Perhaps a better question would be to ask yourself, “What is my relationship with food?” Is it a healthy relationship or an unhealthy one? Wondering what this has to do with your weight loss, personal development and improving your health? Your style of eating may be negatively impacting your weight and weight loss efforts.

Healthy relationshipS MUST BE NURTURED

If you have ever struggled with your weight (on either end of the spectrum), you may have realized that you have an unhealthy relationship with food. If you obsess about food all the time; overeat often (binge); eat in secret; feel guilty after you eat; and/or use food for emotional comfort rather than for physiological hunger, you have an unhealthy relationship with food.

experts have coined 4 TYPES OF EATERS

1. EMOTIONAL eaters eat in response to their negative emotions; yet, many people often celebrate success or happiness (positive emotions) with food.
2. EXTERNAL eaters respond to external cues (television commercials may have you running to the kitchen for something to munch on, even though you just ate).
3. RESTRAINED (CONTROLLED) eaters make a conscious decision to restrain or restrict their food intake to lose weight or to stay slim.
4. INTUITIVE (introduced in 1995 by two dieticians) eaters respond to the normal physiological cues of hunger.

the purpose of eating – PROVIDES FUEL FOR YOUR ORGANS

Eating is not an automatic process, which means you can CONTROL how, what, where and why you eat. You eat in response to hunger cues that are influenced by social, cultural, and/or psychological pressures (real or imagined).

Food is for one purpose only: nourishing the body with proper nutrients, vitamins and minerals to allow your organs to function properly, which allows you to perform daily at an optimal level.

Many quickly realize the calming effects of processed carbohydrates and you may have developed a physiological as well as psychological addiction to these processed carbohydrates. If you have an unhealthy relationship with food, this addiction can result in weight gain and the possible development of other health problems.

the quantity and quality of food matters

How much you eat consistently is ultimately what leads to weight gain; however, eating only highly processed carbohydrates daily as your only source of nutrition is unhealthy. Understand and recognize the need for a proper balance between the quality of food and the amount of food you eat daily.

eating better for your total health

• EAT A HEALTHY VARIETY OF FOODS TO NOURISH YOUR BODY
• SAVOR THE FLAVOR AND TEXTURES AS YOU SLOWLY CHEW
• FULLY ENJOY YOUR FOOD WITHOUT GUILT OR JUDGMENT
• LISTEN TO THE SIGNALS FROM YOUR BODY (stop eating when satisfied, not when you are stuffed)
• FOOD IS NOT THE ENEMY
• CHERISH YOUR BODY WITH LOVE & RESPECT
• PRIORITIZE YOUR TOTAL HEALTH (move more, pray, meditate, laugh more)
• HANDLE YOUR EMOTIONS PROPERLY (cognitive defusion, mindfulness, meditation, prayer)

eating more CALORIES than you burn leads to weight gain

1. Losing weight should NEVER be about deprivation or starvation, because you will not be able to sustain that style of eating (why diets ultimately fail).
2. Your new style of eating should be a style you can sustain WITHOUT ANY INTERNAL CONFLICT for the rest of your life.