As a health and lifestyle coach I am constantly looking at food and lifestyle choices with our clients and one thing that stands out to me is our total obsession around food. I am not immune to this idea, as I too, spent most of my teenage and early life trying every conceivable diet on the planet in the hopes of achieving a body that I was never going to have. While I didn’t have skin issues I recognise the food obsession that most of us have had at one point in their lives.House of Maxx is a holistic skin clinic that focuses on skin health internally and externally. My role in HOM is to assist and guide our clients through education and support, to gain an understanding of how they react to foods individually not collectively. Everyone is unique and therefore not one diet fits all. Learning to listen to our body is so crucial in our skin and gut health.
Breaking free from the multi billion dollar diet and food industry which has brain washed and confused the heck out of us is a constant battle for most. Empowering ourselves and tapping into the notion that our body is always looking out for our best interest, from our breakouts to our IBS its constantly sending us messages but we have been raised to ignore it and listen to what the next diet trend is.
So my question to you is….how do you know if you have a healthy relationship with food? We all require food to survive but it is so much more. We get together with our family and loved ones to “break bread or celebrate” we show our appreciation through food or we grab a comfort snack when we are home alone. Which one of these would you consider good or bad? I believe there is no such thing as good or bad food but there is food that works as medicine and food that doesn’t serve us. There is also another category and that is “non food”. The stuff we eat which is full of so much rubbish our bodies don’t even recognise it. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we knew our own designer food? Well in the 2 decades I’ve used foods to heal my daughters debilitating health and the 5 years I’ve been working with HOM helping clients with their skin, I believe you can work out what foods serve or don’t serve you. By tapping into and listening to your bodies needs, observing your skin and gut the answer is within you. BUT sometimes the foods we reach for isn’t a decision based on nutrition but where emotions come into play. Comfort, binge or habitual eating is a matter of the emotions and mind, and how we feel about the foods we consume are all factors we need to learn to be aware of and consider.
So do you consistently count calories or macros?Do you over eat or under eat? Are you switching from one dietary theory for another without achieving the results you are after? Are you anxious when you get invited out for dinner and believe you are going to put on 10kgs after one night out? Is food the first and last thing on your mind every day? Do you believe that the only way to feel and look good starts and finishes with food? Have you noticed your skin dull and dehydrated or started breaking out and skin issues arising? Do you get moody or emotional around food?
Food obsession can be anything from denying ourselves to over indulging, you just need to work out if your relationship with food is healthy or destructive. And those cravings, well they may not even be a matter of the mind at all but an imbalance in the gut! A truly healthy body and mind doesn’t crave food that is non-serving, but as important as it is to keep health in mind we need to remember our mental and physical health isn’t linear, we must be kind to ourselves and pay attention to what our body is telling us instead of condemning ourselves.
Intuitive eating is a non diet, healthy system approach to food and overall health. The key focus is to reconnect with your body. To listen and respond to cues and signals.
Changing your relationship with food is so empowering and it means never obsessing again. You’re worth never being measured by food again.
If this has resonated with you Health Coaching could help give you some guidance and freedom around eating.
