Going Beyond the Food

 

Going Beyond the Food

Do you ever feel that there is too much information and opinion about what to eat for health?

You have heard from us (over and over) to eat a colorful diet, keep it plant based, avoid trans-fats, eat foods with a low glycemic index.  

 

While we stand behind those ideas and the validity of their science, we also know that food science will continue evolve and change, so we may change what we tell you.  But one thing will never change: there is a mind behind every act of eating, and addressing our individual thoughts, perceptions, and feelings about food is equal in importance to simple knowing what to eat.  So for just a few minutes before the new year is too far gone, let us consider our relationship to food on another level. 

All of us at Aiken-Augusta Holistic Health are committed to holistic wellness with a strong emphasis on the mind body connection. Our Life Coach bases her work with clients on the idea that our thoughts are like the roots of trees that create the fruit.  I have spent the last 10 years learning and teaching medical hypnosis and discovering the intricate and powerful connection between thought, imagination, and health.  If you ask me if a health condition is mental or physical, the answer is “both.”

Here are a few suggestions to consider, about how we think about food and about healthy, life-giving eating:

• Take some time to consider how your upbringing and parents’ view of food and eating even now might affect your eating habits and relationship with food. Consider gaining insight into this by journaling about it.  
  
• Take time, every time, before eating to be grateful. A lot happened to get that food on your plate.  Gratitude is always a game changer and our appreciation for food is no different. 
• Allow yourself to see food as enjoyable, a celebration of nourishment and life, but refrain from using food as a reward. 
• Allow yourself to view your body as a daily gift, like a cherished friend, not as an enemy or a problem to solve.  
• Slow down your eating. Relax enough during eating to shift out of fight or flight mode (where many of us live our stressful days) thereby decreasing stress hormones, aiding digestion, and giving your brain time to sense satiety so you don’t continue to eat after you are full. 

 

• Taste and enjoy what you are eating. Mindfully enjoy every bite. This truly does change how the food is metabolized.  If you are going to eat the cookie, don’t add more stress to your body by not enjoying it.  
• As you are more mindful of how much you are eating, you will be surprised that your stomach actually cannot count. Even if you are accustomed to eating six cookies instead of one, when you eat just one you may find it equally satisfying. Put the food on a small plate or in a small bowl instead of eating from a container where the supply seems endless and it is easy to lose track.  You can ignore that little voice in your head that says, “Don’t waste food” or “Clean your plate!”

We hope that provides some food for thought, or maybe thought for food.  Let us know how we can serve you in 2017.  It has been almost 10 years since we opened, and we are so grateful to be here still with you.

 

When walking, walk. 

When eating, eat. (Zen proverb)

To your health,

Robert Pendergrast, MD, MPH