Mindful Eating While Eating Everything?
So, you want to have your cake and eat it too? Same. And there’s nothing wrong with that! In this blog, I’m going to discuss how to functionally, unapologetically, and simply eat what you’d like while maintaining performance and aesthetic goals. I will also share my personal journey with food control.
My goal is to take the mystery and restraint out when making food decisions.
If you have health and medical considerations or dietary preferences, I’m sensitive to that and your food choices are unique to you.
Also, I’m not a Nutritionist and you may prefer to discuss your dietary needs with a doctor or certified nutritionist.
I hear a lot of shame from women around food and cravings. “Ughhh I know I’m not supposed to eat cookies, but I ended up having three!” - “…chocolate muffins are bad…” “I want to eat it but I don’t think I should.”
While people who are pregnant or are around their mensural cycle especially have cravings due to shifts in hormones, so do women who are in puberty, perimenopausal, experiencing menopause, or are not eating enough nutritious food in general. Basically everyone has cravings at some point in their lives!
Sometimes people don’t even know why they crave certain foods. While this may sometimes be due to a lack of nutrition in areas like getting enough healthy fats or protein, a childhood memory of comfort, or simply viewing a commercial can spark an urge to eat.
Its all ok!
We can learn to manage our food cravings by choosing to give into them, or not.
🤷🏻♀️But first, how do we relate to food and our own bodies?
I’ll honestly share my story here even though it’s not favorable and kinda embarrassing … but I understand the food and body image struggle!
Growing up I was a young competitive athlete in dance, softball, and basketball. I physically matured on the younger side (yes, my first period was when I was 10 years old and like many early bloomers, I didn’t know what a period was). I was outright confused and ashamed by a young - growing - hormone - filled - body and had physical expectations for myself based on society and how I saw myself in comparison to my peers and lets face it, Brittany Spears and Christina Aguilera 🤦🏻♀️!
I became very aware of looking different. My new breasts, body odor, and acne, oh my! I felt awkward. Plus, on top of this, I was dealing with family conflict that seemed it would never resolve. I always felt I needed to figure out some way to change the situation, whether it was myself or my family.
I worked at becoming smaller, controlled my eating, and tried to be like-able by people even if it meant being friends with people who weren’t friendly but were popular. I ended up in uncomfortable situations, moved further away from my values, and became more dissatisfied than before while ,y disordered eating and self esteem got worse.
This grueling cycle went on for years (seriously, until my late 20’s! And I even still have to check myself!). It wasn’t until years of cognitive based therapy and inner wisdom that I have tools to address this ‘little girl’ inside who makes an appearance every now and then.
Today, I listen more to myself and I work to accept myself and my environment as it is.
I continue to learn about the foods that make me feel my best and fuel me so I can think clearly and feel satisfied without deprivation. I choose to eat the way I do and try my hardest to forgive myself and move on even when there are times I don’t eat (or drink) ideally.
I can recognize the pattern is from the past and make a choice today to not control what I’m eating or who is doing what, but make an empowered choice on what I want to eat and where I spend my time.
Now, this is where my coaching suggestions come in… Here, I’m going to share how to experience the food you crave. These foods are usually surgery, salty, and fatty and don’t do much for our fitness or overall performance.
However, they do remind us of comforting times, may be gifted to us around the holidays or special occasions, or are wanted because they are straight up delicious.
?Why would we completely cut out something that makes us feel memories of the past or are so yummy?
If you are struggling with disordered eating or think you may have an eating disorder, contact your primary care provider or speak with a credentialed therapist. You are not alone and help is available.
If you’re in alignment with eating foods you love and crave that are, lets face it, less nutritious. See below some options on how to eat them mindfully in moderation, without guilt, and by choice. You can try one, two, all, or none of them out. See what works for you!
1. When you have a craving, Don’t ignore it.
Instead of ignoring your cravings, get curious about them! Resisting them may make you think about wanting that food even more. You can explore your options.
Ask yourself if this is a food you actually want? Sometimes the memory of the food is more satisfying than the food! Maybe you’ve discovered when you eat that food now it often upsets your stomach, hurts your teeth, or makes you feel worse than the memory of it all together.
Ask yourself, how bad do I really want this? 1-10?
Is there another option that would satisfy me? Buy or order the food, or a food similar to the food you crave to maybe satisfy that craving. When you eat the food, sit down without distractions, and eat it slowly. Love that food.
2. Know how much to buy.
If you know you are going to want a certain food around that time of the month, choose the best option and quantity. Only buy what you are able to eat at that moment and avoid over buying the craved food if you know you have a tendency to overeat or reach for that food first. If eating food with a plate, fork and knife, cut food in half. After eating half ask yourself how you feel and get more if you want, save the rest for another time.
3. If you want to satisfy a craving, but are too ashamed of eating ice cream.
You can make ‘ice cream.’ If you have protein powder, just add about 1 cup of ice with ½ cup water to 1 or 2 scoops of protein powder and blend. If you want it thicker add less water, more ice or a banana. You can even add cocoa nibs and cinnamon for flavor and texture. This makes a thick ice cream-like texture that is low calorie and tastes good.
4. Eat a complete meal and then the food you crave.
You can reference Diets Don’t Work for an example of portion sizes that make up a complete meal as well as satisfaction cues, so you know when to stop. Sometimes we crave certain foods when we’re lacking nutrients from certain food groups. For example, if we don't eat enough fats, we often crave sugar.
Consider all of these as possible options for having the food you’d like in a way that leaves you feeling satisfied, empowered, and pleasured. Also, you may end up overeating a food you crave and end up not feeling so great. Give yourself love and care, as you would a friend, after an instance and know that you have the chance to come back to your mindful eating the next day, this takes practice as everything!
For support on fitness and wellness in your life contact Brie
