In past years, we’ve had the tendency to talk about food using diet language.
Thus were the times and the culture.
We were taught that maintaining a desirable figure superseded self-kindness and intuition. That fitting into a mold or dress size enhanced our value.
That our self worth is attributed to looks, size, definition, and will power.
And, contrary to what many have been taught, the messages were not only for women, but for all people alike.
Lucky for us,
we’ve begun to relearn our ways with food.
We speak more about health & overall happiness nowadays more so than we do weight and size and calorie counting. There is a contingency that has begun to shift the focus away from diet culture, towards overall wellness, disease prevention, and nutritional education (enter the field of Holistic Nutrition).
However, for so many of us (myself included), the damage has still been done. While we are challenged to move into a new way with food and body, we are still very much plagued by old ways and teachings. Where we may have thought changing what we ate would change how we felt, we have realized there is much more to it than that.
I’ve been working with clients to rebuild better relationships with food, now for over a decade.
I’ve come to learn a few things.
One of which is that there’s always more to learn 😉 (possibly the most important)
Another, is that the power of the mind is QUIETLY & OVERTLY IMPRESSIVE.
I use something called “Mindset Shifts” in the work that I offer to my clients looking to rebuild this important relationship with food. “Mindset Shifts” involves offering little ideas or suggestions that challenge them to create a different awareness around this volatile relationship: what’s happening for them, how is it affecting them, and how does it feel to think about it differently.
Creating subtle mindset shifts around the food relationship can be a catalyst to greater mindset shifts and perceptions and open up a vault of thinking that supports something positive rather than detrimental.
A new, positive perspective, made up of mindset shifts and new habit formations, can slowly begin to replace the old, engrained emotions, and recreate a language and emotional story that is peaceful, powerful, and supportive.
I thought I would share with you a few of the mindset shifts that have made a difference over the years, for myself and for my clients ♡
Mindset Shifts to Promote Food Relationship Healing
ADAPT A HEALING MENTALITY: We must believe that we are capable of change in order to make change a possibility. This may not come easily and that's ok. It may feel a little scary, and that's also ok. It is a practice. It is an offer to start digging around a little deeper within the self to see what can be found when you consider what healing might look like for YOU. If you are in a stage of HEALING, you are in a stage of change, of transformation, and of openness to new ways of being.
ACCEPT THE PROCESS: Any kind of healing takes time and cannot be fast tracked. Healing a relationship with food, much like healing any other relationship, takes patience, dedication, and often has setbacks along the way. Accepting the process that will unfold uniquely for you, helps you stay realistic and patient, and in so doing, supports the deep learning that has to happen throughout the journey.
LET GO OF BLAME & CONSIDER FORGIVENESS: I am witness, time and time again, to individuals looking to heal their relationship with food, but unable to let go of the blame and allow & accept forgiveness. The two cannot coexist: HEALING & BLAME. No matter whether someone feels that they themselves are to blame, or that someone else is at fault, the blame itself does not serve to heal. WHAT IF we were to simply take blame out of the equation, hold no space for it, squeeze it out and overshadow it with acceptance and love. What would happen then? WHAT IF we supported self-forgiveness/outward-forgiveness and allowed there to be peace as its placeholder. What would happen then?
EVALUATE SELF-WORTH: There is not one single human that I have encountered so far that struggles with their relationship with food and does not also struggle with self-worth. When we allow ourselves to be dragged down by negative self-talk and destructive behaviour with regards to food, we degrade and devalue our worth. Over time, we may not even realize that the two are intertwined, and may wonder why we struggle to place the value on ourselves that we deserve. Working on recreating a healthy relationship with self-worth is fundamental in building a healthy relationship with food - they live & breathe the same space.
CELEBRATE THE SMALL WINS: We MUST reward ourselves for progress along the way, that is how we fuel the motivation to continue the journey. Maybe you took blame out of the equation in one moment with one very simple decision and were able to notice and reflect on how that felt: WIN. Maybe an individual decided to put themselves first one day and chose self-worth instead of stretching their limits: WIN. Maybe I decided today that I was simply having an off day and noticed the old negative self-talk voice creeping in and was so tempted to listen and instead reached out to a friend for support: WIN. Celebrate ALL the little wins along the way, friends, they will support your long term goals & healing.
LET LOOSE YOUR SUPERPOWERS: We must always remember to allow ourselves to shine. We are all strong and powerful in our own ways and it’s an absolute loss to overlook them, dim our light, or make ourselves small. The more you stand tall in your strengths, hold your head up, share with the world the things you are good at, the more self-worth, confidence, pride, and positivity there will be to share around with others. We MUST share our gifts - what else are we here for?
If you’ve made it this far, I do hope you’ve extracted a tidbit of motivation to help you forward. It is a journey, not a race: it is healing, not a fix.
And if you’d like to learn more about the work that I do with clients, please REACH OUT to find out more about working together!