THREE TIPS TO COMBAT MENTAL FOOD ABUSE
BY MELISSA TAFT
The hubby and I love cheeseburgers. Making them at home is healthier, but Helllllo, the occasional…In N’ Out or Fatburger anyone?
As Ryan and I would stand in line we used to have the funniest conversations.
Ryan: “Hey Babe, you getting fries?”
Me: “Oh no…that’s all you! But why don’t you get ‘em?”
My Internal Thought: (Yeah...get them so I can eat most of them and not feel guilty about it because technically they are your fries.)
Ryan: “You sure you don’t want to share?”
Me: “Probably not, but get ‘em anyway.”
My Internal Thoughts: (I’ll only have a few! Wait, did I work out today? Show off your self-control, woman! Did I bring my digestive enzymes? I wonder what kind of oil they use?)
Ryan: “Cool.”
What I just described is not a joke. I am a little embarrassed to admit it, but we’re friends, right? There was a time in my life that the word “fries” would send me into a state of panic!
Eating certain foods often are the catalyst for destructive thinking. For example:
“I have failed again!”
“If my husband wouldn’t have ordered the fries, I wouldn’t have eaten them.”
“I better work out extra hard tomorrow!”
“I have officially clogged my arteries.”
“I’m going to die.”
“I wonder if my husband will remarry when I die?”
“Will she eat his fries also?”
Ok, so not one of my proudest memories, for sure. But that’s the kind of mind mojo that torments people.
You see, the fries weren’t bad for me, my thoughts were!!!!!
And getting worked up about whether to eat them or not created stress and DIS-ease in my body.
When your body is under stress, it impairs it’s ability to digest food and lose weight. Cravings become intensified, the immune system shuts down, and the body creates inflammation. Yucky!
Stressing about the food you eat is more toxic
than the food itself.
And worst of all…you feel G-U-I-L-T-Y so then you beat yourself up, intensifying the stress and inviting the crud that comes with it! #Notfun!
Here’s a better strategy to break free from this silly routine:
1. Give yourself some grace – Whether someone brings doughnuts or bagels to work, a friend invites you out for lunch, or your spouse wants to take you out for a movie and popcorn last minute; decide to allow yourself the wonderful pleasure of life’s little unexpected surprises. This is key to living healthy and balanced.
2. Get in tune with how awesome you are – Your body is uniquely and remarkably made! By design, it knows how to keep you healthy. In fact, the body instinctively renews and rebuilds itself everyday. YEAH!! When you start to understand this you will begin to appreciate, love, and respect your body more (even while enjoying a Krispy Kreme doughnut!).
3. Go Forward – Knowing that you have far more important things to focus on than food, I want you to adopt my personal motto as your own.
Eat it. Enjoy it. Forget it.
When we can get excited about what is to come and not about what has happened, we send positive vibes to the brain. An example of this might be: “The weather’s gonna be awesome for a great run tomorrow.” Instead of thinking, “I can’t believe I ate those darn fries.”
Bottom line is for you to enjoy your life, get out of bondage and learn how to focus on what you want rather than what you did wrong. When you learn to do that, no french fry formed against you will ever prosper!
Happy eating ladies.
- Melissa