take some effort but in the end I believe you will be more satisfied with the results.

Until next time,

Dr. Sheila