Eating for Wellness is Easy

THE MAGICAL MINDSET SHIFT TO MAKE EATING FOR WELLNESS EASY

By Rozzi J.

LET'S GET PERSONAL FOR A MOMENT

When my son was born, I found myself spiraling into food mayhem. Like a lot of new moms, I wanted to get back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. So I tried my best to avoid the food temptations lurking around every corner of the early-days-mom-life.

But I quickly discovered that each day ended with me inhaling a full packet of biscuits and anything sweet I could get my hands on. That period of my life was my biggest lesson in how avoiding the “bad” foods and cutting them out rarely works.

Since then, I have been on quite the journey to figure out how to regain a balanced and healthy relationship with food. And spoiler alert - it’s not about restriction and cutting out foods.

Let me share one of the biggest lessons I learned along the way.

OUT OF SIGHT, BUT NOT OUT OF MIND

Let’s say you decide it’s time to prioritize your health and wellbeing. So you go through your cupboards and clear out all the foods you’ve been told you should cut out. Eliminating all temptation.

You fill the fridge with fresh salads and veggies, buy fruit, nuts, and seeds as healthy snack options and start planning the meals you’ll be making. So far so good. Except that all the foods you’re trying to avoid all of a sudden seem to have a voice of their own, calling you over to eat them!

However hard you try to stay away, your cravings are through the roof and you find yourself daydreaming about chocolate bonbons and bread.

Here’s what’s going on - completely cutting out or limiting foods creates a feeling of deprivation. When we feel deprived of something, we end up thinking about it and wanting it so much more than we would otherwise.

If I told you now that for the next month you’re not allowed to wear jeans, the chances are, that’s not going to go down well. At first, you’ll think “OK, I can do that”, but then you’ll find yourself thinking about jeans more and more and fantasizing about how good it will feel when you can finally get back into your favorite pair.

It’s the same with food. If you tell yourself you can’t eat ice cream or pasta, then you’ll want those foods more than ever. It’s human nature.

This happens because the mind works with images. It doesn’t care what you “can” or “can’t” have. It only knows what you’re thinking of. So when you think “I shouldn’t eat pasta”, your mind creates the image of pasta and it starts scanning your environment to look for it!

The result is that you find yourself seeing pasta everywhere, thinking about it, and craving it so much more.

TO THINK OR NOT TO THINK ABOUT FOOD

Still not convinced? Let’s try an experiment right now. Do your very best to not think about freshly baked cookies, straight out of the oven. It’s impossible, right?

You can’t not think about something, because by telling yourself not to think about it, your mind instantly creates that image for you - maybe this time along with the smell of freshly baked cookies. Yum!

The mind doesn’t process negatives, because it’s a goal-seeking mechanism that only understands that what you’re focused on is important to you. It then sets out to look for that in your environment and bring it to your attention.

This is one of the biggest reasons why diets are such hardwork, and instead we end up with major cravings, food obsessions, and bingeing.

FLIPPING THE SWITCH

So how do we get around this? If we get back to trying to not think about those freshly baked cookies, and I then ask you to imagine a big yellow sunflower with a bee hovering around it - what happens? You’re now thinking about a big yellow sunflower and not cookies, right? Taa daa!

The key here is to change your focus from what you don’t want to what you do want instead.

Rather than saying “I shouldn’t eat these foods”, instead focus on adding nutritious foods to your diet. This way you’re bypassing deprivation and giving your mind new images to focus on.

If you start thinking about nutritionally dense foods you want to add to your diet and how they will affect your health, energy and vitality, guess what - you’re reprogramming the goal-seeking mechanism in your mind with new instructions.

A GAME THAT'S BETTER THAN CANDYLAND

You can even make it into a game by challenging yourself to add as many different foods or colors to your plate as you can. Since I personally started doing this, my relationship with food has changed massively. I challenge myself to eat 30 different plant-based foods each week, as recommended for optimum gut health.

It brings a completely new meaning to eating the rainbowand with an abundance of health benefits!

What can you start adding to your diet for your wellness?What can you add to your breakfasts, lunches and dinners?

By asking yourself these questions, your mind will automatically start creating new images and looking for the answers for you. And when you’re focused on adding more, rather than taking away foods, there is no deprivation and as a result, cravings will also fall away.

As your attention is on the nutritious foods you want to add, you naturally start associating more pleasure with these foods, making you want to eat them more. It’s the most beautiful and beneficial cycle!

I’ll leave you with one final question to ponder -what 3 foods can you add to your diet this week?

Rozzi J. helps women heal their relationship with food, end the dieting and yoyo weight struggle, and reprogram their mind and body for natural, diet-free weight loss. Follow her on Instagram @resetrozzi