Do you only ever eat when you’re hungry?
There are lots of reasons why you might open your fridge or pantry , resulting in mindless snacking. Do you ever find yourself thinking……?
- “Hmm, what shall I do?……..I know ….eat!”
- “Hmm, what shall I do?……..I know ….eat!”
- “Ohh why did that happen to me?…. A slice of cake will cheer me up.”
- “that looks sooo good….I do need a sugar hit, my energy level is a bit low”
- “Its 12.30: lunchtime! Even though I just had a mid-morning snack”
- “Time for Netflix fix ……. lets bring out the chips and popcorn!”
What we eat affects how we feel. Food should make us feel good and nourished. If you eat too much or too little your health and quality of life may be affected. This is what results in negative feelings towards food.
By learning how to make healthier choices and control compulsive eating, binging, we need to take charge of our appetite and food choices. We need to learn and understand, what behaviours, attitudes and excuses get in the way of healthy attitudes and eating habits.
What influences your eating behaviours? (before we meet next time I would like you to think about the following and how you associate the following factors with your approach to food.)
- Cultural – is you culture focused on food, fasting etc. (this could include your religion also)
- Evolutionary – has it developed over time.
- Social – is food and being social an important part of your life.
- Family – is your family life focused on food.
- Individual – is this personal and becomes a type of emotional eating and perhaps is affect by other areas of your life.
- Economic status – does this impact your choice of food?
- Psychologicial – have things in your past impacted the way you react to food.
Many of us use food as a coping mechanism to deal with feelings or even to prolong feelings of joy. This as we know may sometimes help in the short term. Remember eating to soothe and ease your feelings often leads to regret and guilt and can even increase negative feelings about yourself, your capabilities and your ability to achieve your goals.
Your behaviour and your attitude towards food has a background story and that needs to be identified. We need to understand how and why we do what we do…..so have a little think about it, how can you change:
- Your behaviour – your eating patterns and find ways to change your eating behaviours
- Your thinking – identify self-defeating thinking patterns that contribute to weight management problems