A Better 'Relationship' With Food

My husband made a really valid point the other day that I never thought about...
I had mentioned something about eating something I shouldn't and used the phrase "I cheated" in regards to my diet. He causally said that you shouldn't think of it that way... as "cheating" & that it was an unhealthy way to look at it.
Not sure why I had never thought to question the term... or my relationship with food, but in that instant it kind of just hit me. I have this unhealthy 'relationship' with food! I have linked so many emotional responses and attachments to food and have created such bad eating habits.

Cheating has such a negative connotation linked to it. It's a dirty word in real life relationships as well as the one most of us women are in with food. We talk about eating a cupcake in terms of committing an act against our diet. As if we are so committed and devoted to it that we are emotionally straying.

We are raised in this society where food is more than just a necessity and a diet is only used to lose weight. When I tell people I 'eat clean'...it's my diet! It's not the type frequently thought of in society, where a diet is a restriction of calories or certain foods as a means to lose weight. I'm talking about a diet in anthropological sense...it is what I eat to sustain my body!

Food is meant for fuel, as you can read about in my previous post. We need to develop a better perceptive that food has a purpose. It is not just meant for our taste buds or to fill an emotional need. We need to stop attaching an emotional relationship to food. Cookies can make us feel warm and fuzzy but it will not solve our problems or fill an emotional need. And while there's nothing wrong with enjoying the joy that comes with a fresh baked, gooey, chocolate chip cookie...we need to enjoy the cookie for it being just a cookie and not over indulge or place a bigger attachment to it.

Also we should not indulge in treats because we have a rough day or we feel down about ourselves and our weight. So many of us get into this cycle of allowing food to have a hold over us. The vicious  cycle goes like this for example: we had a long day...so we eat a cookie, that cookie reminds us of how 'fat' we are & how we really should not have ate it, so now we feel even worse, so we figure what the heck, it's not getting any better...and we eat three more cookies, which in turn causes us to feel super guilty and vow never to touch another cookie ever again! And then we spend the rest of the evening in guilt, misery and the depletion of our self worth. Because as many of us have been brainwashed to think...we link our self worth to our looks, our weight, and our ability to avoid 'cheating' on our diets.

Food is food, it is a necessity, it is meant to provide our bodies energy & nutrition needed in order to function properly. That being said...is okay to indulge in a cupcake or cookie once in while without feeling guilty. I use the word indulge, because you should, you should savor every bite and enjoy what you are eating. But food should not be an award, or a punishment.
Really you should not eat those things often simply because it does not benefit your body in properly functioning & is counterproductive to getting your body in better shape & health.  I would limit it to once in while & not several times a week. What you put in your body, is what is being used to fuel it, so just be mindful of what you put in!
That being said... you should not withhold from eating treats simply because you will feel guilty, or because you're over weight thus you "can't eat stuff like that".
You CAN enjoy a treat once in a while....you're not a bad person & you didn't have a "bad dieting day" if you do! Start establishing a better 'relationship' with food & STOP thinking you "cheated" on your diet.  ;)