How many of you use food to make you happy?

Do you find yourself looking for excuses to eat feel good foods, like chocolate, pizza, sweets, etc?

Do you find yourself eating when your . . .

a) Happy
b) Bored
c) Sad

Does this sound like you . . .

• Had a SH*T day at work . . . grab some cake!
• BORED . . . eat some chocolate!
• Time to CELEBRATE . . . eat some pizza!

Food is always a good go-to option, a so called friend that never let’s you down and is always there when you need it!

HOME TRUTHS . . .

• Did you know that certain foods hit the same part of the brain as Class A drugs?
• Many of us use food as a cover up to mask emotions/feelings and to make us feel happy. After all junk food is pretty cheap and it’s available on every corner.
• Our bodies were not designed to eat processed, chemical ridden foods, so don’t be surprised when you feel crap after eating them. Ultimately our bodies do not lie, your body provides a constant feedback loop, if you feel sluggish, have poor skin complexion and are unhappy with your body it’s usually your body telling you “somethings not quite right”.
• Most of our neuro transmitters (signals to the brain) are held in the gut. 95% of serotonin (helps to maintain mood balance) is stored in the digestive system! Thoughts, moods and feelings are all affected by the foods we put into our bodies. It’s pretty simple… Eat crap = Feel Crap. We then eat crap again to make us feel good!
• We all know that Junk Food does not make us happy in the long run, it’s short term gratification that ultimately bites us on the arse and leaves us with a guilty conscience . . . “WHY did I eat the pack of McVities?!?!?!”

SOLUTIONS:

1) Do other things that make you happy, go for a walk, read, exercise, play with your kids, etc this may be stating the obvious but you’ll achieve the same level of endorphin satisfaction.

2) Before you reach for the junk analyse your emotions . . . what am I feeling? what’s triggered these thoughts? is food going to solve the problem? can I do something else other than eat?

FINAL THOUGHTS:

There’s nothing wrong with a balanced lifestyle, but let’s be honest most of us fall short when it comes to food. We use excuses like . .

“I had to have ice cream at the weekend because my kids wanted one!”

Now there’s nothing wrong with eating ice cream but be honest with yourself and your reasons for eating certain foods.

THE GRASS IS NOT ALWAYS GREENER . . .

When we diet all we think about are the foods we can’t have and then when we eat CRAP we feel guilty, sluggish, and then want to diet again etc. It’s a constant vicious, never ending cycle that makes us miserable not matter which path we choose.

The key is to understand your relationships with food and understand the reasons why you eat certain ‘trigger’ foods that knock you of the bandwagon. Remember that food is fuel for the body, it provides you with energy in order to move, and think, it keeps us alive. It’s only been around the past century that foods have been chemically modified and designed to make us eat more (by blocking signals to the brain that tell you when your full) and to make us feel happy.

Be honest with yourself and aim to understand more by listening to your body . . .

The Body Does Not Lie.