This is the time of year when warm, hearty foods can bring comfort and good feelings in the cold months. You may even associate this time of the year with certain foods, like casseroles during the holidays. You can’t imagine a November without turkey or a December without a special feast. The same can be said for more day-to-day wants and needs that food may fulfill. When you’re stressed do you reach for treats or snacks? When you’re bored do you open the pantry? When you’ve completed a difficult task do you crave your favorite food? Ask yourself – are you living to eat, or eating to live? When you live to eat, you indulge in foods that make you feel comfortable, relieve your stress or boredom, or reward an accomplishment. You eat something because of how you feel emotionally instead of the physical hunger you feel when your body needs fuel. On the other hand, when you eat to live you provide your body with nourishment that fuels and supports your health.
Eating habits can be hard to break. If you were always rewarded with dessert after a good meal or good behavior as a child, you’ll probably still crave something sweet today after something positive. When you want to relax, you may seek out your favorite comfort foods. When you’re feeling stressed you may have a taste for salty or sweet snacks to distract you from your situation, and you may tell yourself you can’t get though it without eating something. Cravings like this can be a huge mental hurdle when trying to only eat when your body needs food. They come on suddenly and after you eat what you thought you needed, you aren’t satisfied at all.
Next time this happens, try taking a step back from a stressful situation whether you have two minutes or two hours. Instead of heading to the break room or kitchen, go for a walk outside or around the office, stop by the gym or just get in a workout at home. You can release endorphins and boost your mood, and doing something productive that gets your blood flowing can help you get in the right mindset to overcome a challenge. When you’re looking for comfort, try another activity like reading a book, walking the dog, taking a bath or watching a favorite movie. When you accomplish something and you’re looking for a reward, treat yourself to something other than food. Remember that a special occasion or success does not have special circumstances or rules. You are still accountable for what you put in your body.
When your body does actually needs food, it will feel different. It will come on more gradual and you won’t seek out something specific like you do when you have a craving. When you eat to fuel your body, you will feel full and satisfied after, without the guilt of indulging in something impulsive. You can’t depend on food for anything other than sustaining life and health. Changing the way you think as well as the way you eat is the only way to have a lasting effect.
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
Innovation Weight Loss and Fitness
8031 Jericho Tpke Woodbury, NY 11730
469 7th Ave Manhattan, NY 10018
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