Breaking Up with Food
So many people do not realize why they have such a hard time eating healthy, and controlling the amount that they eat. They blame it on will power, but will power in this case will only get you so far. You must first understand the psychology of the nurture vs. nature concept; do you love your mother b/c she loves you, or b/c she feeds you? This is something that scientist have theorized on for a long time, but one thing that stands true is you are emotionally linked to food. Whether you have a good experience with food, your mother always cooked great food, and it gives you a good feeling to eat food, or you grew up hungry and you consume food like you may not get a next meal. Both of these emotions can cause over eating.
Then as we go deeper down the rabbit hole, there is a physiological obstacle to get past also. Rich foods, taste better than non rich foods. Like I explained in my previous article, you would rather have a burger and fries (vegan burger if that makes you feel better) than steamed unsalted broccoli. You would literally have a sad moment if I said I’m going to make you a hamburger and fries, and then brought you steamed unsalted broccoli, it might even ruin your day.
So what this article is about? It’s about breaking up with food, and learning a new way to look at food like I did. I love eating out, point blank, love it. But I don’t eat out during the week. In fact, I have a vegan breakfast, make vegan meal prep, and usually some sort of juice (veggie juice, the good stuff), or a salad. Monday- Friday I feed my body what it needs, honestly this is how I pull 14 hours days all week, and keep my energy high. There is no way without feeding my body the proper nutrients that I would be able to stay healthy emotionally, mentally, and physically.
This allows me to pursue my dreams. I start my day with a morning workout, go to work, meetings, read for an hour throughout the day, and end the night studying something. I’m moving from the time I open my eyes till the time I close them, and it is only through healthy diet I am able to accomplish these goals. I’m getting a little side tracked, let me share my story with you. I have went up and down with my weight in the past, but when I finally committed to eating for health, I was able to get off my acid reflux medicine, and I no longer live in pain. Now I associate eating healthy as feeling good. It is okay to eat bad food, but it needs to be restricted. Nothing is really bad for you, but too much of something, anything (water), can have adverse effects on you. So how do you start?
First, get a food journal and eat what you normally eat for a week. Write down everything that goes into your body; food, alcohol, gum, soda, medicine, and everything. Then analyze it, I’m sure you will see some room for improvement. Now, I do not suggest you go extreme like me, but start with baby steps. So breakfast, lunch, and then dinner. No excuses! Most health deaths in the USA are caused by preventable disease. But you will crave because the brain is addicted to rich food. So on the weekends, eat it for one day when you are craving rich/ processed foods, we call this “cheat day“. What you will see is you feel terrible after you eat that food, and your brain will adjust your feelings. I eat fried chicken once a year, and hamburger twice a year, but I feel bad every time I eat it, so it’s only worth it to me to eat that food very rarely.
Sugar and salt are addictive, and then you have your emotional connection to food created in youth. So I’m not saying it’s easy, but what I’m saying is, once you break the tie, you are free. It’s like breaking any addiction, it hurts for a year, but then you learn that healthy food is great. If you continue to follow my blog, I can show you how to make many awesome delicious healthy recipes. So come with me, and let’s be more mindful of how we treat our bodies, what we put in it, and how it makes us feel after we eat. Thanks for reading, I hope you learned something, share this article, and change a life!