It’s high time that we learn to love the food on our plate instead of counting calories in it. Let's know some basics about exploring a healthy relationship with food.
We live in a diet-obsessed world where we are supposed to judge food with calorie intake. In a wild goose chase to lose weight faster, the world has witnessed the onset of many fad diets like Keto or intermittent fasting and several fruit diets like Pineapple diet, watermelon diet, to name a few. We don’t question the reliability and results borne by these diets. They might make you look better without a few pounds of weight on you. However, as soon as you switch on to your regular diet, a little overindulgence with food, and you are back to square one. As a result, you tend to become over cautious with food with a guilt syndrome after eating a slice of pizza or a scoop of ice cream.
While there is a lot of talk about eating disorders like bulimia, anorexia or overeating, there is hardly any discussion about yo-yo dieting or starve-yourself-dieting and its physical and mental aspects. It indeed indicates a bad relationship with food. Well, if you are fighting your food cravings every day and end up losing your sleep over it, then you need to reconsider your relationship with food.
You need to acknowledge that healthy eating is not only about food. You need to put a check on your guilt-laden thoughts about food. If you can't come out of the ideas about evil carbs, good fat- bad fat, oil-free food, Mediterranean food etc., it's time to give them up for good.
Cravings aren’t healthy. Therefore it’s wise to eat everything. Nothing should be prohibited in your diet unless you have medical issues. The only deal is to control the portion size. You should eat a plate of rajma-chawal or a piece of gulab-jamun without any guilt or greed.
When you are eating, try to put all your mind into eating. Enjoy every morsel of food,and be grateful for the meal on your plate. It is also advisable to turn off all the distractions like television, mobile phone or laptop while eating. Mindless eating is a strict no-no for everyone.
You should know when you are really hungry. If your stomach feels hungry, then you need to head to the kitchen. But when your stomach is not asking for food but you want to eat because you are bored, drink a glass of water instead.
Also, you should know when to stop eating. When you feel you have eaten sufficient to satisfy your hunger, you should stop. You must never overeat because that would put pressure on your system and make you feel bloated as a result. Happy eating!
