What’s your relationship with food?

Food is our body’s main source of nutrients.  Food is a common cornerstone of human cultures thoughout history.  Yet today we market foods as products.  Unhealthy food is more convenient, heavily advertised, and perceived as cheaper.

Many people in the modern age have a troubled relationship with food.  But food is a necessity of life.

How can we have a more positive relationship with healthy food?

Firstly, healthy bodies need healthy food.  This is the cornerstone of a good relationship with food.

Avoid looking at food as a reward

The problem with making food a reward is that you associate unhealthy food with feeling happy.  If you feel bad in the middle of the week…you feel an urge to “pick yourself up” with food.

This often leads to choosing unhealthy food, or eating far more than your body needs.  It’s especially troublesome when your reward for making a healthy change—like exercising regularly, cooking nutritious meals or practicing mental self-care—is a binge of excessive and/or unhealthy food.

Instead, think of rewards that don’t involve food.  They don’t have to cost money.  If you make it through a rough work week, you’ll block off a Saturday for uninterrupted hobby time.  When you finish that jog, you’ll relax with a cool shower or a warm bath.

Similarly, food is not a punishment

Punishment is the flip side of reward.  Food is a necessity of life, not a disciplinary tool.

If you regret eating that entire pizza on Friday night, you should not “punish” yourself by skipping meals on Saturday.

Nobody should be denied food as a disciplinary measure—and that includes yourself!

So what do you do if you know you’ve made a poor choice?  Resolve to focus on eating healthy food in fair proportions to meet your nutritional needs, one meal at a time.

The “fix” for an action you regret is resuming a sustainable healthy lifestyle as soon as possible.

Improve your relationship with healthy food by celebrating flavour and nutrition

Eating healthy food should not feel “disappointing” or like a “chore” you have to do in order to “earn” something you’d enjoy eating.  Healthy food is allowed to taste good!  You are encouraged to find healthy meals that you enjoy, and relish them thoroughly.

Experiment with recipes to find healthy meals that you love to eat.

Take your time to savour your food and enjoy every bite.

In conclusion, you deserve nutritious, healthy, tasty, and satisfying meals.  Your body will thank you!