Are you always thinking about dieting?
If you lived through the 90’s, you remember the low-fat craze and that poorly misinterpreted food pyramid. You know the one with all the bread on the bottom and a teeny, tiny little section for lean meats and protein at the top. Don’t worry, you’re not alone, we all got that one wrong. Somewhere amidst all this we started labeling foods as “good” and “bad.” Thinking “carbs make us fat,” “fat makes us skinny,” “fat makes us fat,” “all foods at Whole Foods are clean”... you get the gist.
Maybe you hopped on every diet trend, sometimes seeing results, sometimes not. The only consistency was that it was all very unsustainable long-term. You’re always on a diet, cheating on your diet, thinking about dieting, or starting a new one. Sound familiar? Yeah, me too.
While struggling to find the right diet, what I did end up achieving was an unhealthy relationship with food. And I LOVE FOOD. I love to try new things. You can put anything in front of me and I will try it. Ok, organ meat stuff is still kinda weird to me, but if you zhuzh it up just right, I’ll give it a go.
But I always find myself saying:
“I shouldn’t eat that. It’s bad for me.”
“I better do extra cardio to make up for it.”
“Guess it’s just going to be a whole cheat weekend.”
“I didn’t earn this; I didn’t work out hard enough today.”
If you’ve ever said this to yourself, that is a harsh, inner self-critic creating a really bad relationship with food. It’s a nasty little pattern we find ourselves in. And it all comes from beliefs that have been ingrained in our subconscious throughout our lives. But neuroscience tells us that the brain has the ability to continually rewire itself over time and change our belief system. It takes practice to rewire our brains, but with repetition it can be done.
So what do you do about it:
What happens when you change your beliefs around food:
You will feel better about yourself.
You will move better and look better.
You will actually lose weight in a sustainable way.
In Health,
Dr. Kira
