Does food control you?

As humans, we’re SUPPOSED to love high calorie, high sugar, high fat, good tasting food. It makes us fat, fat made us warm, fat protected us from deep wounds, it protected our vital organs in combat, and having more fat meant power, because it meant you had more access to calories, so you had a higher chance of finding a mate.

But we’re not cavemen anymore.

Being overweight, and of a high bodyfat % has ZERO benefit to us in modern day society.

So we’re living in a world that’s DESIGNED to make us overweight, despite how terrible it is for our quality of life?

How fucking mental is that?

That sounds really bleak. But it’s not that bad, it’s the whole reason why I’m writing this e-mail.

Now let me preface this, I am obviously not a nutritionist, not a dietitian, and certainly not a psychotherapist.

So a few grains of himalayan pink salt with what I’m saying please.

Food is a HUGE portion of my life.

Every meal I eatis huge highlight of my day. It’s the epicentre of every family & social occasion, it’s a massive component of our family christmas, my birthdays, leaving do for colleagues, EVERYTHING = FOOD.

…and yano what?

That’s fucking ace. Infact I’d go as far to say, it’s a privilege. Do you realise how GREAT it is that you love food so much?

The first stage of getting over this, is realising how much of a privilege it is to enjoy the experience of food.

I’ve met people who aren’t foodies.

They ‘eat for fuel’ or ‘don’t really care’ about food. Like what?! Wdym you don’t care about food?

You don’t audibly moan when you walk past a bakery?

You don’t get excited to check the menu for a restaurant hours before you go?

Browsing supermarkets at foreign countries isn’t the main thing you’re excited to do on holiday?

I LOVE that I LOVE, food. I can derive SO MUCH joy from something that others can’t. That is a true privilege.

But I’m no stranger to how a surplus of that, can be shit.

It can be exhausting.

It can feel like your entire life is just one big test of willpower.

Like you’re fighting a constant battle against your own instincts, which takes away from your ability to enjoy OTHER things, and stay present (especially in social situations).

And although I will always have to demonstrate *some* degree of restriction for the rest of my life, I’ve developed some effective strategies over the years to deal with this.

Train.

This is literally tippy-top of the list. Find some training, and exercise, that you love to do.

You don’t need to be a bodybuilder or sign up for a marathon. Go hiking, go for a kickabout, downhill mountainbiking, ice-skating, join a netball team. BUT DO, SOMETHING.

It’ll keep you busy, it’ll increase your metabolic rate (amount of calories you burn at rest), it’ll reduce food guilt, and it typically acts as a stepping-stone and/or gateway, to making healthier food choices.

Sleep.

Sounds trivial, but sleep like it’s a fucking job. I could link you to 5 papers off the top of my head correlating a lack of sleep, with a higher perceived hunger (and therefore food noise throughout the day).

Calories are a unit of energy, so if you have a lack of energy through lack of sleep, put 2+2 together.

Get ENOUGH sleep, and sleep WELL. Message me if you need help on this.

Kitchen minimalism.

If your cupboards are full of shite (crisps, chocolate, biscuits, cereals, nuts, spreads etc), then your head will be too.

If you know it’s there, your brain is fucking smart, it’ll come up with ways to convince you to go downstairs and then once it’s got you in the kitchen, naturally you’ll ‘just have 1 or 2’ which becomes 3 or 4, etc etc.

Just don’t have it in the house.

(And if your family has them there/your partner wants them, ask them to tell you firmly not to have them, and to have a designated drawer for them that you can’t touch).

^ As much as you think that might not work, it puts you in a position of trust, and naturally you don’t want to break that with your partner.

Ask yourself these questions frequently throughout the day.

These are 100% anecdotal.

1) Have i had this before?

2) Do I know what it tastes like?

3) Is this the only opportunity I’ll ever have to have this?

^ If I’m trying something I’ve NEVER had before, I’ll always let myself have it. New experiences are important to me.

If I HAVE had it, especially multiple times (say like a digestive or some sweets etc) it’s really easy for me to tell myself I don’t need it. It’ll be there tomorrow, it’ll be there next week, it’ll be there if i ever REALLY want it.

Have some fitness-related goals.

I am an online fitness coach so yes naturally I have a bias to this.

It doesn’t have to be getting ripped/really lean, doesn’t have to be marathon running or setting a new bench personal best.

But having a goal (like improving your health, being able to walk up the stairs without any breathlessness, be able to walk for 60-mins without needing a break etc)…

 REALLY helps give you a reason WHY.

Without a WHY, the WHAT gets harder to adhere to.