Food can certainly be comforting, but it should never be your sole form of comfort. Sadly, many people are conditioned to turn to sugary, salty or fatty treats whenever life gets hard. Surprisingly, however, using baked or fried goods to soothe away unpleasant emotions is not the only sign of an unhealthy relationship with food. Some people struggle with an incredible amount of food-related guilt that regularly leads to dangerous cycles of deprivation and over-indulgence. Following are four, easy ways to improve your relationship with food. With these strategies, you’ll be able to lose weight and keep it off.
1. Strive For Moderation Instead
The true key to weight loss and healthy living is moderation. If you strive to attain anything else, you’ll either be depriving yourself or overindulging. The real beauty in moderation comes from the fact that absolutely nothing is forbidden. Dieters often fall off the proverbial wagon when they attempt to convince themselves that eating certain foods will never be possible to consume again, especially if these foods happen to be personal favourites. Rather than eliminating entire food groups or swearing off beloved desserts forever, learn how to eat these things in moderation by limiting how often you can have them and the amount that you’re able to consume at any one time. This way, you won’t be riddled with guilt when you allow yourself to have a slice of pizza and you won’t be spending all of your waking hours thinking about the pizza you can’t have. One easy strategy for achieving moderation is to avoid fatty, heavy, or excessively sugary treats when you’re starving. For instance, before you serve yourself a slice of pizza, head over to the salad bar and load up on fresh greens. By the time your pie arrives, you won’t be tempted to eat the whole thing.
2. Practice Mindfulness When Eating
Practising mindfulness is one of the best things that you can do to achieve weight loss. Many people run through their meals without ever truly tasting them or being cognizant of exactly what and how much they’re eating. They might be texting their friends, talking, surfing the Internet or watching TV. If you aren’t paying attention to your food, then you aren’t truly appreciating it and this is what causes many dieters to overeat. Start setting the table before meals and make an effort to shut out outside distractions. This will create a sense of gratitude for what’s in front of you and it will also give you the chance to truly savor and appreciate your meal. With an attitude of mindfulness, you will likely find yourself feeling satisfied a lot sooner. You’ll also be a lot less likely to dig in for a second helping. If you often feel too ravenous to sit down to a mindful and peaceful meal, consider using the Garcinia Cambogia featured on the Dr Oz show. This product will alleviate intense feelings of hunger by curbing your appetite. As a result, you’ll be able to approach each dining experience from a much more calm and controlled state of mind.
3. Never Skip Meals
Many people skip breakfast several times each week, despite the fact that this is widely hailed as being the most important meal of the day. While you might not be hungry immediately upon rising, forgoing food throughout the morning could cause your blood sugar levels to plummet. Before lunch hits, you’ll likely be on the prowl for the first sugary pastry that you can get your hands on. While skipping a meal probably seems like an easy way to cut calories, it usually sets the stage for a disastrous day in terms of dieting and causes people to consume far more than they would have if opting to eat regular and balanced meals instead. Try eating a balanced, high-protein breakfast with the goal of fueling your body up for the challenges that lie ahead. This will put you in the mindset of eating for energy and fuel, rather than purely for pleasure.
4. Stock Your House With Healthy Foods and Limit Your Access to Low-Value, Food Products
People with healthy attitudes towards food don’t stock their houses with a lot of things they shouldn’t be eating. This doesn’t mean that you have to avoid your favorite, gooey goodies entirely. It simply means that you should be limiting your access to these things. If your preferred brand of cookies is on every shelf in your pantry, you’ll have to muster up an impressive amount of willpower every time you walk through your kitchen. Too much access to empty-calorie foods can also lead to overeating, guilt and a host of other problems. Keep your home loaded up with fresh, nutrient-dense foods and you’ll be far less likely to overindulge. More importantly, you’ll naturally start viewing treats as being for special occasions only, rather than using these on a regular basis to soothe unpleasant emotions, give you a short energy boost (and an inevitable crash later on) or alleviate genuine feelings of hunger.
