The Science of Eating Behaviour: It is how and why we eat
Our relationship with food
Food can bring people together in the most beautiful of ways, creating loving memories with friends and family. It can also hold memories of exploration and adventure, tasting new things and experiencing different cultures. However, with the way we live and our lifestyles, our respect for our nourishment, nature’s gift of food and our bodies, can easily be bypassed.
For many, their eating behaviour has developed negative patterns from their social environment (which includes the wider society), cognitive and emotional processes. This pattern is called disordered eating; whereby it is a spectrum of muddled belief systems, thought patterns, coping mechanisms for emotions and social influence.
I think many would agree we are all on this spectrum. This may come under the awareness that there are issues with emotional eating (which can be triggered by a range of feelings from sad, to bord, to very excited), binge eating, or undernourishment (both via intentional restriction through harsh dieting or unintentional where they are so stressed, they can’t organise or stomach the right kind of nourishment).
If you were to answer this question right now what would your answer be; what is your relationship with food? In other words, how do you and food interact and what do you believe food can do for you?
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Interesting to think about, isn’t it? Because you may say that you believe food nourishes you and you feel healthy and vital with proper nourishment. Which may be the case, but then often we have deeper belief patterns running underneath, such as ‘food = weight gain’, ‘ when I work or study I need chocolate to concentrate’, ‘ eating fat gives me more fat’, ‘ I have a slow metabolism so I can’t lose weight no matter what I do’, ‘ I can eat whatever I like if I exercise’, ‘If I’m skinner I’ll be more attractive or successful’ or ‘ If I just get to 55 kg’s, then I will be happy’.
As you can see there are many other messages, that are anything but positive, that can be running in your belief system that can sabotage a nourishing relationship with your food and yourself. So now from another perspective, have another go at answering the question, what is your relationship with food, again and go deeper. Be honest with yourself and see what could be holding you back.
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If you found some interesting belief systems and would like some assistance on how to reframe these so that you can advance your relationship with food in a more nourishing matter, then please get in touch here and we can discuss how you can make some beneficial changes.
Often our food related health issues are not because of the food itself; but it is how we eat and why we eat that determines whether the food becomes beneficial for our health or not.
What you crave and what it means
What we crave when we are emotional can say a lot of things about the mental and emotional requirements, we are needing at the time that we substitute with food because we believe that is a quicker or easier fix than the deeper subconscious or conscious issues that are going on.
Please know that everyone is different and will react and response to mental and emotional stressors in different ways. However, in general the foods cravings and emotional need relationship are to help you to get an awareness of what habits you may be developing with emotional eating.
It has been researched that, in general terms, when we are drawn more to:
· Smooth and creamy (such as desserts, like chocolate mousse), this usually means that the person desires some sort of soothing and comfort, desire to heal past wounds.
· Heavy on the sugary foods (i.e., cakes, sweets, chocolate), this usually means they are looking for more excitement and joy in their life. Or also used as a stress release.
· Crunchy and/or deep- fried fatty foods usually means they don’t have enough entertainment or satisfaction in their life. Or also used as a stress release.
· Classic bread and bakery food usually means that they are seeking comfort and a desire to be cared for.
Please know everyone has other psychological factors that also can play roles in the way they eat so these would need to be addressed individually with the person for their specific scenarios and life experiences.
How do you eat?
If you recognise that you struggle with emotional eating or binge eating episodes, then take some time out to discover you more and answer the following questions honestly.
Do you use food to feel better when you feel down or sad?
Do you use food to calm yourself down when you are feeling angry or anxious?
Do you use food to feel more relaxed or in control of situations in your life?
From the above craving categories where do you sit the most? For example, high sugar foods and the desire to have more joy in life.
You might like to have a little book just for you to discover your relationship with you, your eating habits, and your body and then on a regular basis reflect on the question in the above article and become more acquainted with how you work.
And if this article spoke to you in ways that you desire to have help for to move forward at this time then please feel free to email me and I can share with you the various programmes available that you might like to embark on.
