Eating your way to good health
Food is an important part of our health and we spend an awful amount of time thinking about what we eat and planning our meals. Eating habits also tend to vary, as we are always going through phases of craving particular foods, trying to eat more healthily or eating more or less than usual. Relationships with food can become problematic when it feels as though it is interrupting with your day-to-day life.
Difficulties with eating have been categorised into various diagnoses, however it is important to remember that the main focus is with the individual and their relationship with food. There are lots of possible reasons as to why people may experience difficulties with eating and their relationship with food, such as difficult life experiences like school or work pressure, the loss of a loved one, family issues as well as social pressures and biological and genetic factors and habits. Alongside these, there are also factors that can interfere with your recovery if you are experiencing difficulties with food and eating, known as triggers. Triggers include things that have already contributed towards your difficulty with eating (such as the loss of a loved one or a stressful work period), or may be an upcoming event like going on holiday, cultural celebrations or going on a diet.
It is important to consider the things that you can do to do help yourself continue to eat your way to good health and improve your relationship with food:
Talk about how you are feeling with others, this can be with friends, family, support group or a mental health professional. If you don’t feel comfortable talking about your eating difficulties with others, writing it down can also be helpful. Talking treatments have been found to be very helpful for people who struggle with their eating habits.
Develop a healthy routine. Breaking existing routines that are disrupting your healthy relationship with food can be hard, however making small changes and remaining focused on your goals can help with this. For example, if you are concerned about overeating at meal times, buying and preparing smaller amounts of food may help you to get into the habit of eating a particular amount. Incorporating activities you enjoy around mealtimes is another example which can help you to focus less on your anxieties surrounding meal times and links with the next point.
Reflect on times where you don’t feel concerned about food and eating. Are there any activities that you were doing to help you feel like this? This can be something like reading a book, gardening or going for a walk. If you can identify what these activities are you can make more time for them and incorporate them into your routine. This can help to distract you from your worries around mealtimes.
Learn your triggers so you can identify them. Being able to identify your triggers will help you to take precautions when triggering events arise and think of different ways to deal with your thoughts/feelings in these situations to give you a more positive outcome.
Seek professional help if by doing all of the above you do not experience relief in your symptoms then seek professional help, namely psychological therapy.