I’m not talking about the relationship you have with your husband or wife, or your mother or father. I’m talking about the one you have with food.
Some of you may see food as a reward, others as stress relief. Some people see food as an inconvenience – something that gets in the way of life, that we have to eat or we’ll starve.
The two relationships I want to talk about are seeing food as pleasure or as fuel.
Pleasure or fuel
I’d say about 80% of people see food as pleasure: something to be consumed and enjoyed. I, for one, see food as fuel. Fuel to nourish the body and get the best results from your exercise.
This shift in mindset is what drives healthy food choices.
The person who sees food as pleasure looks at their plate and says: This looks tasty. I can’t wait to eat this. I’m really going to enjoy it. This person makes food choices based on what they feel like.
The person who sees food as fuel looks at their plate and says: This food is nourishment. It’s going to give my body what it needs and help me reach my goals. This person makes food choices based on logic and what makes sense to eat.
Choosing with logic
If you make your food choices with logic rather than emotion, you’ll stop chasing those pleasurable, high-calorie flavours. You’ll start settling for the lower-flavour, lower-calorie options. It’s a simple matter of placing a lower expectation on food, and being happy just eating some fish and veggies.
That might sound a little boring, but believe it or not, if you adopt this mindset you’ll start to enjoy your healthy, fuel-efficient choices more, and you’ll notice how the food makes you feel afterwards. No heavy, groggy lack of energy. No regret or disappointment.
Make room for pleasure
Honestly though, this isn’t a way to live your whole life. There will be moments in your week when you allow yourself the odd cheat meal. When you do, switch your mindset from fuel to pleasure and really enjoy that food. Take in all the flavours, knowing you can eat that pizza or cake and you’ll be fine, because the rest of your week has been clean and healthy.
Like everything in life, it’s all about balance, and food should be viewed the same way.
A good rule to live by is the 80/20 rule: 80% of the time you eat for fuel, and 20% for pleasure. It’s a great way to build a lasting, positive relationship with food. You can still eat naughty every now and then and not feel bad about it, provided you’ve fed your body well most of the time.
I guess it is possible to have your cake and eat it too.
