How often do you eat what your body really needs? Have you ever “caught” yourself eating for the sake of eating? Not because you were hungry, but because you felt anxiety, or anguish, or simply because you needed to keep busy doing something and you started eating? Or maybe you eat and eat and eat and the hunger never seems to go away? If you recognize yourself in that (I think most of us have fallen into the trap), I suggest you keep reading and perhaps you will discover some useful tips that will help you understand it (and yourself).
Becoming aware of what I eat and why I eat it
Maybe you already know that you don’t eat as well as you would like, or you don’t eat as you “should”. It is very important that, before trying to change your diet, you become aware of what you eat. If I asked you what you had for dinner last night, could you answer me in fewer than 10 seconds? And if I asked you what you ate 2 days ago? In reality, we tend to eat like programmed robots, like machines that gobble up food without paying attention to or being aware of what we are eating. However, we are aware of the television, our mobile phones… aware of a thousand things, except what is truly important, what we are eating. I propose a very simple exercise so that you can begin to become aware of how you are eating: For the next few days (between 3-7 days, whatever you can commit to doing), write down in a notebook EVERYTHING you eat, from your main meals to the nuts you ate mid-morning, or the little square of chocolate before bedtime, to the piece of cake your child didn’t finish and (rather than throwing it away) you ended up eating… Simply note it in the notebook. Don’t stop yourself from eating it, don’t change anything, don’t judge yourself… Just TAKE NOTE. At the end of this period, read EVERYTHING you have eaten. And observe: What do you think? At a glance, does it seem healthy for you? How could you improve it? Surely there are foods that, without me needing to tell you, you already sense (or know) are not healthy for you. And here is where it starts to get really interesting… if you know they aren’t healthy for you, WHY do you eat them? With what purpose do you eat those unhealthy foods? Here are some clues…
Foods and emotions
What we eat and what we feel go completely hand-in-hand. When you were a baby and you were hungry, you cried so your mother would feed you and fill that physical emptiness you felt in your stomach. Thus, food filled a void. Originally, this void was physical (the stomach is empty, I feel hunger, I fill my stomach and the feeling of emptiness disappears), but symbolically, as the years go by, this emptiness becomes an emotional emptiness. Maybe when you were a child you didn’t feel seen or supported by your parents; maybe at school classmates laughed at you and your self-esteem was not very high; maybe you lacked hugs and kisses… All of these shortcomings create a feeling of emptiness (that we sometimes feel in the stomach) and we feel the need to fill that void. By association, we try to fill it with food (like when our mother fed us as babies), but this emotional void cannot be filled with all the food in the world! In general, when we eat foods compulsively (and not due to a real, physiological need), we usually feel the need to eat junk food (candy, chocolates, chips, the greasier the better…). So, I am asking you the same question as before: WHY do you eat what you eat? See if you can identify some emptiness, something that you want to run away or escape from, and see if there is a feeling of anxiety or anguish before eating. Notice if there is stress in your life. Notice when you binge eat; try to remember if something has happened before, or if you would like something to be different and you cannot or do not know how to change it. Just observe and realize what is going on when you eat… Generally, our diet tells us a lot about how we feel on an emotional level. There are certain foods that we tend to eat when we feel sad or down, others that we tend to eat when we are tired or anxious (does chocolate sound familiar? It’s a classic…). So, we could say that you choose what you eat according to your mood. Do you agree? Then maybe now you can answer the question of WHY you eat what you eat: to not feel sad; to not feel tired; to not feel anguish or anxiety… See if that is true for you. Just observe… What if I told you that, in reality, the foods you eat could be the cause of your moods? That is, certain foods can make you sad or irritable, or make you feel an overwhelming tiredness, or make you anxious… Have you ever thought about this? I’ll tell you why…
The intestine is our second brain
Millions of “bugs” (bacteria) live in our intestine, forming our intestinal flora, or microbiota. This intestinal flora is necessary for our body to function properly, but it must be in balance with the environment. If your intestinal flora is not balanced, there is, among other issues, an alteration of serotonin levels. You are probably familiar with serotonin because it is known as one of the “happiness hormones” (in reality, it is not a hormone, but a neurotransmitter, although it works as a hormone). Relatively recent studies have demonstrated that 90% of the body’s serotonin is formed in the gut, and only 10% in the brain, so good intestinal health is essential for a good state of mental and physical health. That is why we talk about the intestine as our second brain and that is also why our diet influences (much more than you imagine) your emotions and your health in general. There are some foods that can alter your intestinal flora and, as a result, you may have symptoms like feeling sad, apathetic, short-tempered, etc. without any apparent external cause. Quite probably, the cause is in your gut. With time, these emotional symptoms can turn into physical symptoms (muscle aches, headaches, abdominal swelling, etc.) for which you cannot find an explanation beyond that of “stress”.
What foods are healthy for me, and what foods are not?
I am not a fan of “magic recipes”, since you are unique and, therefore, so are your needs, but I can give you some dietary guidelines to improve your health… I suggest you try it for two or three weeks and see if you notice any changes:
· Reduce (and if you can, eliminate) white sugar from your diet. You can replace it with whole cane sugar or honey, which are much healthier.
· Reduce gluten (especially wheat flour). You can replace it with spelt flour, which contains less gluten and is usually better digested.
· Reduce your intake of cow’s milk. There are many people who are lactose intolerant and don’t know it!
Action plan
Before you start thinking about everything I have told you and start making drastic changes in your diet, remember that the first step is to BE AWARE and observe how you are feeling. To do this, start with the exercises I suggested today:
1. Write down in a notebook EVERYTHING you eat during the next few days, no need to change anything.
2. Observe which foods on your list are NOT HEALTHY (you can underline them on your list), when you eat them, where you are when you eat them, etc.
3. Finally (and just as importantly), ask yourself WHY you eat them (to calm anxiety, to stop feeling sad, to keep yourself busy, to stop thinking, etc.)
When you are more conscious of your eating, perhaps something will change in you, and changes in your eating habits will have a clearer and deeper meaning for you, so you will be much more convinced and motivated to make these changes… and, as result, it will be easier to improve your diet and your health. If so, this article will have fulfilled its purpose… Leave me a comment with your opinion or with any questions that come up for you. I would be thrilled to read and respond to your comments! If you want to know more about eating for health, you can click here to discover my Eating for Health plan.Thank you for reading… Until next time!
Judith Benavent