FEMOSPHERE

My relationship with food changed once I applied the abundance mindset to food. Maybe you grew up with food insecurity, maybe you chose to self-restrict, or you binge on food. I am not an expert but once I started applying the abundance mindset to my diet, things changed for the better.

Your Body Does Not Exist for Food

Do you remember being a child and having to clear your plate? You didn’t choose the meal, or portion it, yet you were still forced to finish all of the food on your plate. Maybe you were even guilted about starving children, which was neither helpful nor necessary.

When we grow up, we aren’t commanded by anyone to finish the food on our plate. However, we can still carry that made-up law into our adult lives.

Examine yourself. Consider what logic is behind the compulsion when it comes to food. Is it even logic? Maybe it’s emotion. These are essential things to deal with.

There’s so much discourse around food, nutrients, what is good or bad, but if you don’t have a good relationship with food, you will see a devil behind every bush.

If you do indeed have access to food, it’s important to remind yourself that you are an adult, you can buy more food, access more food, whenever you need to. No one will take it away from you, and if they did you would be able to purchase more. This thought helps me when I have the impulse to eat food I don’t want or need because I’m worried it won’t be there when I get back.

Food Exists for Your Body

Food exists for your body! It exists to nourish your body. It exists to please your taste buds. It exists for enjoyment.

When you believe you have to finish your plate, you’re telling yourself that, right now, your body is subject to this food. That this food has power over you and your will, that your will submits to food.

Even if it’s a healthy plate, if you force yourself to finish the salad when you don’t want it, you are telling your mind “food has more authority than my will.”

If you’re telling yourself this with healthy food, it will also apply to the unhealthy food you have the urge to binge on at 2am.

Know Yourself

Many of us have a damaged mindset around food. Some of us don’t get hunger cues anymore. We’ve all seen the “almond mom” trend about mothers who don’t eat meals because they “aren’t hungry.”

What if I told you that for some of these women, it’s true. They really aren’t hungry. After so long of skipping meals, your body stops telling you that it’s hungry.

Maybe for you, you need to relearn those cues. You can’t practice intuitive eating if your intuition is only satisfied with a Starbucks Frappe until 5pm. You have to have a balance between not forcing yourself to eat when you’re full or you really don’t want to, but also recognizing that you need nourishment, so you need to eat.

Only you can know yourself, your mindset, your thoughts. You know when you are BS’ing yourself. You know when your mindset is unhealthy. You know when you can challenge a mindset and when you can’t.

It has to be a combination of knowledge and intuition. Knowing you should eat, what to eat, when to eat. In a healthy mindset you utilize your intuition and knowledge.

Real Life Example

The other day I had someone offer me a Starbucks drink, my favorite kind in fact. I didn’t really want it, but I said “thank you,” took it and I drank half. Halfway through I realized I didn’t want it in the first place, I just took it because it was free and I didn’t want to “waste” it.

A thought came to me: “my body is not a dumpster for food.” In fact, consuming food I don’t want and don’t hunger for would be more of a waste than simply not drinking it.

These are just a few thoughts I have on the subject, I am by no means an expert in any way. Shifting my focus has been really helpful for me, it may help you as well.