EATING WITH THE RIGHT ATTITUDE – Part I

A strong, healthy mindset is necessary for a lot of things in life. It’s not only necessary in the beginning stages of losing weight, but it’s also what sustains you throughout your journey and into maintenance. It’s all about learning how to make peace with food, or, in other words… developing a healthy food mindset.

One of the most important things related to weight loss is to get rid of the diet mentality. While certain restrictions can be life changing, a strict diet mentality can have adverse effects on some, making them more likely to dwell constantly on certain foods and end up binging on things that should be off-limits. We need to let go of the strict diet mindset and adapt a more flexible approach to eating. It’s not a diet we are after, it’s a healthy way of living. In order to do that, we need to commit to eating mostly “real” food. 

Whole foods like clean proteins, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and healthy fats with a variety of great recipes and a little flexibility is sustainable, enjoyable and satisfying. Once in maintenance, grains and legumes (beans and peas) can be included, as tolerated (because a lot of people don’t tolerate them well); however, processed foods and industrial seed oils like canola, corn, sunflower and cottonseed oils should always be discouraged – simply because they have serious negative effects on our health – inflammatory effects.

Another healthy food mindset is knowing yourself when it comes to the scale. If you have a difficult relationship with food, especially for weight reasons, perhaps weighing every day isn’t best for you. Our bodies shift a lot during weight loss. You can gain or lose weight doing the exact same thing while doing everything right. Fluids shift, hormones recalibrate and clothes fit better – even if the scale doesn’t budge a bit. If that fluctuating number or a smaller weight loss increment causes you to fret and lose motivation, then weigh yourself once a week instead.

Obsessing about our weight can lead to more body dissatisfaction and poor self-esteem. If that’s the case, there are better gauges of your weight, which can actually fluctuate throughout your day. Gauge how you feel physically, mentally and emotionally. Did you sleep well? Do you have brain fog, or are you on the top of your game? You may need to shift your focus from body weight to whole-body well-being. The weight loss will be there, you just won’t focus on the number.

Intuitive eating is another healthy mindset. It encourages you to follow your internal sensations of hunger and satiety (feeling satisfied) to know when to eat and when to stop.

While the intention is good in learning to self-regulate, I will tell you that with the era of hyper-palatable processed foods on the market today, we want to be very careful what we choose to eat. Some foods are nearly impossible to eat intuitively. They are designed with that intention – not to mention they are highly inflammatory. Why give yourself permission for that?

You can start your cravings cycle up again by giving yourself allowances to eat triggering foods, too. So, not all dietary restriction is bad – some of it is absolutely necessary and health promoting.

Next week we will continue to look at ways to improve our attitude with what we eat and therefore have a strong healthy mindset for our weight loss journey.