What could make meal time a peaceful time? Are you looking to food to energize yourself and care for your body? Or are you using food to soothe difficult emotions?
When you look at eating as a way of caring for yourself, your dietary habits begin to change. The vitamins and nutrients you choose can be important. But where do you start? What actual steps can you take to begin seeing your relationship with food through a positive lens?
Adopt a positive mindset
Lack of knowledge is usually not the problem when it comes to diet and weight loss.
We’ve all heard the advice before. “Don’t eat junk food.” “Don’t eat late at night.” But instead of focusing on the “Don’t’s” let’s talk about what you can do. For example, can you think about one thing you could do to take better care of yourself? And can you do this one thing each day? If the answer is yes, then you might actually be excited to add it to your routine.
Be specific. Very specific, when designing the healthy life you want
Do you want to “eat vegetables” in general? Or might you want to eat boiled brussels sprouts with extra virgin olive oil and spicy red pepper as a side dish with your evening meal? Do you want to “go to the gym” in general? Or might you want to compile a musical playlist of your favourite songs, and go for a half hour jog by the lake at sunset?
When you begin to think in more detail about what a healthy life means to you, you learn that healthy living opens up so many opportunities for you to design life routines that you personally enjoy. What you enjoy, you do consistently, and without hesitation. For healthy habits to last, you need to think of things that you can see yourself doing forever.
Start today
Discovering the healthy habits you can commit to is a rewarding process, so start today! Taking action makes you feel like you are in control. There is an old saying that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Once the first step is taken, everything gets easier. Take out a pen and a piece of paper, and answer the following questions:
What are three easy, healthy eating related changes that I could make to my routine today?
examples:
- replacing soda with carbonated water
- replacing a morning muffin with a banana dipped in peanut butter
- replacing my lunch sandwich with a lettuce wrap
