Why can’t I lose weight? Why did I overeat yet again? Why can’t I resist foods that make me sick? Why is it such a battle to make healthier choices? Have any of these questions plagued your thoughts?
For most of my life, I’ve had a terrible attitude towards my body. Most of the time I hated it, rarely did I appreciate it or find it easy to take good care of it. Even though it has blessed me with the ability to have two healthy kids, to run far and remain relatively healthy, my body and mind have always been in a battle.
There are no quick fixes or easy answers.
Why am I unable to care for it simply because it’s a gift from God? Why isn’t it as simple as asking myself if what I’m doing right now is causing harm to my body or nourishing it? Am I feeding disease or health? If it’s harmful then why is it such a challenge to stop myself from eating it?
On the surface, it’s a very simple concept, yet in reality it’s very complex.
Essentially, we’ve screwed ourselves. For so many of us it’s a battle. We fall into the trap set by society which dictates what’s acceptable and how we determine our worth based on how we look. Now with social media we are bombarded by unattainable images that are unnatural and make us feel inferior because we can’t even come close to this ideal. We’ve created unnatural food-like substances that are fun, delicious, addictive, and are killing us, but we’ve been brainwashed by companies who profit off of us by convincing us that it’s OK because it’s cheaper and easier to eat that way.
There’s also deep cultural and social significance behind the food we eat. We use it to express love, to celebrate, to medicate and to numb ourselves. We use it to stuff away our true emotions when they’re too difficult to deal with. We bond over meals and it’s an excuse to get together. It’s also a creative outlet. Cooking is an art form. It’s so much fun to plan trips around restaurants that we want to try and to discover new tastes.
Some people don’t have an emotional attachment to food. They eat when they’re hungry and otherwise don’t give it too much thought. Some become obsessed with food due to negative experiences throughout their lives. Some get sick because they overeat and some because they starve themselves. For some, the experience of eating is traumatic. It can become a lifelong, all consuming, terrifying war within us. And I’ve been through my fair share of battles.
Sometimes people who choose to avoid things like sugar, animal products, processed food, etc. are often accused of being too obsessive or no fun or taking health too far. And of course, some people probably do. But why is it so complicated to just eat the things that will nourish us and nurture health? Did people 100 years ago face the same battles? Was eating so emotionally complicated for so many people?
What makes it so challenging? Why is it such a point of contention for so many people?
I’m the first one to admit that I love a good Oreo or ice cream or a loaded pizza. But I think we can all agree that there is nothing in any of these products that actually nourishes us. Nothing in them is actually promoting health. But we fall into this trap of believing it’s OK because everyone is eating them. They’re fun, they’re delicious. They’re EVERYWHERE. Who doesn’t want to “just live a little?” And that would be OK, I guess, if it really was just a little. But we have a tendency to go overboard. And most people I know struggle with their health because of poor diet, emotional attachment to food, using it as a coping mechanism, or not providing their bodies with what they need to thrive.
We can’t deny that as a society we are sicker than ever. (Just google stats on lifestyle diseases. It’s scary) Pay attention to everything that’s available to us when we walk in a grocery store. I mean really. How many different varieties of cereal or granola bars or candy do we need? And how many of them actually give our bodies what they require without all of the chemical additives? How much of what we buy is actually real food?
For someone who has decided to make a change in their eating habits (usually due to a doctor’s warning or sickness), it’s so much harder than it needs to be because they’re constantly bombarded by all the endless food like products when they shop, on TV, on social media and everyone around them who is now judging them because of their food choices.
Have you ever been to a party and refused a piece of cake or a beer only to then hear “Oh come on, a little won’t hurt you,” or “Come on it’s a celebration” or you receive a look that conveys disapproval because you are a party pooper?
I’ve studied nutrition for years, have a nutrition coach certification, and I still struggle emotionally with food. I’ve had eating disorders and have used food for comfort, punishment, celebration, and to ease my boredom. Even with all of my life experiences and battles with food, and all of my education about nutrition I still struggle to simply nourish my body. There are times when I know a certain food is going to make me feel terrible and yet I talk myself into eating it anyway only to suffer the consequences later on.
Simply choosing the foods that we know are going to fight disease and make us healthier has become a mental battle for so many of us. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way (and if all this seems absurd to you, be grateful). I constantly hear people talk about how they want to lose weight or need to go on a diet. Just look at our New Year’s resolutions. How many people resolve every year to go on a diet or to eat healthier or to lose weight or to exercise more? Why is it always our number one resolution every single year?
If it was easy we wouldn’t have to start over every New Year.
We’ve created this monster ourselves by inventing cheap fake foods that are convenient and delicious and addictive. We feed them to our kids from an early age. Who wouldn’t want to eat pizza or fries over a salad? It’s time-consuming to cook every night with our schedules. Produce is expensive and hard to find in many areas. Our taste buds crave what’s been engineered to addict us.
I’m still trying to figure this out myself. There are lots of things I can blame my struggle on, but the final decision is ultimately up to me. Do I want to accept that the messed up, for profit food industry has won? Am I going to keep blaming the 80s diet culture I grew up in for my choices 40 years later? I want to emphatically say NO WAY!
My point is – if you struggle with food and find yourself making choices that you later regret, if you know you need to make a change because your health is suffering yet you struggle to “simply do it” , I totally get it. There are tons of factors working against us “simply” eating healthier. But hopefully you’ll find comfort knowing you’re not alone, and the struggle is real and it’s hard.
As for me, I’m really trying to simplify it for myself by asking myself the question, “Is this what my body needs right now? Is this going to feed sickness or health?” My body — this gift from God that has been through so much – deserves an honest answer, especially if I want it to carry me around for a few more decades. What will my choice support?
What strategies do you use to help yourself make healthier choices? What’s your biggest struggle when it comes to food?