There is a fine line between being mindful about what you decide to put in your body and obsessing over diets or dangerously limiting your food intake.
Whether your particular issue is excessive eating, harmful diets or you simply can’t wrap your head around the whole nutrition thing, the easiest way to improve your health, and your overall wellbeing, is to rebuild your relationship with food. Here are a few habits you can start incorporating today for a healthier tomorrow:
Practice Mindful Eating
Our bodies have some pretty significant cues that let us know when to eat and when to stop eating, but at some point, we’ve stopped listening to them. So, engage your senses and start practicing mindful eating. Before you start eating your meal, take the time to appreciate what is on the plate in front of you. Look at the beautiful colors, smell the incredible scents and taste the different textures and aromas, before you finally swallow that delicious bite.
Not only will mindful eating help you acknowledge your response to food without getting into judgment, but your brain will also start signaling to your body that it’s satisfied, making you much less likely to overeat.
Enjoy Your Meals
Never disrupt your eating experience with negative thoughts, such as “I shouldn’t be eating this” or “I’m a failure because I can’t even control what I eat”.
Your body can easily manifest such thoughts into stress and anxiety, leading to digestion problems, or even more serious health issues. If you take the time to recognize your meals and the food experiences you find pleasant, you will instantly change your relationship with food for the better.
Choose Nourishing Ingredients
The food you eat is the fuel your body needs to function properly, but it also reflects the care and effort you put into maintaining optimal health. So, instead of unhealthy salty, processed and fast foods, be mindful of your body and opt for truly nourishing ingredients.
Incorporate plenty of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in your daily diet, but don’t forget to add some healthy supplements, such as the beneficial coenzyme Q10, that will not only help keep you in ideal shape, but also provide your body with all the necessary nutrients in needs for the day.
Stop Eating When You Aren’t Hungry
Far too often, we aren’t eating because we’re physically hungry, but rather to try to calm our nerves down and comfort ourselves emotionally. Whether it’s caused by stress, anxiety or heartbreak, we tend to crave high-calorie, fatty foods, then we binge on them until we simply feel awful or even physically sick afterwards.
So, instead of trying to mask your feelings with food, you need to find alternative methods of dealing with your emotions, such as talking to a friend or taking a relaxing bath, and only eat when your body is actually asking for food.
Be Grateful For Your Meal
Before you start eating, stop and take a moment to think about how this food made its way to your plate and just how lucky you are to have access to it.
From the wonders of nature that came together to grow these nutritious ingredients, to the people who worked to harvest them and the effort it took to get them to your local grocery store – it truly is a gift. You are about to nourish your body with so much goodness, so be thankful for it.
When you start practicing gratitude on an everyday basis, there’s no denying that it will improve your relationship with food, and even change your whole life for the better.
Practice Positive Affirmations
Positive affirmations can be a very powerful tool for reversing negative thoughts and changing your beliefs, behavior and actions.
Not only can they change the way you see the world, but they can also help you improve your relationship with food, as well as your body. So, don’t be afraid to try some, such as “This plate of food is great for me” or “My body is about to be nourished with so much nutrients”, and see how you feel.
Stop Comparing Yourself To Others
Your body and your nutritional needs are different from those of the people around you. They have an entirely separate and complex body mechanism, and their relationship with food has nothing to do with you, which is why you should never take it personally. After all, no one eats perfectly, so don’t strive for perfection and remember that you are good enough.
Your body is depending on you for the love and care it requires in order to function optimally, and it simply needs nutrients to thrive. It deserves your respect, so feed it and take good care of it. Love your body, because it can’t wait to love you back.
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