Your Body, Your Diet, Your Mind: Prt 1
This is a passionate area of mine, it’s something that I see so much of in clinic, in my friends and people I just briefly meet. I see it everywhere and almost every day.
I am talking about the relationship that we have with food and our body.
It is complicated, and it is not the same for any Tom, Bob or Harry.
It is unique and it is governed by our thoughts, our feelings, our behaviours, our relationships, our environment, the media and oh so many other things.
Like an expensive car- your brain functions best when it gets premium fuel. Eating foods that are nutrient rich and thinking positive thoughts is crucial to fuel your body and your mind.
Can you have a happy and healthy mind without eating healthy foods? Can you have a healthy life, eating healthy foods and exercising but thinking negatively?
I'm not sure…
But I do know that both men and women struggle with the battle of what to eat, when to eat it and compensatory feelings that may follow- guilt, shame, regret and for some even compensatory actions, over exercising, purging with laxatives and diuretics, or vomiting.
How can we behave this way?
Do we compare ourselves too much to other people, is it the media, is it because of something someone said, is it because of the way we think we look?
I think it is all of the above.
We need to be kinder and more respectful to ourselves and to other people.
We can change this.
I see so many other girls/ women who don’t think they are beautiful, and don’t think they are good enough and don’t love themselves and punish themselves because of it.
By all means, I am not perfect, I am also one of these girls, but slowly and slowly I am learning to be the director of my own train.
The train that is on the rollercoaster that is life, in a female body with hormones changing and the multitude of factors that bring us down and make us question our self-worth and confidence.
Can we start by paying attention to how eating different foods makes us feel?
Not just straight away but the next day and the day after that. How does real food make you feel? How does sugar make you feel?
Can we also pay attention to our feelings and how this governs our food choices and behaviours?
Be mindful, make food choices you know will serve your body, but don’t be restrictive, allow freedom, embrace the ebb and flow and learn to reframe guilty emotions. Your body deserves to be treated with love and respect, from your mind and from the food you eat.
Let’s also get educated!
The biggest form of empowerment is through education. Knowing about food and your body is key to moving forward. Our bodies are intelligent, but sometimes in the midst of the ‘wellness scene’ we can get lost and overwhelmed.
Be curious, ask yourself and others questions.
Do you know the implications of over exercising, what it does to the body, to our hormones?
Do you know how negative emotions and thoughts influence your body?
Do you know what restrictive diets do to your body and wellbeing?
Do you know what hormonal contraception does?
Listen to your friends, your family, and their friends and family. Are they okay? Do they need support?
Give yourself space to think, to learn. No-one’s journey or body is the same, so seek out someone who will listen, understand and support you individually.
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