The main thing I struggled with when following diets was being restricted from enjoying food and the pleasure it gave me.
I looked good in my body. Yet there was a constant fear of eating the wrong food or eating food that did not fit with the diet I was following. And all the time my body kept craving the food I was not allowing myself to eat. This became a constant battle both in my mind and body.
Have you experienced this battle within yourself?
My life revolved around looking good at the cost of listening to what my body wanted to eat.
Food is our basic nourishment and it also brings us pleasure. We can feel all our different senses come alive while eating, Food not only provides fuel for our body, it satisfies our taste buds.
I don’t want you to miss out on this soul-nourishing enjoyment that food brings!
This has become my philosophy and approach when helping my clients find nutrition that’s right for them so they can learn to listen to their bodies and enjoy their food without following any restrictive diet.
My clients not only look good physically, as they are getting the right nutrients that bring balance to their bodies and help them lose excess fat, but eating has become fun and enjoyable for them.
Food is a major part of our lives. It brings people and communities together. When we celebrate, we gather to eat and when we mourn we offer food for comfort.
So how can we say food is bad or wrong when it is as old as civilization?
My passion is to nourish my body and that of my clients through the food our bodies naturally crave.
When people work with me, they discover that:
Eating is no longer boring.
You no longer look forward to your next “cheat meal”.
You enjoy nourishing heartful food on a daily basis.
No food is good or bad and nothing is excluded.
There is balance in your diet and you to tune in to your body’s needs and wants.
Here are the components I address with my clients to make eating enjoyable while still having a healthy and fit body.
- Become aware of your current eating patterns:
Most people are not aware of what they are craving as they are caught up following the rules of right vs wrong food. This stops them from listening to what their body actually needs.
The first step is to note down everything you are eat for a week, how much you enjoyed your food, and what you truly craved at that time. If you are used to following a strict diet, you might be bypassing what you enjoy eating.
Keeping a week-long diary that documents what you ate, your enthusiasm level for your food, and your true craving will assist in highlighting if you are listening to your body or just forcing a strict diet that might not align with what you really desire.
With these new insights, you’ll be able to change your diet to include what you crave and at the same time meet your health and fitness goals. This will also make it easier to work with an expert who can help create a nutrition plan that works for you.
Having worked with a number of clients over the past three years, I’ve seen that taking this step has helped them create long-lasting changes in their eating habits.
- Create a basic foundation or structure for food:
Start with some foundation nutritional habits in nutrition that are easy to follow and will make you feel good about yourself. When you feel good and trust your ability to take care of yourselves, you end up making better choices.
This basic structure does not need to be completed. It could start with having a daily nutritional goal of having plenty of vegetables, fruits, and water. This adds variety, fiber and helps you in getting your vitamins and minerals from natural sources. It is easy to add food based on your body’s requirements for ultimate health & fitness while keeping in mind what you love to eat.
This basic structure also makes it easy to add other foods (proteins, complex carbs, etc) based on what your body requires for ultimate health and fitness while still being able to enjoy what you really love to eat.
I help busy women create healthy habits in nutrition that make eating fun and easy while helping them meet their health and fitness goals. I teach them how to include vegetables, fruits, and other nutrients in their busy lives without having to make much effort.
- Facing the fear associated with food:
Most of us deny ourselves the basic pleasure that food provides by not actually enjoying what we eat. We are eating what we don’t want to eat. Even if we do eat what we want to do, there might be a voice in our head that says that the food we are eating is wrong.
This is due to the large amount of misinformation and myths about what a particular food is doing to us. I am not denying that there is some correct dietary information out there, but a lot of it is simply someone else’s beliefs or something that worked for them. Other people then start accepting this information as the truth due to the marketing messages they are bombarded with on a daily basis.
You need to work out what nutrition works for you, not for other people, no matter how influential they are.
It is so important not to miss this step if you want to change your relationship with food and truly listen to what works for your body.
After working with me, most of my clients have been able to completely change their lifelong negative association with food and gain a sense of freedom in their food choices.
- Let eating be a sensual experience:
We need to savour all the different ways food touches our lives. Food gives us comfort and pleasure at the same time.
If we can start to relish what we eat and make the experience of eating a sensual one, we digest our food better as we are more relaxed.
This week I challenge you this week to allow yourself to savour your food and enjoy its sensuality. We eat using all five senses. When you eat, you are taking in your environment, your relationships, the thoughts in your head, the air around you, etc.
Try focusing on slowing down and taking note of the sensuality that food brings. Food is fuel for the body but it also provides pleasure.
Some tips and questions to ask yourself:
What sort of environment am I creating for my next meal? Is it relaxing or stressful while I consume food?
I can help you find healthy nutrition that works for you without having to follow a restrictive diet and still enjoy the food you love. book a free discovery call with me to learn more.
