Do you have any common downfalls with food? Do you try and keep on a ‘healthy path’ but always fall back into bad habits?
It’s pretty common to struggle to maintain new habits around eating – food is everywhere and many of the habits we want to get rid of have been our way for some time.
When I work with clients, I see lots of challenges around food – but they all generally fall into some common theme and once identified makes it much easier to overcome and move on from.
1. Emotional Eating – food and mood really do go hand-in-hand. Food adds pleasure, comfort, and connection to our lives. Its when we use food to numb or deal with an emotion that its an issue. Identifying your triggers and coping strategies and then consciously replacing those with other behaviors will break the cycle.
2. Craving sweet stuff – we often see ‘sweet’ stuff as BAD! That has come from years of dieting culture. We are taught to feel guilty when we eat them but often we are craving a little sweetness in our lives (and diets don’t have a lot of that) so we rebel and do something naughty!
3. Overeating – There are many different reasons for this. The obvious one is that you are actually hungry but avoid eating until the point of “I just got to have something!” hungry and then you eat uncontrollably. Maybe you don’t think you “should” have a snack even though your body is telling you it needs one. In the afternoon, you might feel bored or overwhelmed and just need a break but won’t give yourself permission to take one. At night, you are probably tired and eat to keep yourself awake instead of letting yourself go to sleep.
4. Portion sizes – what is ideal for you? This particular challenge is really common in our abundant-food environment, but it actually results from why, when, what, and how you are eating in the first place. In other words, resolving your difficulty with “eating too much” isn’t about “portion control,” but about reprogramming the patterns you have established and repeated over and over, (In fact, “portion control” typically helps only temporarily then backfires, doesn’t it?). I am a big advocate of intuitive eating – listening to what your body needs, eating when hungry and stopping when full – but that takes practice and time, rather than being dictated to by a set calorie limit!
5. Habits – One of the most common problems I come across is that eating issues are so habitual, they are not recognised as a pattern, and clients haven’t been able to find a way out by themselves. Often by the time I work with clients, they have tried various diets, tips, and tricks, but always revert back to the pattern feeling more discouraged than ever.
So what about you? Are you ready to take a good look at what is really going on here? Do you wish you could learn a whole new way to relate to food?
If you are open to the structure and support, I provide then it’s possible to break out of the patterns you repeat again and again. We work together to learn what ACTUALLY works for your unique body, that fits into your lifestyle and goals and leaves food just part of everyday life rather than something to obsess over.
Drop me a line and let’s find out if coaching may be the help you need.
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